NHTSA Complaint #10617844 — 2014 BMW 428I

DRIVING DOWN A NEIGHBORHOOD ROAD WITH MY WIFE AS A PASSENGER ON JULY 12 AND GOING AT ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR APPROACHING THE TRAFFIC LIGHT AT A BUSY INTERSECTION, I NOTICED THAT MY TWO-WEEKS OLD BRAND NEW BMW WAS NOT SLOWING DOWN ALTHOUGH I MADE SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO STOP IT BY USING THE FOOT PEDAL TO BRAKE. THE CLOSER I GOT TO THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME, I CONTINUED TO ATTEMPT TO STOP THE CAR BUT IT FAILED AND I ENDED UP HITTING THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. FORTUNATELY, THE PERSON IN THE CAR THAT I HIT WAS NOT INJURED AND NEITHER WERE WE. I IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED THE BMW DEALERSHIP AND THEY ENDED UP PICKING UP THE CAR ON JULY 14. TWO DAYS LATER THEY CALLED ME BACK TO LET ME KNOW THAT THEY HAD THOROUGHLY CHECKED THE CAR AND FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. I INSISTED THAT THEY NEEDED TO CONTINUE EVALUATING THE CAR AND ADVISED THEM THAT I WOULD PREFER FOR THEM TO PERFORM ADDITIONAL DIAGNOSTIC TESTING, SINCE WE HAVE OWNED THE CAR FOR 2 WEEKS AND HAD NO PRIOR WARNING OF ANY MALFUNCTION. THEY CONTINUED EVALUATING THE CAR AND FOUND NOTHING WRONG SO THEY CONTACTED BMW NA. ON JULY 22, I WAS CONTACTED BY BMW NA TO GET A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE INCIDENT AND TO LET ME KNOW THAT THEY WERE GOING TO SEND A SPECIALIST TO LOOK AT THE CAR AND CONDUCT SOME TESTING. ON JULY 31ST I WAS CONTACTED BY BMW NA TO LET ME KNOW THAT THE REPORT HAD BEEN SUBMITTED BY THE SPECIALIST AND THAT THE CAR IS IN PERFECT CONDITION AND THE BRAKES ARE WORKING AS THEY SHOULD. I REQUESTED A WRITTEN STATEMENT FROM BMW CERTIFYING THAT THE CAR IS IN OPTIMAL CONDITION, SAFE TO DRIVE, AND HAS NO DEFECTS. I ALSO REQUESTED A COPY OF THE REPORT PRODUCED BY THE SPECIALIST BUT BMW NA INFORMED ME THERE WAS NO REPORT AVAILABLE. THEY DID AGREE TO SEND THE WRITTEN STATEMENT BY REGULAR MAIL WHICH WILL TAKE 5-7 DAYS. THIS SEEMS TO BE A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN WHICH PUTS DRIVERS AT A HIGH RISK OF GETTING HURT OR HURTING SOMEONE ELSE, SCARY! *TR