I posted the solution that worked for me in another thread, but here it is again.
The problem in my case was the map in Base IOR slot of Corona Physical Mat. It was coronamix map with falloff map hooked in mix ( not sure if it matters in which spot it is hooked).
Anyway, I copied the object to a new scene, tried it without coronamix with falloff, and it worked, but as soon as I connect the map to Base IOR slot, in about 10-15 seconds, render stops, memory consumption goes through the roof, and 3ds max stops working.
I hope this helps. Check the materials after importing it to a new scene to save yourself from pain :D