NHTSA Complaint #10346455 — 2008 BMW 335I

ON JULY 24, 2010, MY 2008 BMW 335I SEDAN EXPERIENCED AN HPFP FAILURE IN HEAVY TRAFFIC AT HIGHWAY SPEED. MY 335I (DELIVERED JULY 2008) HAS HAD LONG START CRANKS FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR. MY WASHINGTON, DC BMW DEALERSHIP HAS SAID IT CANNOT REPLACE THE HPFP UNTIL IT FAILS OR THROWS AN ELECTRONIC CODE. ON JULY 24, I WAS DRIVING APPROX 500 MILES TO A VACATION. 350 MILES INTO THE TRIP, ON I-87 AT APPROX 65MPH IN VERY HEAVY TRAFFIC, A CAR CUT INTO MY (MIDDLE) LANE. I MOVED TO THE LEFT LANE AND QUICKLY APPLIED MEDIUM THROTTLE TO KEEP UP WITH TRAFFIC. MY ENGINE STUMBLED SEVERELY AS I CHANGED LANES/ACCELERATED AND THE HALF-POWER ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THE CAR BEGAN RUNNING EXTREMELY ROUGHLY, WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AND LOST SPEED RAPIDLY, IN THE LEFT LANE OF VERY CROWDED HIGHWAY. THE CAR BEHIND ME NEARLY REAR-ENDED ME. I SHUT OFF ANY ACCESSORIES (AIR CONDITIONING, STEREO, ETC.), PUSHED THE GAS PEDAL TO THE FLOOR AND WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN APPROX 50-55MPH ON A LONG DOWNHILL AS I MERGED OVER TO THE RIGHT LANE AND WAS ABLE TO GET OUT OF TRAFFIC. AS I PULLED OFF, THE CAR NEARED A STALL, WITH THE ENGINE IDLE JUMPING WILDLY. I TURNED THE CAR OFF. A MINUTE OR TWO AFTER TURNING IT BACK ON, THE HALF-POWER ENGINE ICON CAME ON AGAIN, ALONG WITH A SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT, AND THE ENGINE AGAIN HAD ALMOST NO POWER TO ACCELERATE AND RAN ROUGHLY. THE HPFP AND LOWER PRESSURE FUEL SENSOR WERE REPLACED BY KEELER BMW, LATHAM, NY, ON JULY 29, 2010. MY CAR HAD RECEIVED THE SOFTWARE UPDATE DURING A PAST SERVICE. I'VE KNOWN ABOUT THE HPFP PROBLEM FOR SEVERAL YEARS. BECAUSE OF THE LONG CRANKS, I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR MINE TO FAIL AND HOPED IT WOULD NOT BE IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION. I NOTED A RECENT ARTICLE IN WHICH A BMW SPOKESPERSON SAID THE FAILURES ARE NOT OCCURRING AT HIGHWAY SPEED. GIVEN MY EXPERIENCE, BMW NEEDS TO BE HONEST ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. I WAS DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED, IN VERY HEAVY TRAFFIC, AND FEEL FORTUNATE TO HAVE COME OUT WITHOUT GETTING IN AN ACCIDENT OR WORSE. *TR