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      02-15-2015, 08:23 PM   #1
Mingstar88
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HELP!! car struggles to start. slowly sputters and dies

crazy cold here in Toronto. -35 degrees
just got the x3 towed home..

Stupidly made some short trips today and then parked at a mall for a long time. initially thought it's the battery but jump start did not help.

the problem..
car starts for a second then dies. RPM goes to 1500 to 2000rpm then goes back to 0rpm. when rpm goes up, we tried to press the gas, rpm goes back down again. it's like it almost starts but then dies.

help please!

Last edited by Mingstar88; 02-15-2015 at 09:51 PM..
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      02-15-2015, 08:42 PM   #2
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my x3 was outside last night and had a hard time turning over this morning. it did, but it struggled. a friends m235 also had a hard time. i think it's just the weather... damn cold!
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      02-15-2015, 10:35 PM   #3
Mingstar88
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anyways, got it towed to bmw dealership via bmw roadside assistance at 12am..
tomorrow is holiday, not sure they are open. will need a loaner to go to work.....
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      02-16-2015, 12:48 PM   #4
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It wasn't -35 yesterday. Wind chill doesn't count. It was a warm and sunny -27... Come on!

(But no seriously I got gas last night and I thought I was going to die..)
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      02-16-2015, 05:02 PM   #5
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Personally, I did not understand some of the comments, more specifically appreciate the humour.

Mingstar88 obviously had to have car towed and sought advice.

I have had my car break down and also needed a tow back from US to Canada, definitely for me it was unpleasant and was not humorous.

Now, if you ever had a tow and breakdown , perhaps you had a different experience. If so, I would love to hear it. If you did not have one yet, perhaps someday when and if you do, kindly you share your experience. Pictures are optional.


Good luck Mingstar88.

Uodate: 2/17/15
This thread looks different than yesterday (some posts have been deleted).... looks cleaner.... and the newer posts are helpful.... nice to see.

Last edited by barcelona; 02-17-2015 at 05:40 AM..
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      02-16-2015, 05:54 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by barcelona View Post
Personally, I did not understand some of the comments, more specifically appreciate the humour.

Mingstar88 obviously had to have car towed and sought advice.

I have had my car break down and also needed a tow back from US to Canada, definitely for me it was unpleasant and was not humorous.

Now, if you ever had a tow and breakdown , perhaps you had a different experience. If so, I would love to hear it. If you did not have one yet, perhaps someday when and if you do, kindly you share your experience. Pictures are optional.


Good luck Mingstar88.
thank you.

did not want to post the pic originally but here it is. a sad sight for a x3 owner.

got it tow to dealership last night via bmw roadside assistance, thank god it's only 4.5km from my house. going there tomorrow morning since they were closed today due to holiday.

will post an update tomorrow, hopefully be able to get a loaner first thing in the morning to get to work.
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      02-16-2015, 06:19 PM   #7
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Mingstar, as Skru_fase kindly suggested , likely extreme cold weather related. Hopefully you and your family were not stranded for too long in the frigid minus 35 Celsius temperatures. I feel for the tow guy handling all that cold steel dollies etc. but surely there were properly dressed for the cold.

With extreme weather some owners get the drivetrain malfunction display or Engine icon. Perhaps ask for a copy of the CBS information for your records. Yes, do keep us updated, that would be great to know and learn.
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      02-16-2015, 07:11 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mingstar88 View Post
crazy cold here in Toronto. -35 degrees
just got the x3 towed home..

Stupidly made some short trips today and then parked at a mall for a long time. initially thought it's the battery but jump start did not help.

the problem..
car starts for a second then dies. RPM goes to 1500 to 2000rpm then goes back to 0rpm. when rpm goes up, we tried to press the gas, rpm goes back down again. it's like it almost starts but then dies.

help please!
i had something similar to this happen a while back. weak start up and sputtering but i was able to quickly drop it into drive and gun it to get the car going and went straight to the dealership only 2 miles from my house. they were pretry confused by what was happening and thought it was an electric issue but they did some sort of software update and reprogramming of the battery and everything resolved without any recurrence or need for new parts. hope yours is something similar.
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      02-16-2015, 07:12 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mingstar88 View Post
crazy cold here in Toronto. -35 degrees
just got the x3 towed home..

Stupidly made some short trips today and then parked at a mall for a long time. initially thought it's the battery but jump start did not help.

the problem..
car starts for a second then dies. RPM goes to 1500 to 2000rpm then goes back to 0rpm. when rpm goes up, we tried to press the gas, rpm goes back down again. it's like it almost starts but then dies.

help please!
At these temps (im in kingston!) even a smidge of water in the gas will form ice crystals in the gas line, drop in some gas line antifreeze as a preventative in future , it wont hurt, a couple hours in a warm garage will fix your baby if thats the case.

All the best , let us know the result.. Breakdowns suck
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      02-16-2015, 07:44 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul_R_Canada View Post
At these temps (im in kingston!) even a smidge of water in the gas will form ice crystals in the gas line, drop in some gas line antifreeze as a preventative in future , it wont hurt, a couple hours in a warm garage will fix your baby if thats the case.

