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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - SWITCH | ||||||||||||||||
| 12V502000 | BMW of North America, LLC | from 08/23/2004 to 07/24/2008 | V (Vehicle) | 45500 | ODI | BMW of North America, LLC | 10/17/2012 | 10/18/2012 | ||||||||
| Defect Summary | Bmw is recalling certain model year 2005-2008 7-series vehicles, equipped with the comfort access option, and manufactured august 23, 2004, through july 24, 2008. the affected vehicles have an electronic key and an electronic connection between the gear shifter and the transmission (shift-by-wire) that automatically shifts the transmission to park when the driver presses the start/stop button to shutdown the engine. if the driver presses the engine start/stop button 2 or 3 times within a short time interval, the system may shift the transmission to neutral rather than park. if using the electronic key (comfort access mode), there would be no protection from the ignition interlock that prevents key removal if the vehicle is not in park. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | If the driver exits the vehicle with the transmission in neutral and the parking brake is not applied, the vehicle may rollaway. unattended rollaway incidents often result in a crash or cause injury to pedestrians attempting to stop or enter the vehicle or to other bystanders in the path of the vehicle. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Bmw will notify owners beginning in november 2012, but will not have revised software available to remedy the vehicles until march 2013. owners may call bmw at 1-800-525-7417 or email bmw at customerrelations@bmwusa.com. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty: 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov. | |||||||||||||||
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | ||||||
| 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. | ||||||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - SWITCH | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 01/10/2013 | 84000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2006 bmw 750li. the contact applied the push-to-start ignition and shifted into drive when the transmission automatically shifted into neutral without warning. the contact turned the engine off and upon restarting, the vehicle resumed normally. the failure recurred numerous times. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but was not repaired. there was a recall related to the defect under nhtsa campaign id number 12v502000 (electrical system, power train), however the contact's vin was not included. the manufacturer was notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 84,000. | |||
| 01/10/2013 | 84000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2006 bmw 750li. the contact applied the push-to-start ignition and shifted into drive when the transmission automatically shifted into neutral without warning. the contact turned the engine off and upon restarting, the vehicle resumed normally. the failure recurred numerous times. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but was not repaired. there was a recall related to the defect under nhtsa campaign id number 12v502000 (electrical system, power train), however the contact's vin was not included. the manufacturer was notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 84,000. kmj | |||
| 01/10/2013 | 84000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2006 bmw 750li. the contact applied the push start ignition button and shifted the gear lever into drive then the transmission automatically shifted into the neutral position without any warning. the contact turned the engine off and upon restarting, the vehicle resumed normally. the failure occurred numerous times. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and was not repaired. there was a recall related to the defect under nhtsa campaign id number 12v502000 (electrical system , power train), however the vin was not included. the manufacturer was notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 84,000. js | |||
| 02/22/2013 | 66000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2006 bmw 750li. the contact stated that the front passenger door did not latch properly when closed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the contact was advised that the door lock actuator and outer handle failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted. the failure and current mileages were approximately 66,000. mah | |||
| 12/27/2012 | 94506 | 1 | |
| Driver side door will not close after i attempted to get in the driver seat. *tr | |||
| 12/27/2012 | 94506 | ||
| Driver side door will not close after i attempted to get in the driver seat. | |||
| 11/01/2012 | |||
| Tl- the contact owns 2006 bmw 2006li. the contact stated that the rear driver side door will open on its own. the contact stated the door will open while they are driving or when the vehicle is sitting still. the contact found nhtsa recall campaign id number:12v504000(latches/locks/linkages:doors:latch) for the software correction and asked the manufacturer, but was told the vehicle was not included in the recall.the failure mileage was unknown, but the current mileage was 73,600.rl | |||
| 07/18/2012 | 90000 | 1 | |
| The seat sensor is failing on the driver side reporting a driver restraint system fault. causing error of airbag system. possibly due to massage seat leaking. read numerous reports about same error fault on bimmerfest.com forums. *tr | |||
| 04/06/2012 | 32000 | ||
| The right side passenger soft auto close latch is not working. the latch somehow tries to unlock when trying to soft close and door remains open. door has to be manually hard closed due to this issue. this seems to be a widespread problem for a $100k car. no updates or reset option available on the internet. | |||
| 03/17/2011 | 62000 | ||
| A major bmw safety concern. on a 2006 bmw 750 li, randomly, the driver's door will not latch. nothing holds the door closed and at highway speeds the door swings open and has to be held close by the driver's hand. when the door won't latch the key fob and the interior electric lock buttons do not work. this is a major safety issue the factory ignores stating the car is out of warranty and any repair must be paid for by the owner. electronic door latches must be designed to last the life of the car. randomly the driver's door will not latch and repeatedly closing the door has no apparent effect. leaving the car in a lot when the driver's door will not latch leaves the contents unsecured. traveling at highway speeds and noticing the driver's door is not latched is very scary and i'm afraid in the event of an accident death could be a direct result. | |||
| 02/25/2010 | 56000 | 1 | |
| The car, while driving, rebooted its internal systems and the car had a 2-second shut-down and greatly reduced speed and responsiveness. when the dashboard and middle console came functional again, it displayed several warnings that certain features (like dynamic drive) were shut off and the car needs to go to a dealership. this car has been plagued with electronic problems since its purchase and has been in the shop every two weeks with a system failing or shutting off. bmw has proposed many solutions but have yet to fix it, and after the last fix the car started to reboot itself and turn off safety features. the car has had a version update of the software but that has seemed to make matters worse. i have pictures of the on-display faults that were being displayed as well as a video recording of the system rebooting itself. *tr | |||