NHTSA Complaint #10342390 — 2002 BMW 530I

I HAVE A 2002 BMW 530I WITH AUTO TRANSMISSION. TRANNY MODEL 5HP19. AT AROUND 85,000, SOMETIME IN MID-JULY 2006, I BEGAN TO HAVE AN INTERMITTENT (ON FOR MAYBE 300-500 MILES, THEN OFF FOR AROUND 7000 TO 10000 MILES) CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THE CEL CODE WAS ALWAYS DIAGNOSED AS P0741 - "TORQUE CONVERTER CLUTCH CIRCUIT PERFORMANCE OR STUCK OFF." SINCE 120,000 MILES, THE SAME CODE IS MUCH MORE FREQUENT, MAYBE 600-800 MILES BETWEEN TURNING ON-OFF. I HAVE CONTACTED MY BMW DEALERSHIP ABOUT THIS SINCE THE FIRST TIME IT OCCURRED AT AROUND 85,000 MILES, AND A FEW TIMES AFTER SINCE. THEY SAID THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NEED TO BE REBUILT AY MY COST, ALTHOUGH THIS IS A VERY COMMON OCCURRENCE AND THERE IS A SERVICE BULLETIN ON THIS. AFTER TALKING TO OTHER BMW OWNERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM, AND GETTING A COPY OF THE SERVICE BULLETIN, IT WOULD SEEM THAT THIS IS A COMMONLY KNOWN AND RECURRING PROBLEM THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIXED. I BELIEVE THAT BMW SHOULD FIX THIS PROBLEM AT THEIR COST, EVEN IF THE VEHICLE IS OF HIGH MILEAGE (AS MINE HAS 160,000 MILES NOW.) THE SERVICE BULLETIN SAYS THE PROBLEM IS A BAD TORQUE CONVERTER SEAL. HERE IS PARTIAL TEXT OF THE BMW SERVICE BULLETIN: THIS SERVICE INFORMATION BULLETIN SUPERSEDES SI 24 03 06 DATED FEBRUARY 2008. DESIGNATES CHANGES TO THIS REVISION SUBJECT ZF 5HP19 TRANSMISSION - DIAGNOSIS OF EGS FC 048 (30 HEX) MODEL E46: 323I, 325I, 330I WITH M52TU, M54, M56 AND ZF 5HP19 E39: 525I, 530I WITH M54 AND ZF 5HP19 E85: Z4 ROADSTER 2.5, 3.0 WITH M54 AND ZF 5HP19 SITUATION "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" IS ILLUMINATED AND FAULT CODE 048 "CONVERTER LOCK-UP EXCESSIVE SLIP" (30 HEX OR P0741) IS STORED IN THE EGS TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE. CAUSE POSSIBLE CAUSE: DETERIORATION OF THE TORQUE CONVERTER TURBINE SHAFT SEAL *END SERVICE BULLETIN TEXT* ALL I SIMPLY WANT IS BMW TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM AT THEIR COST. THE PROBLEM CAUSES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, WHICH PREVENTS ME FROM OBTAINING A CLEAR SMOG TEST ON MY CAR TO REGISTER IT. *TR