What is safe mode?

1997 BMW 740i in Fail-safe mode, what does that mean?

• I'm looking at a 1997 BMW 740i with 169000 miles on it, through a private party deal. The gal is offering it for $1500, and it needs a few things. I'm just going to flip the car. I went to test drive it, and it stalled on the street and it said that the transmission was in Fail-Safe Mode, which my dad, a mechanic, said is just like limp in mode. What could cause this? The check engine light is also on, so could that be why that is on? It started up fine, backed out fine, but then I got into the road, it stalled, and the information center said Fail-Safe Mode or something like that. I put the car in park, shut if off, restarted, and took off. It accelerated fine, but the Fail-Safe came back on, and I had to put the pedal to the floor to accelerate. As I got back by the gal's house, it kicked off and it accelerated fine. It needs tires, a windshiled, two pieces of exterior trim, and I need to have the hood painted. Save the Fail-Safe thing with the tranny, it is in tip-top mechanical shape. Do you think $1500 is a good deal for it? I am just going to take it to a pretty upscale auction over Labor Day where I am sure it will go for $5K. But if the Fail-Safe thing is a major problem, I won't buy it.

• Answer:

  Check the transmission fluid levels and the sensor(s) that monitor the transmission fluid level. It is a "limp home" mode just like your dad said. It is to prevent too much damage from happening. If the levels and sensor(s) are ok, you could plug an OBD II code reader into it and see what codes it is putting out, and then see if you can resolve them. After that, sorry, it will be up to a BMW expert, not me.