[ecodiesel]

Hello everyone, My name is Troy. It was just a few weeks ago, that I picked up my new premium certified used 335D which has approx 76,000 km on it. I had been looking at and driving various new cars such as the Maxima, Jetta tdi, Passat tdi , Audi A4, but nothing was really jumping out at me. The new A4 of my sisters was pretty sweet for sure but the others, well, they drove very nice, I felt myself yawning as I drove them! Previous to driving the previous mentioned cars I had been at Mini Crowfoot/BMW Calgary getting some service work performed on my 07 Mini Cooper S. As I had some time to kill, I ended up walking over to the BMW side and soon found myself driving an 09 128i and shortly after a 135i with M package. That 135i was a beautiful driving car! Perhaps driving an M package equipped car can make otherwise fine cars look a little less inspiring..

So a few weeks later, I find myself driving back to the Calgary Crowfoot BMW dealer to seriously look over and to buy the 135i with the M package that had kinda more than impressed me. I first dropped into the south location to look over the inventory on the lot and perhaps it was the responsible side of me that made me walk over to look at the 335i's. I began thinking my recently sold 07 mini cooper s didn't have much trunk and getting stuff in and outta the back seat was always a bit of a pain. The Cooper also had provided enough noise fatigue on those trips to Southern California which was the main reason I had started looking for a better long distance hwy car in the first place. I loved the look of the 335i cabrio's but their used selection was still higher priced than what I could afford at this time. I began to look at some 335i 4 door sedans and the way the sunlight was hitting the trunk, I thought this one particular white car in the row was a 335ci. I went into the store to talk to a salesman about driving the white 335ci and was told there is no ci model??? So he asks me to show him the car I was looking at. Well, when we get to the car he says I can see why you thought that the way the sun is shining on it but no, thats a D! This is a diesel! Confession time - To be honest, I did not know the BMW line very well at all and didn't even know they offered their cars in a diesel version. I hadn't really done any research on them other than a bit on the 1 series! I was kinda in shock as as much as I like performance I really wanted and appreciate good fuel economy. I then said .. A diesel! really, Well I have got to drive this!

Well, I have to say, that I was extremely blown away by how the 335D felt and performed in every way. I was told the car has every available option on it and comes with a set of winter rims/tires. It's overall performance was unlike anything I have driven. There was really no more decision making to be considered other than wanting the dealership to replace the slightly yellowing stone protection, touch up the under front spoiler scrapes, replace the pitted lights (Calgary/Airdre car), touch up some stone chips on the hood edge and give it a full detail. If they would do this for me then there wasnt much doubt this car would be mine!

Giddier than a 4 yr old with his first tonk a toy, I picked up the car a week later and drove it back home to Lethbridge which is about a 2 hr drive. I drove my new baby as nice as can be at a leisurely 100km all the way really enjoying how quiet and smooth it drove and playing with the drive and enjoying th eceystal clear sound system. I was tickled pink to get an avg of 4.8L/100km fuel economy on this first hwy trip!

I was so busy the days following that I didn't even have time to drive my new car for over 4 days. It just sat in front of my office window teasing me! I finally had some free time to cruise around a bit and drive in for groceries and such. With each time I drove the 335D I was again reminded of just how wonderful this car drives. I honestly can't imagine a better driving vehicle. So quiet, incredible torque, hard acceleration, incredibly powerful brakes, steering feedback that feels like my hands are touching the pavement, perfect ergonomics, pristine sound system, seat that fits like clove, sexy lines, young women cruising up beside me and giving me the thumbs up ... Yah, as near to perfect a car as anyone could ever have asked for! I wanted to write and thank the BMW staff. I even felt like I should fly to Germany and personally shake the hand of every German engineer that worked on this car design and tell them all that they have done it! You people have created the best sedan this earth will ever see! I didn't even struggle with the part where their feet would be knelt down upon and be kissed!

