Last night leaving the club I had a problem with ignition. Extreemly rough running, could only manage 700 rpm even with pedal to the floor as I left the parking lot onto the street. I had to limp out of traffic to the nearest point to pull off (about 60 ft) keeping the car running by feathering the clutch and working the throttle. Problem continued after I pulled off and stopped and I finally lt die when I lifted off the throttle. Powered off the ignition and restarted, no problem. Drove home and checked for messages in iDrive...nothing. Running fine today. I've had this car for a little over a year and put 20k miles on it (63k total miles on car) without any similar problem. Anyone with a 5, 6 or 745i have a similar problem before?

 

This is just a wild guess, but with all the electronic systems on these cars, it could be that something important didn't get initialized or synchronized during your start up sequence. I like to pause for a second or two at each click of the ignition key sequence, just to make sure the systems time in properly. The only anomaly I have experienced is the engine not firing up because I released the starter position too fast.

 

Sounds like Limp mode... under certain situations it puts you in that... probably a engine misfire during start up and the S/W is holding it back so you wont further damage the car if its really a problem... but since a restart cleared it... I would keep an eye out and make sure it doesnt happen again.

 

even if the check engine light didn't come on, it may have stored a fault. you can go to most major auto parts stores and get the code read out. BMW's need to see the same error 3 times before it will turn on the check engine light. sounds like it may have been a problem with the mass air flow meter

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.. Has not happend again and I searched for codes with my tool but none were set (dissapointing).