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 | |||
| 10/06/2010 | 94000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. the contact stated that while driving 30 mph and attempting to merge onto the highway, the transmission safe mode activated as the vehicle decelerated independently. the contact also mentioned that the dynamic drive warning light activated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. the technician was unable to diagnose the failure however, the contact stated that the transmission control module could possibly become defective. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance because the vehicle was not included in any recalls. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 94,000 and the current mileage was 120,000. | |||
| 10/06/2010 | 94000 | ||
| Tl - the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. the contact stated that while driving 30 mph and attempting to merge onto the highway, the transmission safe mode activated as the vehicle decelerated independently. the contact also mentioned that the dynamic drive warning light activated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. the technician was unable to diagnose the failure however, the contact stated that the transmission control module could possibly become defective. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance because the vehicle was not included in any recalls. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 94,000 and the current mileage was 120,000. kmj | |||
| 10/06/2010 | 94000 | ||
| Tl - the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. the contact stated that while driving 30 mph attempting to merged into the interstate, the vehicle went into transmission failed safe mode and decelerated. the contact mentioned that the dynamic drive warning activated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. the technician was unable to diagnosed the failure but he believed the transmission control module might be defective. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was not included in any recalls. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 94,000 and the current mileage was 120,000. pm | |||
| 06/01/2012 | 180000 | 1 | |
| Sensor malfunction causes transmission to shift into alternate gears while car is in motion. while in drive car would shift into reverse or neutral by itself with no operator control. *tr | |||
| 06/01/2012 | 180000 | ||
| Sensor malfunction causes transmission to shift into alternate gears while car is in motion. while in drive car would shift into reverse or neutral by itself with no operator control. | |||
| 03/12/2012 | 105000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. while driving approximately 15 mph, the vehicle stalled. the contact attempted to restart the vehicle with much hesitation from the engine. the power steering light then illuminated and the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. in addition, the brake power assist warning signal also illuminated. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. the contact referenced two recalls under nhtsa campaign id number: 10v446000 (service brakes, hydraulic:power assist:vacuum) and 04v344000 (power train:automatic transmission:control module (tcm, pcm)) that could have been related to the failure. the manufacturer was made aware of the failures and advised the contact that the vin was not included in either recall. the approximate failure mileage was 105,000. kmj | |||
| 03/12/2012 | 105000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. while driving at approximately 15 mph the vehicle suddenly stalled. when the contact attempted to restart the vehicle it hesitated to start. after the contact started the vehicle the power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel. the steering became difficult to maneuver. the contact stated the brake power assist warning signal displayed on the instrument panel. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic. there were two recalls under nhtsa campaign id number: 10v446000 (service brakes, hydraulic:power assist:vacuum) and nhtsa campaign id number: 04v344000 (power train:automatic transmission:control module (tcm, pcm)) that may be related to the failures. the manufacturer was made aware of the failures and stated the vin was not included in the recall. the approximate failure mileage was 105,000. da | |||
| 07/01/2011 | 80071 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. the contact stated that while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled. on a separate occasion, the vehicle was parked, but began to roll backward out of a garage. the contact stopped the vehicle by engaging the emergency brake and all of the lights illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer to have the failure diagnosed. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 80,071. | |||
| 07/01/2011 | 80071 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. the contact stated that while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled. on a separate occasion, the vehicle was parked, but began to roll backward out of a garage. the contact stopped the vehicle by engaging the emergency brake and all of the lights illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer to have the failure diagnosed. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileages were 80,071. sm. | |||
| 07/01/2011 | 80071 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745 li. the contact stated that while driving 15 mph the vehicle stalled. on a different occasion, she park the vehicle but it did not engaged and the vehicle started rolling back out of the garage. the contact mentioned that she was able to stop the vehicle by engaging the emergency brake and all of the light on the instrument panel illuminated. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure who referred her to the dealer. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 80,071. pm | |||
| 09/05/2011 | |||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. the contact stated that the power steering and brakes failed repeatedly. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer to have the failure repaired twice before locating nhtsa campaign id number:04v344000 (power train: automatic transmission: control module -tcm, pcm). the manufacturer was contacted and advised the contact that the vehicle was not included in the recall even though the failure was identical. the failure mileage was unknown. | |||
| 09/05/2011 | |||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. the contact stated that the power steering and brakes failed repeatedly. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer to have the failure repaired twice before locating nhtsa campaign id number:04v344000 (power train: automatic transmission: control module -tcm, pcm). the manufacturer was contacted and advised the contact that the vehicle was not included in the recall even though the failure was identical. the failure mileage was unknown. kmj | |||
