[Poor Knight]

Had the worst experience I've ever had with a car yesterday and this is my fifth BMW. My wife was driving her 2016 X3 x28i (approx. 15600 miles) and stopped at a stop sign on a busy intersection. Auto stop/start was on, and the engine stopped, but would not restart. We could do NOTHING not even shift into neutral and push the car out of the way! All the electronics worked but the car just would start! A notice came up on the screen "Impossible to restart car please call BMW Roadside Assistance". BMW Assist was not at all helpful was going to take over an hour to get a tow truck and told us to call 911 to get traffic control assistance. Called 911, they don't respond to non life threatening calls. The only thing that worked finally, after several attempts, was locking the car with the remote, waiting a few minutes, unlocking and starting (with auto start stop turned off). Got the car back to the house in the garage, wouldn't start again this morning , had to do the same remote lock three times to get it to finally start. At the dealers now(BMW of Dallas), but they can't provide me a loaner car because we did not schedule in advance! Sorry, BMW, didn't schedule the total failure of a less than one year old car in advance! Now my wife want to trade it in -- no faith in BMW at all.

[Gamb1t]

Sorry to hear that. I have not been a fan of ASS. This function in my mind does more harm than good to the car's components. It's even stated in their manual.... minus the "harm" part. And for what? Just to save a bit of gas? Chalk this up to meeting the CAFE requirements.

Many folks now attribute ASS as a contributing factor to the N20's timing chain stresses.

My advice to you is to have it programmed out.

[lovebimmers]

Wow. Sorry for your experience with the car. I too have been there with a malfunction with my car. Hopefully the dealer can fix the issue and it never happens again. I too would be pissed that they couldn't give you a loaner. Even though it's a new car things can go wrong. Hopefully the dealer can make it right and there is nothing else wrong with the car.

I wouldn't lose faith in the car yet. Any brand of car can have a mishap. As long as wife wasn't in any real danger then just wait till car is fixed.

[Max Well]

Originally Posted by Poor Knight

Had the worst experience I've ever had with a car yesterday and this is my fifth BMW. My wife was driving her 2016 X3 x28i (approx. 5600 miles) and stopped at a stop sign on a busy intersection. Auto stop/start was on, and the engine stopped, but would not restart. We could do NOTHING not even shift into neutral and push the car out of the way! All the electronics worked but the car just would start! A notice came up on the screen "Impossible to restart car please call BMW Roadside Assistance". ...

A frustrating experience for sure, but glad she was able to get it restarted and make it home.

I've never been a fan of that function so it is always off in our '15 LCI X3 35i. I understand the concept of why it was developed, but I can't shake the feeling that it must produce some form of excessive wear and tear on a vehicle's engine or components compared with not using. Perhaps I'm just showing my ignorance here, but I've tried looking for real data for my theory - other than blogs and subjective reviews I haven't been that successful.

Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing for Edmunds.com, published an article online 30 Nov 2014 entitled "Do Stop-Start Systems Really Save Fuel?", but it didn't address the increased wear or faults issue I raise. It was an interesting read, though, discussing the vehicle changes required to even make stop-start work, and providing real numbers for an '80.4 mile stop-start test loop taking three hours to complete', with a 2014 1.5L Mini Cooper, 2014 BMW 328i GT, and 2015 Jaguar F-Type R 5.0L. Results showed the '328i GT used 3.1 gal with system off and 2.8 gals with it on, saving of 9.5% (or 91 cents). Fuel economy rose from 26.2 to 28.7.'

Another article was from Autocar.co.uk by Jesse Crosse 17 Jan 2016, entitled 'Stop-start - the long-term impact on your car's engine' which did more directly address the question and also provided an interesting perspective.

It seems this concept will continue to be provided by auto Mnfrs as they search for ways to maximize fuel economy. But it would be helpful for end-consumers to be able to understand how such systems may affect longterm vehicle reliability. Perhaps others on the forum can cite formal research by Automotive Engineers?

In the meantime, does your 2016 provide you with the ability to turn off the auto stop-start, or is that something your Service team has to program?

[MichiganMike]

Originally Posted by Max Well

In the meantime, does your 2016 provide you with the ability to turn off the auto stop-start, or is that something your Service team has to program?