Well, like all fairy tales, mine had to have an evil side show up around the middle of the second chapter. The other night I drove the 25km trip into town to see the folks. I stopped at a car wash to since the light dust off my D and headed over to their place. I was driving down 3rd Ave/the strip when all of a sudden the car started to slow down. I realized the engine was stalling as the tack and fuel consumption gage were dropping inspite of my foot holding position. I managed to steer without power assist working and pull off and into a parking lot safely as I was still rolling fast enough. I was in disbelief and kinda shocked but I put it in park and tried to restart it. It cranked over for about 5 seconds and then fired up. It ran just the slightest bit rough, but smoothed right away. I noticed the engine service in the dash was now indicated. I revved the engine slowly and gently up to 2000rpm and all appeared to be fine as it was running perfectly smooth. I looked at the gas gage and could see I have only used 1/2 of the fuel as the dealership had provided the car with a full tank at time of delivery. I certainly wasn't running out of fuel according to the fuel gage! I then drove out of this parking lot taking a side street just incase it happened again and it of course it stalled a block further. This time when I went to start it, it cranked a bit longer but didn't start. I began to think maybe it was to do with the car wash? I used the key fob to unlock and relock the car and placed it into the ignition again to try and restart it. It fired and ran perfectly smooth the rest of the night including the 25kw trip back to my acreage. I thought hmmm, maybe thats all it was. It's funny how something like this makes you loose confidence as you find yourself waiting for it to happen again!

The next day I was again to drive the 25km trip into town for a pre Mothers day dinner as we had several friends and family getting together. The D ran like a top on the way to town and I ran it up several times, again reminded of every detail and sensation that led me to falling in love with this incredible driving machine. I stopped the car and went into the folks place for about 25 minutes and then my Mom and I were to go to the store to pick something up so I said we can take my car. We made it half way down the street and it stalled out again. I retired it up after a 5 second long crank over and it limped across the street into a parking lot just barely making it across the street and stalled out again. It restarted and I was able to make it down the street and park it in their driveway where it saved the rest of the night until about 10:30 when I decided to take the chance of driving it back to the acreage with my friend following me. It almost made it all the way but did stall once on the hyway. 2 more stalls and 2 more restarts and I was back in my own driveway where it sits tonight.

All I know at this time is that it appears to run fine when cold and the stalling issue appears when it has been warmed up. Perhaps the fuel delivery pump is failing when it gets warm or the high pressure pump is failing intermittently or Perhaps the fuel filter needs replacing (I should have really asked when or if it was last done). I do wonder if maybe th pump could have been damaged from driving the car with a low fuel tank as when we first test drove the car, my salesman asked how much fuel does it have and looked over to see the gage. I said it was almost empty he said, no worries we'll be fine, we have enough for our test drive. I kinda wondered about that as diesels recirculate their fuel and the fuel gets hotter as the tank volume is reduced!

Of course with all the electronics on these new cars I may be out to lunch but all I know is I have to get it back to Calgary somehow for the tecks to have a look at it while it is still under warrantee. Anyone else out there had stalling issues with a 335D?

Such a shame to have this problem, especially during the first 1/2 tank of fuel. Makes it that much worse feeling to know it just happened to the best driving car you have ever owned or driven...

[Kaylin032]

Only stall and driveability problems I had was when my JBD started failing. I removed it and the car runs great again.

KP

[sohcpunk]

Originally Posted by Kaylin032

Only stall and driveability problems I had was when my JBD started failing. I removed it and the car runs great again.

KP

Make sure the connector is on tight. Road vibration might cause it to become loose and cause fuel to not be injected. I use a zip tie to make sure it stays put.

[Coolieman1220]

i only stalled when i do a long burnout or a donut

[ecodiesel]

Thanks for your replies. Excuse me for my ignorance, but I am not sure what the jbd is? BMW road side assistance had a flat deck come down and haul my car back to Calgary where it sat in their impound lot until this week. I was really hoping it would have been taken care of quickly and back on the road for the long weekend but to my surprise a just delivered vehicle wasn't really given a priority..

I was in Calgary on business so I dropped in to see how my car had even been looked at yet and they had finally got it into the shop that morning. The service writer told me there was a re call on my 335D and it required them to replace the urea mixer and a large part of the exhaust system and to do a re program. The service fellow showed me on his computer what the changes were to the urea mixer as the details were all shown on the screen. He took me in the back to take a look and so we could ask the mechanic what he found with fault codes but he wasn't there. I saw the old exhaust system lying on the floor beside my car and sure enough when I looked underneath sure enough there was a new stainless pipe section installed. They had also installed a new console trim as it was part of the purchase agreement due to some scratches on the one it had. They were not quite yet finished i was told and that it may be ready to pick up tomorrow.

