cruising about 80 mph; ck engine light comes on; not hot, plenty of fuel and oil. car starts for a few seconds then sputters and stalls.

stuck on road... in a helluva spot.

thanks.

Maybe it's just god's way of telling you to slow down...cruising about 80? You were speeding, your beemer broke, you are stuck, boo hoo. No help here, no sympathy here, not a problem solving answer here. Slow down, you move too fast. You've got to make your lifetime last. Just kick it slow down the pavement stone, look for some fun and start feeling groovy...

It could be running out of gasoline. It could be a number of things from ignition coils to a loose battery cable. You should have some kind of diagnostic fault code system in the car. The standard one has a connector with 16 pins (after the 1995 models) and should be located close to the steering column or driver's side of the transmission tunnel. If you can't find one, try depressing the gas pedal rapidly 5 times in 5 seconds with the ignition key "ON" but engine "OFF". If you get the check engine light to flash, you will have to carefully count the pulse interval timing to determine the fault code(s). The fault codes can be looked up in a BMW Shop Manual or a standard Generic Diagnostics Reference Manual.

Could be anything, you will need to get it scanned for the trouble code