NHTSA Complaint #10447469 — 2007 BMW X5 SAV

THE TRANSMISSION MECHATRONIC SEALING SLEEVE LEAKED FLUID AND LEFT PUDDLE OF OIL/FLUID ON MY GARAGE FLOOR. THE EARLY DIAGNOSIS SHOWED ENGINE OIL LEAK AND EVENTUALLY CONCLUDED IT WAS TRANSMISSION FLUID LEAK RECENTLY, WHILE THE VEHICLE LEAKED THE FLUID DURING A LONG PERIOD OF TIME THAT WE DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT LEAKED ALREADY. THE TRANSMISSION IS A SEALED UNIT AND OWNER HAS NO WAY TO CHECK THE FLUID LEVEL VIA A DIPSTICK OR ANY MEAN. THE AUTOMATIC SENSOR SYSTEM ONLY CHECKS ENGINE OIL, BRAKE FLUID, POWER STEERING FLUID, ETC BUT NOT REPORTS TRANSMISSION FLUID LEVEL. SO, THERE IS NO WAY ANY BMW OWNER WOULD KNOW IF THE TRANSMISSION FLUID IS LOW OR TOTALLY EMPTY. THIS WOULD POST SAFETY ISSUE IF A VEHICLE BREAKS DOWN IN A MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC DUE TO TRANSMISSION FLUID LEAK PROBLEM WITHOUT ANY WARNING SIGN. FURTHERMORE, BMW HAS PUBLISHED A TECHNICAL SERVICE INFORMATION "SI B 24 08 06" DATED MARCH 2010 FOR THIS PARTICULAR PROBLEM. BMW DID NOT NOTIFY OWNER TO CHECK THE VEHICLE FOR SIGN OF TRANSMISSION FLUID LEAK, NOR ASKED DEALER TO INSPECT THE VEHICLE DURING SERVICE VISITS. AS A MATTER OF FACT, MY 2007 X5 HAS NEVER BEEN INSPECTED FOR THIS PROBLEM BUT IT CLEARLY HAD THIS PROBLEM! CONSIDERING IT IS A LOW MILEAGE VEHICLE, THIS PROBLEM SHOULD NOT EXIST NORMALLY. THUS, THE WORKMANSHIP OR MATERIAL BMW USED IN THE (TRANSMISSION) ASSEMBLY FACTORY HAS POOR QUALITY AND CAUSES THIS SAFETY CONCERN. THERE WAS A SAYING IF A VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN TOO MUCH, OR A VEHICLE WAS SITTING THERE OR NOT BEEN DRIVEN FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, IT WOULD HAVE THIS PROBLEM. SUCH A SAYING SHOULD NOT BE A FACTOR OF DESIGN OR QUALITY CONTROL OF BMW (OR ANY) VEHICLE AND I URGE BMW RECALLS ALL VEHICLE TO CHECK FOR TRANSMISSION LEAK DUE TO THIS PROBLEM AND PAYS FOR ALL NECESSARY REPAIR. *TR