NHTSA Complaint #10567419 — 1996 BMW 740IL

THE GAS TANK STARTED TO MAKE POPPING NOISES AND THUMPING SOUNDS. THEN WHEN I REALIZED SOMETHING IS WRONG WHEN THE GAS GAUGE STARTED READING 1/4 TANK WHEN IT WAS EMPTY, STRANGELY WHEN I WAS FILLING UP WITH GAS THE CAP WAS HARD TO REMOVE AND AS SOON AS I REMOVED THE CAP AIR WAS RUSHING IN. I RAN OUT OF GAS ON THE INTERSTATE WITHOUT ANY WARNING MANAGED TO GET THE CAR ON THE SHOULDER. LATER ON THE WAY TO WORK I STARTED SMELLING A STRONG GAS ODOR I ASSUMED IT WAS THE CARS SURROUNDING ME. WHEN I WENT ON MY LUNCH BREAK MY COWORKERS INFORMED ME THAT THERE WAS A LARGE PUDDLE OF GAS UNDER MY CAR, WHEN I GOT BACK TO WORK I STARTED TO INVESTIGATE WHAT HAPPENED AND MY TANK WAS IMPLODED AND DEVELOPED LEAKS AROUND THE SEAMS. I FIND THIS A MAJOR CONCERN SINCE THIS IS RIGHT NEXT TO A HOT EXHAUST SYSTEM AND MAY CAUSE A FIRE DUE TO POOR GAS TANK VENTILATION. I'M LUCKY THAT MY CAR DIDN'T CATCH ON FIRE DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF GAS I LOST AND NOTICED LEAKING ON THE SEAMS THAT ARE EXTREMELY CLOSE TO THE EXHAUST. *TR