Recalls
| Campaign | Manufacturer | Manufacturing date | Type | # of units affected | Date Owner notified Mfg | Recall Initiated by | Manufacturers of recalled vehicles/products | Report Recieved Date | Record Creation Date | Regulation Part Number | FMVSS Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM) | ||||||||||||||||
| 04V344000 | BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE | from 05/12/2004 to 07/06/2004 | V (Vehicle) | 4102 | 07/16/2004 | MFR | BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE | 07/14/2004 | 07/14/2004 | |||||||
| Defect Summary | On certain passenger vehicles equipped with 8 and 12 cylinder engines, the digital engine management control (emc) units were not produced according to specifications. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | As a result, engine stalling will occur after a short period of operation. the vehicle may not be able to restart. also, a loss of power steering and, after repeated actuation of the brake pedal, a loss of brake power assist will occur. these conditions could result in a vehicle crash. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Dealers will install a new digital engine management control unit. the recall began on july 16, 2004. owners should contact bmw at 1-800-831-1117. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Customers can contact the national highway traffic safety administration | |||||||||||||||
Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||||
| SIB-24-01-08 | 10/01/2010 | 10035010 | Bmw vehicle: transmission warning light is illuminated and the transmission enters failsafe mode. fault code 4f81 (ratio monitoring, clutch a), in some cases combined with the subsequent faults 507b/507c (parking gear sensor implausible s | 02/07/2011 | |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | ||||||
| EA12002 | BMW of North America, LLC | 04/10/2012 | 01/24/2013 | Vehicle Rollaway | 12V502000 | |
| In a letter dated october 16, 2012, bmw of north america, llc (bmw) submitted a defect information report (dir), nhtsa recall no. 12v-502 to nhtsa identifying a safety defect involving the possibility of unattended vehicle rollaway in my 2005 through 2008 bmw 7-series (approximately 45,000) vehicles equipped with the comfort access option.the comfort access option allows the driver to start and stop the engine (by pressing the engine start / stop button) without inserting the key fob into the vehicles key slot in the instrument panel.subject vehicles not equipped with the comfort access option require the key fob be inserted the key slot to start the engine.upon removal of the key from the key slot the vehicle will automatically shift to park if the driver has not done so using the gearshift lever.sunject vehicles equipped with the comfort access option are designed such that when the vehicle is stopped with the service brakes applied and the transmission in drive or reverse, the driver can push the engine start/stop button one time, stopping the engine and automatically shifting the transmission to park.in its dir, bmw identified a condition such that if the driver depressed the start-stop button multiple times in rapid succession, the transmission could shift to neutral instead of park.with the transmission in neutral, depending on the slope of the road, the vehicle could rollaway if unattended.in review of data submitted to the office of defects investigation (odi) and of reports submitted to bmw, odi identified 20 reports alleging vehicle rollaway involving vehicles equipped with comfort access.the vehicles identified in these reports are all subject to recall 12v-502.ten of these reports were identified as likely related to the defect described in recall 12v-502.two of the reports are likely related to other mechanical failures.the remaining 8 allegations of vehicle rollaway could not be associated with a specific cause.there are 32 reports alleging vehicle rollaway in the subject vehicles not equipped with the comfort access option.a vehicle based safety defect trend was not identified in these reports.subject vehicles not equipped the comfort access option will automatically shift to park once the key fob is removed from the key slot.in this regard these vehicles behave similarly to those with traditional mechanical keys where the key cannot be removed from the ignition unless the vehicle is shifted to park.the difference between these vehicles and the subject vehicles with the comfort access option is that in the comfort access equipped vehicles, the engine can be started and stopped without the key fob in the key slot.odi reports 10429922 and 10419177 noted in the ea opening resume were determined to be vehicles not equipped with the comfort access option and odi did not identify a vehicle based safety defect associated with these incidents.this investigation is closed.the odi report cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/complaints under the following identification (odi) numbers:10185770 | ||||||
| PE11025 | BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC | 08/05/2011 | 04/23/2012 | Vehicle Rollaway | ||
