NHTSA Complaint #10344180 — 2005 BMW 545I

I PURCHASED MY USED 2005 BMW 545I WITH ONLY 55K MILES ON IT IN MAY 2009. ON OR ABOUT MARCH 2010, THE VEHICLE STARTED JERKING DURING ACCELERATION AND SOMETIMES A HARD "JOLT" AS IF YOU HIT A LARGE OBJECT IN THE ROAD OR HIT BY ANOTHER VEHICLE FROM THE REAR. ON ACCELERATION, THE CAR WILL SOMETIMES REV WAY UP, WITHOUT ENGAGING THE TRANSMISSION, AND THEN SLAM INTO ACTION SO FAST THAT IT FEELS LIKE BEING HIT FROM BEHIND. IT IS LIFE-THREATENINGLY DANGEROUS, BECAUSE WHEN IT HAPPENS, IT IS SUCH A SHOCK YOU ARE DISTRACTED FROM DRIVING. IT NORMALLY HAPPENS FROM A FULL STOP, BUT HAS HAPPENED ON THE FREEWAY NUMEROUS TIMES AS I WAS TRYING TO MOVE FROM A SLOW LANE TO A FASTER LANE. WHEN IT SLAMS, THE NATURAL TENDENCY IS TO LET OFF THE GAS, HOWEVER, THERE WAS FASTER TRAFFIC APPROACHING FROM THE REAR, AND I ALMOST GOT HIT. AFTER CHECKING POPULAR BMW OWNER WEBSITES SUCH AS BIMMERFEST, I NOTICED THERE WERE COUNTLESS OWNERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE SAME MODEL YEARS (2004-2005 545I) WHICH HAS THE V-8 ENGINE AND DRIVE TRAIN. BMW HAS NOT RECALLED THIS DEFECT AS OF THIS DATE AND WILL NOT UNLESS SOMEONE GETS KILLED, SERIOUSLY INJURED, OR RECEIVE MAJOR PUBLIC EMBARRASSMENT LIKE TOYOTA'S ACCELERATOR PROBLEMS. I WAS INFORMED THAT THERE IS A SOFTWARE UPGRADE (FIX) AVAILABLE FROM BMW THAT WILL FIX THIS PROBLEM, BUT THEY PREFER CUSTOMERS TO PAY OUT OF POCKET (OUT OF WARRANTY CUSTOMERS) OPPOSED TO VOLUNTARY RECALLS FORCED BY THE GOVERNMENT OR BAD PR FROM THE MEDIA PRESS. THE BMW SERVICE INFORMATION BULLETIN (SIB) THAT ADDRESSES THIS PROBLEM IS: 24 03 05 SOFTWARE UPDATE FOR TRANSMISSION. I PLAN TO TAKE THIS MATTER TO THE MEDIA PRESS IF SOLUTIONS AREN'T OFFERED FROM BMW OR THE GOVERNMENT. *TR