NHTSA Complaint #10264984 — 2009 BMW M3

SUMMARY: POWER APPLICATION LAG IN 2ND GEAR WITH M3 DUAL CLUTCH TRANSMISSION. SPECIFIC INCIDENT: WHILE ROLLING IN 2ND WITH ABOUT 1500RPM I WAS TRYING TO MERGE ONTO TRAFFIC FROM A MERGING RIGHT LANE THAT WAS ENDING SHORTLY. AFTER I THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO ACCELERATE, I DID SO, BUT THE ENGINE DID NOT PRODUCE POWER FOR THE NEXT 0.5 SECOND. AFTER POWER KICKED IN, IT WAS NO LONGER SAFE TO CONTINUE AS THE ONCOMING CAR WAS CLOSER THAN I HAD CALCULATED BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE. ALSO, POWER KICKED IN AS I WOULD EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN 0.5 SECOND AGO. TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT, I HAD TO BREAK ABRUPTLY CAUSING THE BELTS TO LOCK AND MY WIFE CONSIDERABLE DISCOMFORT. GOOD THING NO ONE WAS BEHIND ME EXPECTING ME TO ACCELERATE. THE OCCURRENCE OF THE LAG IS PREVALENT WHERE THE SYSTEM IS NOT SURE WHETHER THE DRIVER WANTS TO BREAK OR ACCELERATE. I BELIEVE IT NEEDS ATTENTION BY BMW AND APPROPRIATE REPROGRAMMING OF THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL SYSTEM. *TR