NHTSA Complaint #10424226 — 2002 BMW 745I

AFTER HAVING MY CAR SERVICED APPROXIMATELY THREE MONTHS PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT AND THEN COMPLAINING TO THE DEALERSHIP AFTER I PICKED IT UP FROM BEING SERVICED THAT MY CAR WAS IDLING ROUGH, I WAS ADVISED BY THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN TO CHANGE TO TEXACO GAS. I WAS GOING ON VACATION TO VIRGINIA AND WAS ON I95 DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 60 MILES PER HOUR, WHEN MY CAR STARTED SHUTTING DOWN IN THE FAST LANE AS CARS WERE TRAVELING BEHIND ME AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. I WAS ABLE TO MANEUVER MYSELF OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE BELTWAY BEFORE MY CAR SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY AND WENT INTO DRIVER FAILSAFE MODE, WHICH I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANT. I WAS LATER TOLD BY A BMW DEALERSHIP THAT THE MECHATRONIC UNIT WENT BAD AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION TO THE TUNE OF $9,000 WITH A REMANUFACTURED TRANSMISSION, WHICH I FELT WAS OBSCURED. I HAVE DONE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH AND THEY HAD NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WITH THAT YEARS MODEL AND ESPECIALLY WITH THE TRANSMISSIONS THAT WERE BUILT BY GM. GM RECALLED OTHER 2002 VEHICLES WITH THOSE TRANSMISSIONS IN THEM, BUT BMW WILL NOT OWN UP TO THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINES TRANSMISSION FAILURE. I FEEL THAT AS A CONSUMER WHO HAS INVESTED A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY FOR THIS LUXURY VEHICLE AND WHO HAS ALSO HAVE MAINTAINED THE SERVICE AND UPKEEP, THAT MY LIFE AND POTENTIALLY THE LIVES OF OTHERS SHOULD NOT BE JEOPARDIZED BY THE ARROGANCE OF A COMPANY TO NOT OWN UP TO THIS MAJOR PROBLEM. THE INCIDENT COULD HAVE ENDED IN TRAGEDY AND IT SHOULD NOT HAVE TO TAKE THAT TO HOLD A COMPANY ACCOUNTABLE FOR POOR QUALITY AND WORKMANSHIP. IF YOU LOOK INTO IT, YOU WILL FIND THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS CHANGED IN 2003 DUE TO THE ISSUES THAT FOUND WITH THE 2002 MODEL. I WANT THEM TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF THE FAULTY TRANSMISSION IN MY CAR AND OTHERS. SO MY ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE SITS COVERED. I TRIED REACHING OUT TO BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, BUT TO NO AVAIL. *TR