I have a friend who drive a BMW. By my memory, about a 1998 model. Maintained. She said on the way home tonight, with a third a tank of gas, it cut off at lights unless she put in neutral and revved the engine. She commented this has happened 2-3 times in past few years, but only in cold weather and with less than half tank of gas.
So, question is: Is this a function of the cold weather(under freezing), a function of the low amount of gas in the tank, or perhaps just her selective memory.
I know–I know–not enough exact info to go on. But, anything helps.
My husband has had his gas lines freeze at low temperatures in his Volkswagen, which is a diesel car. I think it’s a more of a problem with diesels than regular gasoline, though. IIRC, the explanation is that if the amount of fuel in the tank is too low, the water in the air in the tank can condense, but then freeze, and that freezes the lines and the car stalls.
There could be other explanations - I don’t know much about cars!
Dying at stops is usually related to idle airflow rather than fuel. Typical causes include engine vacuum leaks, dirty throttle bodies, faulty idle air controllers, and faulty throttle position sensors. Fuel-related problems usually result in performance/power symptoms. Of course it could be fuel-related or temperature-related (e.g. faulty engine coolant temperature sensor or air temperature sensor), but 2-3 times over a few years sounds like once a year - hardly enough events to establish a pattern, or even to rule out a fluke.
I have an old (1980) Benz and was having a similar problem, although not in cold weather. Turns out it was a “cold start” valve (or similar) sticking. Apparently the valve changes what’s happening depending on whether the engine is starting from cold or just operating. Really simple to fix. Hope this helps.