NHTSA Complaint #10985512 — 2014 BMW 428XI

VEHICLE OVERHEATED WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY (I-15, SOUTH OF SLC), TRAVELING AT 60 MPH IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. AIR TEMPERATURE OF AIR CONDITIONING SET TO "MAX AC" STARTED TO BLOW HOT AIR, APPROXIMATELY 2 MINUTES LATER ENGINE OVERHEATING ALERT CAME ON AND VEHICLE BEGAN TO DECELERATE. TOP VEHICLE SPEED WAS IMMEDIATELY LIMITED TO APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH. TRAFFIC WAS HEAVY AND I HAD TO CROSS 3 LANES OF 60+ MPH TRAFFIC TO GET TO THE SHOULDER, CAUSING A SIGNIFICANT TRAFFIC HAZARD TO BOTH OTHER VEHICLES AND MYSELF. THIS EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME IN MY 2007 328I IN 2008 - I WAS TRAVELING ON A HIGHWAY IN SEATTLE WHEN THE CAR OVERHEATED, DISPLAYED A WARNING THAT WENT FROM ORANGE TO RED IN APPROXIMATELY A ONE MINUTE PERIOD, AND THEN DECELERATED. I WAS ALSO IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN THE FIRST INCIDENT BECAUSE I WAS IN COMMUTER TRAFFIC AND FORCED A SEMI BEHIND ME TO BRAKE HEAVILY BARELY AVOIDING ME. THIS IS CLEARLY A KNOWN ISSUE. THE LOCAL BMW DEALER SAID THEY'VE SEEN THIS ISSUE REPEATEDLY, AND THERE ARE MANY REPORTS ONLINE - ESPECIALLY RELATED TO THE 2007 328I. THE BMW DEALER SHARED THAT THIS IS FREQUENTLY RELATED TO A FAULTY WATER PUMP BUT HAS NOT CONFIRMED YET THAT THIS IS THE ISSUE WITH MY 428I XDRIVE. I SEARCHED THE BMW DATABASE AND THERE ARE NO OUTSTANDING RECALLS ON MY VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE CURRENTLY HAS APPROXIMATELY 19,000 MILES ON IT. IN THE PREVIOUS INCIDENT, MY VEHICLE ALSO HAD LESS THAN 20,000 MILES OF USE.