| 09/05/2011 | |||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745i. the contact stated the power steering and brakes have failed on the vehicle more than once. the contact took the vehicle into the dealer to have the failures repaired twice before finding nhtsa recall campaign id number:04v344000(power train: automatic transmission: control module (tcm, pcm). the manufacturer told the contact the vehicle was not included in the recall even though the failure was what is listed in the recall. the current mileage was 160,000.rl | |||
| 05/21/2009 | 28000 | 1 | |
| Transmission has been failing on my 2004 754li the first year i purchased it. i have sent to the vist bmw in cypress creek florida over 20 times it stayed in the their hands for weeks on end and always told me there is nothing wrong with it. for years it was a constant chore to drive 30 miles to their facility and for them to inspect my complaint to simply to tell me that there is nothing wrong with it. low and behold my warranty expired and when i went there again, they said well it seems like your transmission is slipping and would need extensive repairs. immediately, i complained and began to request supervisors. they once again contacted the bmw north america supervisor who said they will not warranty this complaint regardless of the documented history. i have wasted over 100 days of my car being in the shop and at this point i cannot drive my car because the transmission is constantly failing and the car is not drivable. i paid close to 90k for this vehicle and plenty of additional monies for rentals and additional repairs due to the inability of the cars transmission to function properly. i don't know what to do...please help in this economy the car's value has depleted and without a proper transmission it is almost worthless. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 04/12/2011 | 109115 | ||
| I purchased a 2004 bmw 745 li from lexus dealership in md, i drove to fayetteville, nc because im in the military. 1 week after being home at ft bragg i started the car in the morning and then the transfail safe light came on when i arrived at work. 4/12/2011 while driving to work in full heavey traffic the coolant light came on with a yellow indicator and told me to drive moderately. while trying to drive to a gas station the red indicator came on and told me to stop safely and this is while in traffic. this computer is always saying somethings wrong when its not and im a fraid that when something is really wrong i wont know if it is legitimate. i checked the coolant level and it was full. oil was a little low but no indicator came on for that. started the car back up and it drove fine. there needs to be a recall on these computers in bmw cars. these computer problem can be a ploy to constanly purge monies from consumers pocket please help. sincerely sfc william jones us army. | |||
| 01/01/2010 | 65000 | ||
| Vehicle type is a 2004 745li bmw v-8 6 speed transmission. when the car is in 5th gear the car hiccups like it wants to up shift but then does not. it cause the car it jerk every 3 to 5 seconds when in 5th gear. when the car is in any other gear in does not do this. i have had a transmission fluid completely changed out. in which the fluid smelled burnt and looked brown in color. bmw says that it is a life time fluid (it is not). when the car is accelerating through 5th gear it does not do the problem either. there is something clearly wrong which the transmission. i have taking the car to two independent transmission shops and they have no idea. i have learned that the car will stay in 6th gear at 45 mph and normally cruise in the city in 4th gear at lower speeds and avoid 5th gear with the use of the manual shifts on the steering wheel. also, the dynamic drive system fails about once a month in which you can turn the car off and on again and the car dynamic drive system works fine for a month or so. this causes the car chassis to roll when cornering. during this time of failure the stereo makes odd noises in which i think it is because the stereo volume is set to get louder as the car speed increases. these issues all tend to happen at the same time. | |||
| 03/08/2011 | 72000 | ||
| Numerous warning lights including possible transmission failure and loss of stability control lit up on my 2004 bmw 745li. the vehicle lost its ability to accelerate, which extremely dangerous in the high traffic situation i was exepriencing on the highway. this failure is in additon to numerous warning indicator lights that appear intermiitenly in the vehcile and then reset themselves once the vehicle is truned off and restarted. the diagnosis by bmw was that the mechatronic unit on the transmission had failed (after only 70,000 miles, this is barely the break in period for these vehicles). the total repari cost was quoted at $5,000. the machatronics unit was replaced and seems to be working for now. upon reading up on issues related to the bmw 745li it is amazing that no major recall has been initiated on its electricals, transmission, and computerized control systems. all of these seem like huge saftey concerns as the vehicle tends to fail while in traffic. | |||
| 05/21/2009 | 28000 | 1 | |
| Transmission has been failing on my 2004 754li the first year i purchased it. i have sent to the vist bmw in cypress creek florida over 20 times it stayed in the their hands for weeks on end and always told me there is nothing wrong with it. for years it was a constant chore to drive 30 miles to their facility and for them to inspect my complaint to simply to tell me that there is nothing wrong with it. low and behold my warranty expired and when i went there again, they said well it seems like your transmission is slipping and would need extensive repairs. immediately, i complained and began to request supervisors. they once again contacted the bmw north america supervisor who said they will not warranty this complaint regardless of the documented history. i have wasted over 100 days of my car being in the shop and at this point i cannot drive my car because the transmission is constantly failing and the car is not drivable. i paid close to 90k for this vehicle and plenty of additional monies for rentals and additional repairs due to the inability of the cars transmission to function properly. i don't know what to do...please help in this economy the car's value has depleted and without a proper transmission it is almost worthless. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM) | |||
| 07/24/2009 | 136000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2004 bmw 745li. the contact stated that the vehicle was stalling while driving 5 mph. in addition, the air bag, engine, and transmission warning lights illuminated. she took the vehicle to the dealer and they stated that the transmission safety module failed. the repair cost was estimated at $1,200. the manufacturer stated that her vin was not included in nhtsa campaign id number 04v344000 (power train: automatic transmission: control module); therefore, they would not assist. the current and failure mileages were 136,000. | |||