NHTSA Complaint #10356826 — 2011 BMW 5 SERIES

I TOOK DELIVERY OF A NEW 2011 535I ON 7/11/10. THE CAR WAS BUILT ON 6/1/10. ON 9/5/10 (ODOMETER READING LESS THAN 2000 MILES), I WAS DRIVING ON LOCAL STREETS AT APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH WHEN THE CAR REPORTED AN ENGINE MALFUNCTION ERROR AND THE CAR SHUTDOWN. I PUSHED THE GAS PEDAL AND THERE WAS NO RESPONSE AND STEERING LOCKED UP. THE CAR WAS PUSHED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THEN TOWED TO THE BMW DEALERSHIP. INITIAL ANALYSIS FROM THE BMW DEALERSHIP WAS THAT THE ERROR RECORDED (FAULT STORED FOR VALVETRONIC SYSTEM. DEVIATION TOO GREAT. FREQUENCY 1 LOGISTICS 38.) DID NOT POINT TO A SPECIFIC COMPONENT FAILURE. THE ERROR DID INDICATE THAT A CERTAIN SOFTWARE LEVEL SHOULD BE LOADED IN THE CAR, BUT THE BMW DEALERSHIP SAID I ALREADY HAD THE CORRECT SOFTWARE LEVEL LOADED. THEY RELOADED THE SOFTWARE LEVEL ANYWAY. THE BMW DEALERSHIP KEPT THE CAR FOR A FEW DAYS OF TESTING AND DRIVING, BUT COULD NOT RECREATE THE PROBLEM. AFTER 3 DAYS, THE BMW DEALERSHIP SAID THAT THEY NOTICED THAT I ACTUALLY DID NOT ORIGINALLY HAVE THE LATEST SOFTWARE PATCH LEVEL INSTALLED IN MY CAR. SO, THE ONLY FIX PROVIDED BY BMW FOR MY ENGINE MALFUNCTION AND SHUTDOWN WAS LOADING A NEW SOFTWARE PATCH LEVEL (PROGRAM I LEVEL NEW F010-10-06-512), THE PREVIOUS SOFTWARE LEVEL LOADED IN MY CAR AT THE PLANT WAS PROGRAM I LEVEL PLANT F010-10-06-511. IT SHOULD BE NOTED, WHILE THE CAR WAS AT THE BMW DEALERSHIP, THEY DID INSTALL THE FIX FOR THE FUEL TANK SENSOR RECALL (BULLETIN 121410). BUT, THE FUEL TANK SENSOR PROBLEM WAS NOT RELATED TO THE ENGINE MALFUNCTION PROBLEM I EXPERIENCED, BECAUSE I HAD AN ACTUAL HALF TANK OF FUEL IN THE CAR AT THE TIME OF MY ENGINE FAILURE. *TR