NHTSA Complaint #10633167 — 2005 BMW X3

I BELIEVE THE STEERING ANGLE SENSOR (AKA SZL) IN MY 2005 BMW X3 IS FAULTY AND THUS POSES A SERIOUS SAFETY RISK GIVEN ITS ROLE IN PROVIDING INPUTS TO THE DYNAMIC STABILITY CONTROL (DSC) SYSTEM. IT CERTAINLY WARRANTS INVESTIGATION. MY VEHICLE HAS GONE INTO AN UNCONTROLLED SKID ON THREE OCCASIONS, EACH TIME WHILE TRAVELING DOWNHILL AT MODERATE SPEEDS ON CURVES. (ONLY ONCE DID IT DO SO FOLLOWING A LIGHT RAIN; ON ALL OTHER OCCASIONS THE PAVEMENT WAS DRY.) LUCKILY, NO ACCIDENTS OR INJURIES ENSUED. I FIRST NOTICED THE PROBLEM THE YEAR I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE USED IN 2010; THE PREVIOUS OWNER LIKEWISE HAD NOTICED THE ISSUE AND INFORMED ME OF IT AT THE TIME I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE. TODAY, SEPT. 15, 2014, MY LOCAL BMW DEALER PROPOSED REPLACING THE STEERING ANGLE SENSOR (SZL) IN OUR VEHICLE, SAYING A READOUT OF THE FAULT CODES DETECTED FAULTS IN THE SENSOR. I HAVE ELECTED TO REPLACE THE SENSOR AT A COST OF $1098. BASED ON THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE ISSUE, WHICH SOME CURSORY INVESTIGATING ON MY PART APPEARS TO BE A PROBLEM SHARED BY MULTIPLE OWNERS OF SIMILAR MODEL/YEAR VEHICLES, I URGE THE NHTSA TO INVESTIGATE. THANK YOU. *TR