Expert: Josh Fields - 6/9/2006

Question
Well Today I was driving in the morning and the ever present engine power loss that comes back once a week for like 2-5 seconds and after revving power comes back and check engine light turns off.

Well after about for 3-5 months of this happening , I lost almost all power and stepping on the gas all the way would just give me some misfiring noises and no power..

the engine sounded rough with no power..(sounds like im not getting spark or all the cylinders arent firing up.then i would put it in netural and turn it off and restart the motor and it was fine again?Then it came back again 4 hours later when i drove again.Could this be my ignition?There is no smoke or leaks from my car so what could it be?any help?

Thanks
Peter

Answer
Peter,
 If it is running poorly cut the engine off, then restart immediately and find the engine fine... that's a sign that it's an electronic problem.  Mechanical problems (valves, timing, etc..) would give you problems ALL the time.

 When the check engine light comes on, what is the fault code?  Every time the check engine light comes on, the cars onboard computer (ECU) stores a code, that is intended to help mechanics figure out the problem.

 Next time it happens I would do the procedure for reading fault codes, and see what that says.

 Here is a writeup explaining the procedure.
http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Trouble/Engine_codes.htm

 Hope this helps,
 Josh