| In response to the office of defects investigation's (odi) information request (ir) for pe11-025, bmw provided odi with 1 complaint and 46 field reports relating to either incidents of unattended vehicle rollaway or vehicle movement after the driver expected the vehicle gearshift to automatically shift to park. odi's analysis of the data provided by bmw identified 14 crashes and 5 alleged injuries. odi has also identified 3 additional reports in its database alleging vehicle rollaway incidents of which 2 resulted in crashes.the subject vehicles are all equipped with push-buttons (start/stop button) to control starting/stopping the engine and shift-by-wire gearshift systems controlled by a column mounted selector lever behind the steering wheel. the start/stop button also controls switching the ignition and the radio ready state on and off. shift-by-wire systems replace the traditional mechanical connection (e.g., cable or linkage) between the gearshift and automatic transmission with an electronic connection controlled by a computer module. when parking the vehicle, the driver has the capability to manually shift the vehicle to park by pressing the park button on the end of the electronic gearshift lever. however, the instructions for engine shutoff provided in the owner's manual state that pressing the start/stop button serves the dual function of switching off the engine and automatically shifting the transmission to park.in response to odi's information request for pe11-025, bmw described several circumstances where the subject vehicles may shift to neutral when the driver may expect it to automatically shift to park. first, for comfort access system (cas) vehicles, if the transmission is in neutral when the key fob is in the ignition slot and the start/stop button is pressed to shut-off the engine, the transmission will remain in neutral. this is referred to as the carwash mode and is a normal operating feature of the vehicles that is described in the owner's manual. bmw also described two circumstances that are not normal operating features and are not described in the owners' manual: (1) with the transmission in drive or reverse and the engine running, if the start/stop button is pushed 2 or 3 times within a 0.3 second to 0.5 second interval, the engine will stop and the transmission will shift to neutral; and 2) if the park button on the gearshift lever is pressed at the same time that the gearshift lever is actuated (i.e., toggled up or down) to select drive, reverse or neutral; the transmission will shift to neutral or remain in neutral.beginning in model year (my) 2005, bmw introduced cas as an optional feature package for the subject vehicles.the key for cas equipped vehicles is an electronic code that is sent to the engine control module by a remote transmitter (key fob). an optional docking port (key slot) is provided for driver convenience or to put the vehicle into car wash mode, which allows for engine shutoff in neutral. bmw sold approximately 45,000 subject vehicles with cas and approximately 94 percent of the cas equipped vehicles were produced from my 2006 through 2008. non-cas subject vehicles were produced from my 2002 through 2008 and require the remote control to be in the ignition slot located next to the start/stop button to start the engine.the 50 incidents identified by odi's analysis of complaints and field reports include 18 involving cas vehicles (39.6 incidents per 100,000 vehicles) and 32 involving non-cas vehicles (42.0 incidents per 100,000 vehicles). because the incidents are considered random events, the failure rates were also adjusted for vehicle exposure, resulting in rates of 7.9 and 5.5 incidents per 100,000 vehicle-years for the cas and non-cas vehicles, respectively.this investigation is being upgraded to an engineering analysis (ea12-002) to further assess the potential safety consequences of the alleged defect in the subject vehicles. | ||||||
| EA12002 | BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC | 04/10/2012 | Vehicle Rollaway | |||
| In response to the office of defects investigation's (odi) information request (ir) for pe11-025, bmw provided odi with 1 complaint and 46 field reports relating to either incidents of unattended vehicle rollaway or vehicle movement after the driver expected the vehicle gearshift to automatically shift to park.odi's analysis of the data provided by bmw identified 14 crashes and 5 alleged injuries.odi has also identified 3 additional reports in its database alleging vehicle rollaway incidents of which 2 resulted in crashes. the subject vehicles are all equipped with push-buttons (start/stop button) to control starting/stopping the engine and shift-by-wire gearshift systems controlled by a column mounted selector lever behind the steering wheel.the start/stop button also controls switching the ignition and the radio ready state on and off.shift-by-wire systems replace the traditional mechanical connection(e.g., cable or linkage) between the gearshift and automatic transmission with an electronic connection controlled by a computer module.when parking the vehicle, the driver has the capability to manually shift the vehicle to park by pressing the park button on the end of the electronic gearshift lever.however, the instructions for engine shutoff provided in the owner's manual state that pressing the start/stop button serves the dual function of switching off the engine and automatically shifting the transmission to park.in response to odi's information request for pe11-025, bmw described several circumstances where the subject vehicles may shift to neutral when the driver may expect it to automatically shift to park.first, for comfort access system (cas) vehicles, if the transmission is in neutral when the key fob is in the ignition slot and the start/stop button is pressed to shut-off the engine, the transmission will remain in neutral.this is referred to as the carwash mode and is a normal operating feature of the vehicles that is described in the owner | ||||||
| PE11025 | BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC | 08/05/2011 | Vehicle Rollaway Allegations | |||
