E39 shuts off power assisted systems and dies

[97540PR]

Hello everlyone:

I would appreciate assistance on a weird behavior on my 1997 540i. When the car is idling, all in a sudden, the power assisted systems fail (i.e. no power steering, no power brakes)...immediately afterwards the engine shuts down (no hesitance, misfiring, it simply dies).:mad I place the lever back to park and start it again with no problem whatsoever. This has happened only twice (in about a week) I get no fault codes when this happens. Very disconcerting...:(

I would appreciate any suggestions on where to start looking first.:redspot

Thank you.

[NNY528I]

the "power assited systems" that you mention are not "shutdown" by the car, they are part of the running of the engine. when the engine dies they die.

you should investigate Idle control valve as a starting point.

[97540PR]

Thank you, I guess I will look into it. But I forgot to mention that one of the two times where this happened, the car was in gear, (gowing downhill to be more specific) and suddenly it died. I am concerned that the problem might not rest on the engine idling, seeing as it also happend while the car was moving, ( I am almost quite sure it was not idling while going downhill)

[NNY528I]

The idle control valve maintains the engine operation when the Throttle is in the closed position.