NHTSA Complaint #10441689 — 2006 BMW 330XI

I GOT INTO MY CAR ON THE MORNING OF THE 29TH DEC. 2011. I SHOWED A YELLOW STEERING WHEEL LOCK CODE (INDICATING A POSSIBLE PROBLEM). I DROVE THE CAR AFTER WORK WITH NO PROBLEMS ALTHOUGH PLANNING ON GETTING THE VEHICLE INTO SERVICE JUST TO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT. I PULLED INTO THE DRIVEWAY AND PARKED THE CAR, RETURNED TO IT 15 MIN LATER AND IT WOULDNT START! AFTER FURTHER INVESTIGATION INTO THE PROBLEM THE CAR SHOWED A RED STEERING WHEEL LOCK CODE INDICATING IT WOULD NO LONGER START. AFTER DEEP INVESTIGATION I FIND THE THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM ON HUNDREDS OF THE SAME MODEL CAR AS MINE. MOST PEOPLE ARE TOLD TO REPROGRAM THE COMPUTER AND/OR REPLACE THE STEERING COLUMN (SOMETIMES MULTIPLE TIMES) AND THEN MOST STILL HAVE PROBLEMS. *KB