hi guys, i've owned a '99 323i for roughly 4 months now. i've had no trouble, really. last week, i got the 'headlamp' warning sign and immediately after that, i got the 'check engine' sign. i took care of the lamp (just had to fit it in to the groove properly) and the check engine sign vanished. now my next problem- it has happened twice so far. i didn't give it much attention the first time, but today, it scared me. ;-)
last weekend, i started my car and just about a hundred feet from where i started, i attempted to make a left turn. the car stopped. engine stopped. no sound. i turned it back on, and it ran smoothly. i thought it was some silly glitch connected to the lazy front headlight and let the whole thing drop.
this afternoon, i was taking an exit to join another highway and slowed down to roughly 30mph and the car simply stopped. the engine stopped. i was lucky because the road was empty, but i had no idea what was going on. i took the key out, put it back in and started it again. everything was fine. for the brief period that the car stopped, a few red warning signs and yellow warning signs showed up, but i couldn't afford the time to pay attention to them as i was in a hurry to start the car. i remember the oil lamp, and battery warning signs definitely came up; they were red in color. after i started the car, it felt so different. now, every time i slow down, i think the car has stopped. not just that, the whole 'feel' of my foot on the gas pedal has changed- it just doesn't seem like it's got that pickup anymore (no, i'm not just making it up to elevate the severity of the problem).
i'm terrible at car maintenance in general (don't even know what to look for- or where to begin, for that matter), i thought i'd post a message here and see what replies i get. i wanna wait for at least 24 hours before i take it somewhere. and if i were to take it somewhere, what'd be the best place, er, in my price range? ;-)
right now, there's still the 'check engine' symbol/sign (yellow color). please give me some input. i wanna know check what you guys have to say/ask. you can directly email me, too. snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com. thank you.
-ananth