All the best , let us know the result.. Breakdowns suck

Good idea. Also, in winter it is advisable to keep the gas tank more full rather than empty as less condensation, hence water entering fuel system. Also prevents premature fuel pump wear.
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      02-16-2015, 07:47 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 335xs2dinan View Post
i had something similar to this happen a while back. weak start up and sputtering but i was able to quickly drop it into drive and gun it to get the car going and went straight to the dealership only 2 miles from my house. they were pretry confused by what was happening and thought it was an electric issue but they did some sort of software update and reprogramming of the battery and everything resolved without any recurrence or need for new parts. hope yours is something similar.

Good stuff. What's with you guys living 4.5 km and 2 miles from the dealer.
Now I'm worried.
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      02-16-2015, 11:29 PM   #12
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Curious how many of you use engine block heaters ? I would imagine those would sometimes be a must in crazy conditions like these. Been to Toronto a few times and people are usually afraid to turn off their cars paranoid like crazy

Last edited by bimmeupscotty; 02-16-2015 at 11:29 PM.. Reason: typo
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      02-17-2015, 12:17 AM   #13
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Did the dealer find what the problem was now ?
Was your coolingwater frozen ?

Minus 35 (or even "just" 27 C) is REALLY cold. I can imagine a car not wanting to work in this weather..... In some parts of Siberia (down to minus 50 C) they never turn off the diesel engines of the trucks during winter, for else they will not start anymore.
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      02-17-2015, 04:28 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bimmeupscotty View Post
Curious how many of you use engine block heaters ? I would imagine those would sometimes be a must in crazy conditions like these.
When I lived near Toronto the car was much happier when it was plugged-in during extreme cold conditions.

It probably wouldn't have helped for this problem. This sounds like a fuel problem. One handy diagnosis step would have been to measure the fuel pressure during the fault, instead of after the vehicle thawed-out in the service department.

There are fault codes stored for this problem. The dealership would have discovered and recorded those codes. Please post those codes.
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      02-17-2015, 05:45 AM   #15
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Mingstar88, when I was out Sunday, for me it was -27, before windchill.

Hopefully you get some warm news today.

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      02-17-2015, 09:58 AM   #16
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I also live in a cold weather city. My 2012 X3 would not start in the driveway last winter. I called AAA for a boost.(not sure why I didnt call BMW Emergency services) The car would not even try to turnover. This cold winter season my X3 gave a low battery warning light 3-4 weeks ago but I was able to get BMW service to charge it up 80% because it was in service last week

OP...I hope everything works out for you.

Last edited by bmkman; 02-24-2015 at 03:10 PM..
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      02-17-2015, 01:12 PM   #17
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quick update!
they said they were able to start it fine this morning...did not really want to hear that. they said battery was low, i knew that. told them jump start didn't start the car that day and temperature definitely has something to do with it. they'll probably just gonna charge up the battery and go from there. problem is next winter im out of warranty, do not want that to happen.
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      02-17-2015, 05:19 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mingstar88 View Post
quick update!
they said they were able to start it fine this morning...did not really want to hear that. they said battery was low, i knew that. told them jump start didn't start the car that day and temperature definitely has something to do with it. they'll probably just gonna charge up the battery and go from there. problem is next winter im out of warranty, do not want that to happen.
This suggests it was cold related, could be water in gas or with the start and stops you did possibly vapour lock, how much fuel was in the car? If you are unlucky enough to have it happen again open and close the fuel cap make sure theres no vacuum preventing fuel delivery with a frozen cap....

Glad its back on the road.....
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      02-17-2015, 06:24 PM   #19
Mingstar88
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul_R_Canada View Post
This suggests it was cold related, could be water in gas or with the start and stops you did possibly vapour lock, how much fuel was in the car? If you are unlucky enough to have it happen again open and close the fuel cap make sure theres no vacuum preventing fuel delivery with a frozen cap....

Glad its back on the road.....
gas was at 75% 91 vpower shell all the time.
they were so packed today, vehicle is not ready apparently.
hopefully mechanic can find out more details. service advisor always filter information out.
im hoping for a good explaination and not just charge my battery and give me the keys.
if it's just the battery then jump start should have started the car. tow truck guy had a high tech battery booster in which he used for many other customer that day and did not work on my car.
the fact that the car started fine today with warmer temperature scares me for potential future issues
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      02-17-2015, 08:16 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wingless View Post
There are fault codes stored for this problem. The dealership would have discovered and recorded those codes. Please post those codes.
The fault codes will provide / permit the best understanding on the root cause for the failure.
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      02-17-2015, 08:29 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by wingless View Post
The fault codes will provide / permit the best understanding on the root cause for the failure.
+1
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      02-18-2015, 12:30 AM   #22
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I am glad for you that they could start the car. But I agree, that they should find the exact problem , otherwise you will not be able to trust your car in the future.
It even could get dangerous with these temperatures if you are stranded someplace where you cannot get help quickly.

I am just happy it never gets that cold where I live, that's for sure.
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