Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | ||||||
| DP04001 | BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE | 02/03/2004 | 05/27/2004 | DELAYED TRANSMISSION ENGAGEMENT | ||
| Ms. claire m. tieder of reston, va, submitted a defect petition to the national highway traffic safety administration (nhtsa) by letter dated january 11, 2004, requesting a defect investigation be conducted into delayed transmission engagement on model year 2004 bmw xi vehicles.bmw's response to nhtsa's information request indicated that certain bmw 3-series vehicles equipped with the gm5 transmission may exhibited a forward 'park' to 'drive' engagement delay from2 to 30 seconds.however, the condition can occur only during a vehicle cold start, after the vehicle has been at rest for more than eight hours.drivers experiencing the delay have learned to take precautionary and compensatory measures.bwm will replace affected transmissions exhibiting the delay, after the condition has been verified, with an improved unit.no alleged crashes, injuries, or fatalities have been reported to either bmw or nhtsa relating to this issue.based on analysis of nhtsa's consumer complaints and bmw's data, the petition is denied.for details, see federal register, vol. 69, no. 91 (may 11, 2004). | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 12/10/2010 | 80000 | ||
| A year ago, i brought my 2004 bmw 325 xi in for routine maintenance. when i picked the car up, the bmw shop explained that they found premature failure of the cv outer axle boots. both boots were split and leaking grease, and the axles were turning dry.. they replaced both boots under warranty. in december 2010, car was vibrating while riding. they stated they had to replace the right front cv shaft (axle). they did this and the vibration stopped. narurally, this was not covered since my certified car warranty expired in july 2010. i believe bmw should have discovered the defect to the axle when they found it runnning dry in january. in driving the car before the repair, i believe bmw put me in jeopardy by not repairing the axle. this could definitely be a hazard, riding on a shaky defective axle. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 04/16/2004 | 1 | 03/04/2004 | |
| I bought bmw 325xi 2004 on 03/04 and i noticed that it has problem with cold start. in the morning, when i put the car in d, it doesn't move and then suddenly lurches with a jerk. first i thought, its just because its a new car but when i didn't drive it for 3 days and started it, it was worse. it wouldn't move at all for like a minute and then suddenly lurched forward with a jerk almost hitting the car in front of me. i took the car to the dealership and they told me that all 3 series manufactured between 03-03 to 11-03 have this problem and it is due to the transmission . what i don't understand is if there is a recall on that. they didn't tell me about this problem at all whereas now i read the message boards and there have been a lot of similar complaints. i wonder what my options are? i bought the car because there was a special deal on this car. may be the deal was because of this issue. *jb | |||
| 03/24/2004 | 100 | 1 | 01/17/2004 |
| I purchased a 2004 bmw 330xi and had two problems that surfaced immediately. when calling the dealership, they brushed off the complaint stating that the car was new and it would settle given time. however, after the problems continued, i brought the car into a dealership who, upon inspection, told me i simply needed some new parts. one being a transmission (which i think is more than just a part). apparently, there is a directive to bmw dealerships highlighting the problem, but to deal with it only upon customer complaint. i find this very troubling given the nature of the problem(s) and the potential safety issue should the transmission completely fail. the issues are as follows: 1. after only 2,000 miles, i had put an additional 7 quarts of oil in the vehicle. apparently, the oil valve is defective and needs to be replaced. 2. when first operating the vehicle, the vehicle often would not begin to move until the rpm's reached anywhere from 3-5k rpm's. in both instances, the bmw dealer stated this was due to a defective part. the replacement of the oil filter makes sense as it is a part. the complete replacement of a transmission, however, does not. although i did not have an accident, i believe that these issues can potentially lead to a major problem and therefore respectfully request an investigation. *jb | |||
| 03/01/2004 | 800 | 1 | 02/05/2004 |
| The bmw 325xit (automatic transmission) which i purchased on 2/5/2004 developed a problem with forward gear not engaging on a cold start. the vehicle had less than 1000 miles on it when i first noticed the problem. typically on a morning when i back the car out of the garage, and then shift the gears from reverse to drive, the vehicle fails to move forward for 3 to 4 seconds upon releasing the brake. i would have to press down on the gas pedal and watch the engine revv to anywhere between 3-5k rpm before the gear would engage. the vehicle creeps forward until the gear fully engages. the problem has no far been rather consistent - it happens quite predictably every morning. i have not however noticed a problem with gear engagement once the car is able to start.*ak | |||
| 03/18/2004 | 4 | 12/15/2003 | |
| I filed a petition for a defects investigation as well as a complaint about problems with a 2004 bmw 325xi with a defective transmission, resulting in delayed engagement as well as lurching of the vehicle when accelerating and/or braking. vehicle went back for repair - after had slight delayed engagement again, part fell out of the steering column, loud flapping noise started in the right side of the dashboard, the transmission failure warning light has been coming on - 2300 miles on it and has been out of my possession 4 weeks of the 3 months. the va office of consumer affairs has suggested pursuing the state's lemon law. the bmwboard on-line has many similar complaints and a portion of my petition (the addendum) was posted, giving the impression that bmw is voluntarily recalling the affected vehicles ... i was told that might happen, but i am not aware that it actually has happened. i have also been told that cars manufactured after december 2003 are free of the defect ... from what i have been reading on this auto safety hotline and the bmwboard, that is not true. beware. if i am the only one who has filed a petition, but you are reading this and you are having similar problems with your 3 series or x5, file a petition, too ... that's the only way to get some action from bmw ... this is a powder keg. i bought the car on dec. 15, 2003 and have had problems from day 1. this is not going away ... i have given it time; bmw has had the opportunity to correct the problem ... with a lot of input from me ... because they have told me basically that i'm imagining things ... i'm not ... and still i have a new problem every time i get in the car. this is wrong ... please speak up. the dealerships seem to be uniformly pooh-poohing the problem. that is wrong. | |||