The next day I received a call at about 4:30 and was told my car was ready for me. The service dept rented a car for me, so I could drive the 2.5 hr trip from Lethbridge to Calgary. Service brought my car into the pick up area and they had obviously washed it as it looked perfect. I adjusted up everything and it felt nice to be back in my D and I headed onto the Deerfoot Trail/freeway. I noticed my AVG fuel consumption on the dash was at 30 + sum thing /100km. I thought someone was running this car very hard which kind of bothered me as as much as I know these cars are built for the inspirational driving experience I don't see real a need for the service people to do this in my car! I am going to ask if the remap may have done this as well before I chew people out.

As I headed down the road, a question was in the back of my mind .. what if it stalls out on me again? so I decided to take the first exit and follow a much slower route through the south end of Calgary to get to hwy 2 which would take me back to Lethbridge. The car was running beautiful. It felt even more powerful than before just taking off from a light with half throttle. The new exhaust system didn't seem to be hindering the cars performance at all.

I was only about 25 miles down the hwy when the car had an abrupt stall/shut off. Before when ever it stalled it was a very smooth slow down but this time it was immediate. I restarted and was able to go another 100 yards to take an approach and get off the hwy. I phoned the dealership and they had bmw road side assistance call me for my location and about 45 minutes later the flat bed arrived to pick it up to take it back at the dealership. Back in the rental (Impala) I headed home getting home at 2:00 am in the morning. What a waste of half a day!

Today i was expecting a call from the dealership, but none came, so I called in to find out if they figured it out. I am told injectors have been ordered. How can a faulty injector shut down the entire engine? I have seen my friends Ford diesel run on just 4 cylinders (pretty comical actually). This problem to me seems like a fuel pump delivery problem or a computer failing too as to tell something to stop pumping. You have me now thinking this JBD could be the issue

I will mention to have them to check this JBD connection. Thank you.

[EYE4SPEED]

Welcome to the club. Are you a writer or an author?

[GreekboyD]

Do not ask them about the JBD connection dude. The JBD is a plug and play add on that gives your car additional horse power and torque but would void your warranty if a dealer ever saw it plugged into your car.



Some advice? Pull your car from that dealer and take it to one that knows what's going on. Your current servicing dealer looks like it's full of clueless idiots.

[ecodiesel]

Har dee har har har!, nope not a writer, but if all those hrs I put into writing ladies on POF counted towards an internship I should already qualify for the top position at the New York Times!

Well, another week without the D and the first loan payment is about to come outta my account.. Somehow this just seems wrong given the fact I have only burnt half of the original filled tank since delivery! Kinda feels like I took a car I was really first impressed with for a weekend long test drive, then bought it, but then had it repossessed and been left with the payments!

I was told today by BMW service today that my car had all 6 injectors replaced and that my car had successful completed a trip from the Calgary south dealership to Bragg Creek and back without an issue or stall. They want to take it our for one more drive tomorrow morning before they give/release it back to me in order to make 100% sure it doesn't stall or that I don't have to call BMW road side assistance for another flat deck truck (or to flirt with the lovely assistance gal in London Ont).

I asked if they replaced the fuel filter before installing the injectors but they said "No" We don't change the fuel filter until the scheduled maintenance interval. To me this is taking a silly risk for the potential damaging of 6 new injectors for the relatively low cost of replacing a potentially contaminated fuel filter! If I were the mechanic, I would have done this without question. Please keep your fingers crossed for me..

[jtp335d]

I bought my used 09 335d from that dealership a year ago. I share your enthusiasm for the car also. I'd been waiting for BMW to bring a diesel to Canada for awhile having read about their great diesel engines in Europe.
Sorry to hear about your issues. I'm very happy with my car but I'm not happy with the warranty service available in Calgary. Both dealerships are owned by the same people. As a result I'm looking for a good scanner/reader to do my own checking before I book it in.

[Vreimann]

Any update on the car Troy?