2014 X1 engine and light suddenly shut off while driving

[nels1908]

I have a 2014 X1 28i xdrive with 67K miles. I was 120miles into a trip last week going 70mph when my light and engine suddenly shut off. It was dark outside and I was unable to turn on the Hazard lights. I was able to get the car to the side of the road and within a minute or two the hazards came on the I was able to re-start the car. Several warning lights were illuminated on the dash. I drove ~1mile to a rest area an after re-starting the car a few times all warning lights disappeared. I waited ~20 minutes and while I was leaving the rest area everything stopped again. After the second engine failure I was able to make it ~10 miles home. The car has been at the dealer for 4 day and I have been told the issue was caused by bad gas. I am not an auto mechanic but bad gas should not cause this. The two engine failures were not recorded in the computer. However it did say I had 99 short trips which the technician says caused the battery to become bad. Does anyone have any idea on what this problem should be? Is car replacement the best way to go? I do 300+ highway miles/week and do not want this to happen again.
Thanks,
Jen

[bmwdirtracer]

Hi Jen,
Everyone on this forum will know that I never criticize the dealership lightly. However, every shop, whether independent or dealership, has good techs and also the occasional idiot.

"Bad Gas"....oh no, that's the diagnosis of a complete idiot.

Your car lost all its electricity....that has nothing to do with gas.

The "engine failures" were not recorded in the computers because they were not engine failures; they were complete electrical failures: and if the computers don't have any power, they can't record a failure.

Most likely, you've got a loose main power feed at the junction box, or another main primary power or ground failure. It's unlikely to be the battery itself, because the alternator would have kept everything running.

Being nasty doesn't help, at the dealership, or any shop....but be assured that I'm plenty pissed off, for you. In my opinion, some jerk kid diagnosed your issue, and ignored the obvious -- that the electrical system shut down, not just the engine.

I wish I could slap the dumb ass who called "bad gas", because he needs a different job.

Be nice, but talk to the service manager, and explain again to him/her exactly what happened. Tell him that your brother/father etc., who is a BMW master tech, said that there must have been some lost communication, and that this dealership's tech didn't know that you'd had an electrical failure, not an engine failure. Do not tell them that you heard this on a forum.

And, um, congratulations on being such a very aware and intelligent owner, and knowing that the diagnosis was wrong.

Oh, there were almost certainly undervoltage codes in many computers, which the tech should have caught.

[cf5jet]

On certain vehicles, the positive battery cable connection to the fuse box could fail while the vehicleThis could interrupt the vehicle's electrical system, resulting in engine stalling, loss of vehicle propufunction of various vehicle systems, such as lights. A loss of vehicle propulsion and electrical vehiclconjunction with traffic and road conditions, and the driver's reactions, could increase the risk of a cproperty damage and/or personal injury. Correction: Dealers will replace the positive battery cable cupdated version.There is a BMW recall on this problem