NHTSA Complaint #10565341 — 2013 BMW 335I

"LIMP MODE" IS A VERY WELL KNOWN ISSUE AFFECTING 2012-2014 BMW 335I MODELS WITH THE M SPORT PACKAGE. AFTER ACCELERATING FROM A STOP TO 60-65 MPH, AND MERGING INTO TRAFFIC, I EXPERIENCED LIMP MODE. THE CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE, THE RPMS WOULD NOT RISE ABOVE 2500 OR FALL BELOW 2000. THE OIL TEMPERATURE WAS APPROXIMATELY 200 DEGREES. DURING THE SUDDEN LOSS OF ACCELERATION AND POWER, NO MATTER HOW HARD OR FAR I PUSHED THE ACCELERATOR, THE CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE- THE CAR COMPLETELY LOST ALL POWER AND THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE. AS I WAS COASTING, I TRIED PUMPING THE GAS AND SHIFTING GEARS (SHIFTABLE AUTOMATIC) TO NO AVAIL. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD OR OTHER WARNING MESSAGES DISPLAYED. WHILE TRAFFIC ZOOMED PAST ME, I COASTED FOR A GOOD 30-60 SECONDS GRADUALLY SLOWING TO ABOUT 15 MPH. AFTER ROUGHLY 60 SECONDS, I PUSHED THE ACCELERATOR DOWN AGAIN AND THE CAR BUCKED, LURCHED AND JUMPED AND THE RPMS BEGAN TO RISE. I WAS ABLE TO ACCELERATE NORMALLY AGAIN THOUGH THE TEMPERATURE DID RISE TO ROUGHLY 240. I MADE AN APPOINTMENT IMMEDIATELY TO HAVE THE CAR CHECKED BY MY LOCAL BMW DEALER. THEY REPLACED THE AUX COOLING FAN AND APPLIED A SOFTWARE UPDATE AS IS THE CASE WITH "LIMP MODE". THIS IS THE SAME "FIX" APPLIED TO COUNTLESS OTHER 335I OWNERS WHICH SIMPLY DOESN'T WORK. MY DEALER OPENED A PUMA CASE WITH BMW TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE IS TO REPLACE THE FAN AND APPLY A SOFTWARE UPDATE THE FIRST TIME, REPLACE THE FAN RELAY THE SECOND TIME AND APPLY A SOFTWARE UPDATE THE THIRD TIME. NONE OF THESE WORK!! CHECK F30 POST, BIMMER WORLD AND BIMMER FEST FORUMS. DEALER WAS GREAT, BUT I WANTED THEM I WILL FIGHT FOR A BUYBACK IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN. HAD THIS HAPPENED A FEW SECONDS LATER, WHILE PULLING OUT IN FRONT OF CARS TRAVELING 65+ MPH, I WOULD NOT BE HERE NOW. RECALL THIS PIECE OF CRAP!! WHEN MY LEASE IS UP OR IF I CAN GET OUT OF IT, I WILL. NOT SAFE. *TR