My 2016 X3 35i has the ability by pressing a button to turn off or turn on the auto stop-start feature. For my vehicle, the status of AS/S is retained after the vehicle is manually turned off and restarted. I believe the 2016 X3 28i AS/S operates in the same manner.

As you suggest, older BMW models with auto start stop that did not originally default to the last setting, may be programmed by BMW dealers to default to the last status.

http://www.bmwblog.com/2012/08/13/bm...stop-settings/

[alpwhite46]

Mine only turns off when warmed up and you put it in park, but never otherwise

[nyalpine90]

i never liked that feature so i disable it.
shame on the dealer for not even providing a loaner for faulty x3
I would contact BMW NA.
situation couldve been worse if you were on highway and came to complete stop due to traffic and couldnt move once traffic was clear. smh

[CalCarNut]

Originally Posted by MichiganMike

My 2016 X3 35i has the ability by pressing a button to turn off or turn on the auto stop-start feature. For my vehicle, the status of AS/S is retained after the vehicle is manually turned off and restarted. I believe the 2016 X3 28i AS/S operates in the same manner.

As you suggest, older BMW models with auto start stop that did not originally default to the last setting, may be programmed by BMW dealers to default to the last status.

http://www.bmwblog.com/2012/08/13/bm...stop-settings/

My 2015 GC remembers it's off. So does my wife's 2012 X3 28i...

[Poor Knight]

They replaced the starter and now my wife has turned off the auto start-stop and it does remember to stay off. Also she hadn't been locking the car when it is in the garage and that apparently is the only way to get the electrical system to completely shut off.

The other issues were dealer issues not car issues - anyone recommend a good dealer in the Dallas area? We brought up with the service advisor over and over that we really needed a car and why didn't they have one available for emergencies like this. He said they did but I should be happy he got it fixed in 24 hours and give him a good rating. I had to take a half day of vacation time and my wife had some $40 in Uber bills because he didn't make a car available after numerous request. I'm going somewhere else for all my service needs - Momentum BMW down in Houston bent over backwards to take care of me. I expect more from a BMW dealer. No more BMW of Dallas for me!

[49design]

My 2013 X3 35i with 65K miles has used auto start/stop from day one and has never missed a beat.

I was worried in the beginning, now I hardly notice it and appreciate an extra 1/2 MPG especially using premium fuel. Could turn it off but we like it on, my wife with her 2014 328GT and me with my X3.

Sure it doesn't sound like macho boy racer technology, but prefer real results.

[Lurcher]

Don't look at Classic up here in Plano. I've had them keep my car twice and detail it for the filthy hand prints left behind on my tan - excuse me, "Oyster" interior. :-)

I can only imagine what goes out the door with a dark interior. But I usually can get a loaner..

[Lotus99]

Wow, you have one issue, and now your wife has no faith in the car? LOL. Dramatize much? I mean, we've all had to put up with stuff that happens once in a while. From HPFP's in the N54 engine cars, to whatever. Sh*t happens. Cars are not perfect. No brand is. Just based on probabilities, even an amazing brand will have the occasional hiccups with a car here and there.

If it happens repeatedly, or they can't fix it, I could totally see. It's a lemon. But come on...

[Poor Knight]

Originally Posted by Lotus99

Wow, you have one issue, and now your wife has no faith in the car? LOL. Dramatize much? I mean, we've all had to put up with stuff that happens once in a while. From HPFP's in the N54 engine cars, to whatever. Sh*t happens. Cars are not perfect. No brand is. Just based on probabilities, even an amazing brand will have the occasional hiccups with a car here and there.

If it happens repeatedly, or they can't fix it, I could totally see. It's a lemon. But come on...

Yea, silly me, when I spend $50k on a luxury brand I want it to work not totally freeze up with no warning in the middle of a busy intersection for hours -- stuck in park so I can't even push it. Don't know why I have such unreasonable expectations! And when I paid for BMW assist I thought they'd actually show up to help when I called. I don't know what I could have been thinking!

Oh - right - I was thinking this never happens with our Tahoe, or the Land Cruiser we had in Pakistan for four years or the Toyota Hilux I drove in Saudi. And the OnStar guys come right away when you push the button. That's what I was thinking.