NHTSA Complaint #11014757 — 2009 BMW 535I

I AM REQUESTING NHTSA INVESTIGATE THIS KNOWN DANGEROUS DEFECT AND ISSUE A MANDATED RECALL TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC. FUEL PUMP FAILURE OR RELATED FAILURES CAN CAUSE A CAR TO BE UNABLE TO MOVE OUT OF A DANGEROUS HIGHWAY AFTER ENGINE POWER FAILURE AT IDLE, CAUSING RISK TO HUMAN LIFE. ON 08-08-17, I WAS ON INTERSTATE IN STOPPED TRAFFIC. MY 2009 BMW 535XI WITH 115, 502 MILES ON IT QUIT RUNNING. TRAFFIC CLEARED AND I COULD NOT GET THE VEHICLE TO START, RUN, AND MOVE. IT WOULD START, BUT IT WOULD THEN QUIT RUNNING BEFORE I COULD PLACE IT IN GEAR. INTERSTATE TRAFFIC WAS APPROACHING AT 60 TO 70 MPH. MY THREE PASSENGERS GOT OUT AND PUSHED THE VEHICLE WHILE I STEERED IT IN NEUTRAL, NOT RUNNING, OFF THE ROADWAY. WE HAD A NEAR MISS COLLISION FROM APPROACHING VEHICLES ON THE INTERSTATE. THE DASH DISPLAY SAID "HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP FAILURE." AFTER SITTING 5 MINUTES, THE CAR STARTED AND APPEARED TO RUN NORMALLY. I E-MAILED BMW AND THEY SAID THEY HAD EXTENDED THEIR WARRANTY ON HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP TO 10 YEARS OR 120,000 MILES, AND SAID TAKE IT TO BMW SERVICE CENTER. ON 08-10-17 BMW DEALER DIAGNOSED IT AND SAID IT WAS THE "LOW PRESSURE FUEL PUMP LOCATED INSIDE THE FUEL TANK HAD FAILED." THEY OFFERED TO REPLACE IT AT A COST OF $2,079.90, STATING "BMW DOES NOT OFFER RECALLS." FOUR PEOPLE WERE ALMOST KILLED. BMW HAS "EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO 120,000 MILES ON HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP" BUT NOT ON THE "LOW PRESSURE FUEL PUMP." I ASKED SERVICE TECH IF HE WAS SURE IT WAS "LOW PRESSURE FUEL PUMP FAILURE" IF VEHICLE COULD RUN INTERMITTENTLY. HE OFFERED NO SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION, COMPARING IT TO A "LIGHT BULB THAN CAN WORK SOME TIMES AND NOT WORK SOME TIMES." I AM REQUESTING NHTSA INVESTIGATE THIS KNOWN DANGEROUS DEFECT AND ISSUE A MANDATED RECALL TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC.