Terrifying Moment - X5 35d Engine Malfunction Reduced Power

[radiofrequency]

Driving home yesterday (Friday) on a long (2 mile) uphill stretch of a 5 lane highway in very heavy traffic, in the left hand lane in a stream of traffic doing 75 mph and suddenly an "Engine Malfunction, Reduced Power" message pops up on iDrive. The vehicle loses power abruptly, and cannot maintain speed. So, in heavy traffic, I begin an attempt to get to the shoulder all the way over on the right side and 5 lanes over on the highway, while going uphill in a vehicle, which is steadily losing power at a prodigious rate. I consider myself a competent driver, however, I have never experienced something a terrifying as this, and managed to avoid (narrowly, I might add) being run over by an eighteen wheeler tractor trailer. So the iDrive comes up with a ridiculous message telling me, if safe, to take the vehicle to the nearest BMW Dealer. I intend to leave the vehicle parked for the weekend and contact the dealer first thing on Monday morning. My 15 year old son in the front passenger seat was wide eyed and white knuckled hanging onto the inside door handle with both hands, he was convinced that we were going to be killed. Has anyone on these boards experienced such an event with an X5 35d? Mine is a 2010 with 37 000 miles with all scheduled maintenance completed by the local BMW dealer.

[335i_4D]

I've heard about limp mode oftenly, and even experience 2 with my E90 335i, but never heard of this on a diesel.

Keep us posted, will be interesting to hear what the dealer has to say.

[Daddy Wagon]

I've had this happen numerous times on my 2011 x5d, primarily because of the JBD tuner installed. I found that if you pull over at your earliest convenience, put the x5 in park, turn the motor off and open the door (this shuts off all motor components) and then restart the motor, everything is reset. This has only happened at extreme RPM conditions, so I am assuming that it is some sort of protection for the motor or electric trans. That being said, if the vehicle has been turned off for some time now, you should be able to start it back up and the message should be gone.

[NRG]

Many times with JBD. Turn off, turn on and go. Dealer it!

[335i_4D]

Originally Posted by NRG

Many times with JBD.

Better or same now with the reporgramming ?

[NRG]

Originally Posted by '10-X5-35d

Better or same now with the reporgramming ?

So far none, nock on wood.

[inagua]

Never had this happen with my eurochips.uk programming. 48k miles with it.

[335i_4D]

Wasn't such a big fan of piggybacks.
Happy to see that it was a bold move not to use them on my previous 335i, nor intending to do on my X5 35d.

Will eventually reprogram it, and will search the forum for best of breed !

[radiofrequency]

Just a quick update on my initial post. Disclaimer: My original post appeared to devolve into subject matter on tunes, chips etc. This is a stock X5 35d. I also own a 2011 M3 - stock, and would never risk my warranty with a tune.

BMW Assist dispatched a flat bed tow to my home where they picked up the vehicle. My SA contacted me to inform me that the vehicle had arrived, and later in the day I received a call from the Service Manager telling me that they would keep me posted on their progress. I have a good relationship with my SA, the Sales Manager and Dealer, and have had good experiences with their sales and service process in the past. I am hoping that this is a simple fix, as I did not hear back from them last night.

My greater concern is a repeat of this incident. I can only imagine what would have happened to a less experienced driver in similar circumstances. Will update once I get more information.

[StayRight]

Originally Posted by radiofrequency

Just a quick update on my initial post. Disclaimer: My original post appeared to devolve into subject matter on tunes, chips etc. This is a stock X5 35d. I also own a 2011 M3 - stock, and would never risk my warranty with a tune.

BMW Assist dispatched a flat bed tow to my home where they picked up the vehicle. My SA contacted me to inform me that the vehicle had arrived, and later in the day I received a call from the Service Manager telling me that they would keep me posted on their progress. I have a good relationship with my SA, the Sales Manager and Dealer, and have had good experiences with their sales and service process in the past. I am hoping that this is a simple fix, as I did not hear back from them last night.

My greater concern is a repeat of this incident. I can only imagine what would have happened to a less experienced driver in similar circumstances. Will update once I get more information.

It is a scary thing to happen and has happened to me in a brand new accord and also my previous 335. I too wonder what would have happened if a less competent driver had been operating the vehicles.
Keep us posted on what was the cause. I have a 2011 x5d and have yet to have anything but positive experience with it

[DBB888]

So what was the outcome?

