NHTSA Complaint #10861603 — 2006 BMW 3 SERIES

I OWN A 2006 BMW 325I. ABOUT A YEAR OR TWO AGO, THE REVERSE LIGHTS WILL NOT ILLUMINATE WHILE REVERSING. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP, EXPLAINED THE PROBLEM, AND MENTIONED MULTIPLE ONLINE ACCOUNTS OF THIS PROBLEM EXTENDING AT LEAST FROM 2003 THROUGH 2008. IT COULD HAVE BEEN LONGER. I ALSO REFERENCED NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 11V438000 (EXTERIOR LIGHTING:TURN SIGNAL) AND NHTSA ID NUMBER: 10443539 (TAIL LIGHT FAILURE). THE DEALER ADVISED ME THAT THIS VEHICLE YEAR WAS NOT INCLUDED IN ANY RECALL CAMPAIGN FOR THIS PROBLEM. IN ADDITION, THE DEALER ADVISED THAT THE FRM MODULE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED DUE TO A WIRING MALFUNCTION. FROM ONLINE REPORTS AND PICTURES, I CONFIRMED MY REVERSE LIGHT FAILURE WAS ALSO A WIRING ISSUE CAUSED FROM A VERY POOR WIRE ROUTING DESIGN BY BMW. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS AT APPROXIMATELY 110,000 AND THE COST TO REPAIR WAS OUTRAGEOUS! SINCE THAT TIME EVEN WITH MULTIPLE DOCUMENTED CASES, BMW HAS BEEN UNWILLING TO ADMIT THIS IS THEIR DESIGN FAILURE AND TO SHARE IN ANY OF THE REPAIR COSTS.