328i shuts off while driving

[robertburdett]

I have a 2008 BMW 328i convertible with 101,000 miles on it and the car will shut off while driving down the road. This is my wife's car so I do not drive it very much. The car had the battery cable replaced in July of 2016 as part of the recall. I am leaning towards the fuel pump because it seems to happen when there is less than a quarter tank of gas. I have been reading a lot threads that are saying the VANOS or camshaft sensors could be the culprit as well. This very frustrating and difficult to diagnose as the problem is intermittent. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Robert

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

Hi Robert....welcome to the forum! As you said, because the problem is intermittent and can also be caused by a variety of factors like the fuel pump or various sensors; I would recommend getting the codes read if you're able to. It'll give you a good starting place to evaluate the issue. Lastly, I'm attaching a link to our site's tech articles, check them out when you need to troubleshoot or fix an issue. Best of luck!

E90 BMW Tech Articles - BMW 3-Series E90 (2006-2013) Technical Articles - Pelican Parts


-Dmitry

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Before you start replacing items, plug into your OBDII and read what fault codes may be present in the system. This should give you an idea to help you diagnose the issue. Without this, we could play the guessing game as it could be a number of things. You can have a local Autozone pull the codes, but sometimes they wont read the fault code correctly and sometimes it will be a dealer only code. You can also invest in a really good diagnostic scanner if you plan to continue to work on your BMW.

2008 BMW 328i Base Sedan - Tools - Page 8

Read the code and let us know what you find out.

[kimbush999]

what if it doesnt throw any codes?