[AWe90]

Very scary stuff! Is this at all commonplace w X5D's??

[radiofrequency]

After about a week with a 328xi loaner, BMW replaced the vehicle, now in a beautiful 2012 X5 35d (incident occurred in 2012). Dealer was amazing to work with through this problem, and the Sales Manager navigated the situation through BMW NA. Fast forward to two weeks ago, car would not start, called dealer, resulting in Shop Supervisor driving to my home (20 miles), and jump starting my vehicle from his 535xi. He informs me that my battery is bad, and replaces it the following week under warranty.

[pq]

This just happened last week in her 2010 X5 35d with 100K miles. Driving down Parleys on I80, sudden loss of power, then engine completely quits. Flatbed to Murray. They are telling us the engine needs to be replaced. Really? What recourses do I have available? Vehicle has never been serviced anyplace else.

[serge1]

Originally Posted by pq

This just happened last week in her 2010 X5 35d with 100K miles. Driving down Parleys on I80, sudden loss of power, then engine completely quits. Flatbed to Murray. They are telling us the engine needs to be replaced. Really? What recourses do I have available? Vehicle has never been serviced anyplace else.

Is it a CPO?
Did you ask them to see the printed diagnosis (codes, test plans, etc)? Replace the engine seems suspicious..

[heatmizr]

I have heard of this happening to varying degrees, but cannot fathom why/how this would be designed into the system. In what decision tree does the onboard computer decide to pull the plug on nearly all useable power?

Or are there two more clear cut scenarios here:
(1) those who get a "Limp mode" which allows you to get home or dealer fine, but engine will not provide maximum power. Considered normal vehicle function in reaction to certain problems.
(2) those who get the OP's more extreme experience whereby there is an issue above and beyond #1, not considered normal.

We've come a long way from the clogged catalytic converters choking your engine so badly that it can't maintain speed.

[joe_planet]

I got limp mode before, still made it to work and made it home after work... nothing terrifying about it.

[Parise2713]

Yeah, I don't have a diesel, but my 35i has done this to me a few times. Always a little scary. Most times I've been able to just restart the car and it seems fine. Recently this happened to me and it seemed as though I couldn't do anything with it. Was on a major road and the car was basically in neutral. Went into a side street and had to restart it while I was rolling. Car didn't want to park or anything. Very strange, always a little scary.

[radiofrequency]

As the OP in this thread, I will say that it probably depends where your car goes into limp mode. If it's in your driveway, no problem, but on a busy highway @ 80mph, it's terrifying, especially if you are going uphill. This incident did not stop me from purchasing another BMW Diesel; eventually traded the X5 for a brand new 535d xDrive with Sport Pack. The car was a riot, immense torque low down in the rev band and ridiculous MPG. Also, the fit and finish was impeccable, almost like a slightly smaller version of a 7 Series. I have since traded that car for a new 2014 911 C4S, as I no longer had the need for a sedan.

I have full faith in BMW Diesels, what I would really like to see, and would purchase in a heartbeat, is a 1 series Diesel 4 door hatch with xDrive sporting the same motor as the 535 Diesel Series. Even the 120d, available overseas, has 250+ foot pound of torque, so that would be an option too.

[Adobong_M]

This just happened to me few moments ago! I made it to work! It was annoying and terrifying. I have the 2010 X5 35d. The truck lost power was humping when stop (it's like playing with the brake when stopped and on Drive). I made it to work and will try to make a service appointment soon. Hopefully warranty would cover it. I turned the engine off and back on it was gone. WTH!

[09x5]

This just happened to my wife over the weekend as well in bfe 200 miles from home or a dealer... Was able to gain a little more power to get over hills putting the automatic shifter in manual mode. DIY guy here before throwing a $500 bill at the dealer.... took it to O'Reilly auto parts and borrowed their scanner. The code that I got was a p02cb Turbocharger/Supercharger B Underboost Condition and I got the same messages on the idrive screen as radiofrequency. I did a search with the code on this forum site but found nothing. I just stumbled on this post... looking for tech info... oh and yes after she got home, shut off the engine, let it sit for a few minutes, I got in to check it out and no messages on idrive, drove it and had full boost and drove normal... WTH!?

[torqueisking]

It happened to me also. My under-boost condition was caused by a cracked EGR cooler. Easy fix if you're handy.