NHTSA Complaint #10615772 — 2007 BMW 335I

WHILE I WAS DRIVING IN A HIGHWAY TRAFFIC, WITHOUT ANY WARNING THE CAR STARTED VIBRATING SEVERELY, SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE TAIL PIPE, ENGINE ALMOST DYING AND I WAS FORCED TO TAKE THE SHOULDER LANE AWAY FROM TRAFFIC. I TRIED TO RESTART THE ENGINE BUT ONLY WHITE SMOKE WITH FUEL SMELL COMING OUT OF TAIL PIPE, BUT I WAS STILL ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR SLOWLY TO HOME. TOOK TO MECHANIC AND EVENTUALLY WAS TOLD THAT ENGINE IS COMPLETELY SHOT - 3 OR 4 CYLINDERS WERE CRACKED, COMBUSTION FAILURE, ETC. MECHANIC CAN'T FIX IT WITHOUT REPLACING THE ENTIRE ENGINE WHICH HE ESTIMATED AT LEAST $7,000.00. GEICO WON'T COVER SINCE THEY CONSIDERED MY CAR ISSUE STRICTLY A "MECHANICAL FAILURE". BMW CONCORD IS UNRESPONSIVE TO MY REQUEST. I'M ON MY OWN HERE AND NOW I'M PAYING FOR THE RENTAL CAR FOR ABOUT 3 WEEKS NOW WHICH GEICO DOESN'T FULLY OR EVEN PARTIALLY COVER DUE TO THE MECHANICAL FAILURE STATE OF MY CAR. I'M THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE CAR AND MY USAGE IS LESS THAN AVERAGE. DRIVING IT PRIMARILY TO WORK (ANTIOCH,CA - CONCORD, CA) AND BACK HOME WHICH IS ONLY APPROX 40 MILES ROUND TRIP. MY DRIVING HABITS ARE VERY GOOD, CAR WAS NEVER ABUSED. I TOOK GOOD CARE OF THE CAR, HAD IT SERVICED AND MAINTAINED REGULAR BASIS. I'VE BEEN WORKING FROM HOME PERMANENTLY FOR OVER A YEAR NOW SO MY MILEAGE USAGE IS VERY LOW AND GEICO KNOWS ABOUT IT AS I PROVIDED PROOF OF LOW MILEAGE USAGE. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY MY BMW - A PERFORMANCE CAR AND THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE - WITH LOW MILEAGE, NEVER ABUSED, WELL MAINTAINED - COULD GO THIS WORSE. NOW THE CAR SITS IN MY GARAGE DEAD, NOT FIXABLE, NOT ABLE TO TRADE IT. I'M SO FRUSTRATED AND VERY UPSET THAT THIS HAPPENED AT A TIME WHEN I'M EXTREMELY BUSY AT WORK, AND JUST ADDS TO MY STRESS LEVEL THAT I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK FROM JUST DEALING WITH THIS ISSUE. ENGINE IS DEAD IN JUST 6-1/2 YEARS. UNBELIEVABLE! UPDATED 9/25/14*CN THE CONSUMER STATED BMW FIXED THE MAIN PROBLEM FOR $ 3,100.00. ALL SIX OF THE FUEL INJECTORS WERE REPLACED AND THE CONTAMINATED FUEL WAS DRAINED. UPDATED 11/04/