I have a 2002 BMW 330ci and every once in a while it decides to stall and looses its power. It seems to happen at least once per tank of gas. The strange thing is, the check engine light comes on and it continues to feel sluggish for a day or so and then it magically heals itself. The light goes off and its back to its peppy self. I’ve taken it in once before and the engine light turned off right when the guy at the dealer turned it on. I then had it taken in for routine maintenance and they checked the diagnostic codes and they said everything was alright. This is my first car that has “umph” and its driving me crazy that every once in a while it reverts to behavior that is similar to the crappy cars of my college years.
sounds like a antispill check valve, a vapor recovery canister, a faulty fuel pump, gunk in the tank or a partial blockage of the fuel filter to me. Or, it could be a cracked wire, loose lead, or faulty sensor feeding wrong information to the on board computer. Intermittent problems are the hardest to pin down. Next time you get a check engine light, take it to a parts store, and have the code reader put on it. Do not shut it down before you have it checked, but keep it idling in the lot and check it running so that the check engine light is on when you check it.
And remember to get the actual code Format: P1234. Then post to back here.