| The office of defects investigation has received a complaint from a consumer alleging a rollaway incident with a model year (my) 2006 bmw 7-series vehicle after parking and exiting the vehicle.the complaint vehicle was equipped with bmw's comfort access electronic access and ignition system and an electronic transmission shifter with the gear selector mounted on the steering column.the shifter is designed to automatically shift the vehicle to park under a variety of conditions, including after the driver has pressed the ignition button to turn the engine off. early warning reporting data submitted to odi by bmw include field reports describing additional rollaway incidents in similarly equipped my 2002 through 2008 bmw 7-series vehicles.thus far, no cause has been identified for any of the rollaway incidents. a preliminary evaluation has been opened to assess the scope, frequency and causes of rollaway incidents in the subject vehicles. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 01/29/2012 | 119000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745i. the contact stated that the vehicle was parked in the garage when the gear shifted out of park and into reverse. as a result, the vehicle crashed into the garage wall. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostics but the diagnostic failed to produce any failure codes. the dealer stated there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure but the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 119,000. the vin was not available. | |||
| 01/29/2012 | 119000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745i. the contact stated that the vehicle was parked in the garage when the gear shifted out of park and into reverse. as a result, the vehicle crashed into the garage wall. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostics but the diagnostic failed to produce any failure codes. the dealer stated there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure but the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 119,000. the vin was not available. kmj | |||
| 01/29/2012 | 119000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745i. the contact stated that the vehicle was parked in the garage, when the gear shifted out of park position, into reverse, and crashed into the garage wall. the vehicle was taken to the dealer a diagnostic, was performed, that was unable to locate a failure code. the dealer stated there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 119,000. li | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 03/12/2011 | 51550 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 bmw 760li. while driving above 50 mph, the contact stated that the vehicle would shake excessively and then stall without warning similar to nhtsa campaign id number: 04v344000 (power train:automatic transmission:control module (tcm, pcm). both the dealer and manufacturer advised the contact that his vehicle was not included in the previous recall and offered no additional assistance. no repairs were performed. the current mileages was 51,600 and the failure mileages was 51,550. | |||
| 03/12/2011 | 51550 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 bmw 760li. while driving at speeds above 50 mph, the contact stated that the vehicle would shake excessively and then stall without warning similar to nhtsa campaign id number: 04v344000 (power train:automatic transmission:control module (tcm, pcm). both the dealer and manufacturer advised the contact that his vehicle was not included in the previous recall and offered no additional assistance. no repairs were performed. the current mileages were 51,600 and the failure mileages were 51,550. bw | |||
| 08/18/2004 | 2386 | 3 | 04/03/2004 |
| After two weeks of purchase, the vehicle went into neutral mode with the gear shift still in drive without warning. the consumer coasted the vehicle to the side of the road. on a separate occasion, the power steering failed and became difficult to operate for directional control twice. on both items the dealership was unable to duplicate the problem. please provide details. *jb the consumer was told there was a 9/1/04 recall notice to reprogram this model vehicle. the consumer was told that his vehicle was not during this recall period. *tc | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM) | |||
| 07/23/2004 | 750 | 1 | 07/01/2004 |
| I purchased a 2004 bmw 745li on july 1, 2004. a week later, i was called and told of this recall. i'm now told that it will take a month to even get a part for this car. i feel that bmw knew of this defect prior top delivering me this car and therefore, sold me a defective product. i would like to know, eif your records reflect when bmw knew of this defect.i also do not feel that a month is not a sufficinet time to replace this one part. when i called bmw, they told me that the cars registered in germany will be repaired first. this is wrong, we should get better treatment from bmw as we represent their largest market segment. is there any provision under our laws that would make them have to either give us preferential treatment or at least equal treatment in effectuating these repairs? i personally would like to have them either more quickly repair my vehicle, or repalce it, or release me from the lease contract. they don't seem to want to do anything other than tell me they're sorry. meanwhile, i'm paying $1,4000 per rmonth (already made 2 payments) and haven't even been able to put 800 miles on the car. perhaps you can help.*ak | |||
| POWER TRAIN - TRANSFER CASE (4-WHEEL DRIVE) | |||
| 04/24/2005 | 21000 | 1 | |
| Vehicle became hard to control, and consumer was able to contain it. after coming to a full stop rear driver's wheel continued to spin. vehicle had to be towed, and no defects were found.*ak | |||