NHTSA Complaint #10158878 — 1996 BMW 318TI

I AM AN ENGINEER WHO PERFORMS FAILURE ANALYSIS - MY OBSERVATIONS ARE BASED ON SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE IN THIS FIELD. THE CAR IS A 1996 BMW 318TI WITH A 5 SPD MANUAL TRANSMISSION. THE ENGINE IS STOCK. I WAS DRIVING MY 318TI ON THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY AND NOTICED THAT THE SPEED WAS INCREASING WITHOUT THROTTLE INPUT. I TURNED THE CRUISE CONTROL OFF THINKING THAT IT SOMEHOW HAD MALFUNCTIONED - THE SPEED CONTINUED TO INCREASE. WHEN THE SPEED PASSED 80 MPH, I DEPRESSED THE CLUTCH, WHICH OF COURSE ALLOWED THE CAR TO SLOW, BUT THE ENGINE IMMEDIATELY ATTEMPTED TO REDLINE - AS THE TACH GOT CLOSE TO THE RED LINE, I SHUT THE IGNITION OFF, AND STEERED THE CAR TO THE SHOULDER. WITH THE CAR IN NEUTRAL, I TRY TO START IT AGAIN, AND THE ENGINE SPEED INCREASED VERY RAPIDLY TO REDLINE. I TRIED THIS 3-4 TIMES OVER 5 MINUTES WITH THE SAME RESULT EACH TIME. I FINALLY OPENED THE HOOD AND FOUND THAT THE THROTTLE CABLE HAD COME LOOSE FROM THE PLASTIC BUSHING ON THE LEVER HOUSING. THIS PROBLEM WAS THE SUBJECT OF A 1997 RECALL, AND MY CAR HAD THE REPAIRS MADE (METAL RINGS) THAT WERE SPECIFIED IN THE RECALL. THEY SEEM TO BE FAILING NOW. THERE IS A NEWS ARTICLE FROM ENGLAND THAT SEEMS TO SHOW AN IDENTICAL FAILURE IN A 318. THE DRIVERS NAME IS KEVIN NICOLLE, AND THE STORY APPEARED ON THIS WEB PAGE ( HTTP://WWW.TELEGRAPH.CO.UK/NEWS/MAIN.JHTML?XML=/NEWS/2006/03/11/NTRAPPED11.XML ). THE RECALL EFFECTED 410,000 CARS - THIS RECALL SHOULD BE REVISITED AS THE REPAIR SEEMS TO HAVE CREATED ANOTHER FAILURE MODE THAT LEADS TO UNEXPECTED ACCELERATION. I HAVE A PHOTO OF THE THROTTLE CABLE / CABLE BUSHING AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE - I CAN FORWARD IT TO ANY INTERESTED PARTIES. *NM