NHTSA Complaint #11041496 — 2009 BMW 535I

MY 2009 BMW 535I XDRIVE HAS BEEN OWNED BY ME FOR 6 YEARS. IT HAS LESS THAN 90,000 MILES ON IT. SINCE I BECAME OWNER, IT HAD 2 FUEL PUMP FAILURES, ONE WATER PUMP FAILURE, AND NOW FUEL INJECTOR FAILURE. WHEN ITS FUEL INJECTORS FAILED ON 10/27/17, THE CAR'S ENGINE STARTED SHAKING RIGHT AFTER I TURNED IT ON. THE CAR WAS PARKED OVERNIGHT AND I PROCEEDED ON THE SIDE STREET AT 10 MILES AN HOUR SPEED TOWARDS WORK IN THE MORNING. CAR THEN LOST POWER AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. VERY DARK, DENSE, BLACK SMOKE WAS COMING OUT OF THE TAIL PIPE. AFTER TOWING IT TO THE DEALER BECAUSE IT WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE, I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY BMW DEALER THAT THE FUEL INJECTORS ARE MALFUNCTIONING AND RATHER THAN SPRAYING THE FUEL INSIDE THE ENGINE, THEY WERE DUMPING IT IN LARGE AMOUNTS INSTEAD. THIS CREATED A STATE OF TOO MUCH UNBURNED FUEL INSIDE THE ENGINE AND IT CAUSED THE BLACK SMOKE. COST OF REPAIR ESTIMATE WAS $3075. I WAS TOLD THAT THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER MAY HAVE BEEN AFFECTED AS WELL DUE TO THIS DYSFUNCTION AND AS A RESULT I MIGHT NEED REPLACEMENT AS WELL ADDING ANOTHER $1500 TO THE COST. I HAVE LEARNED OF SIMILAR REPORTS OF FUEL INJECTORS PROBLEMS IN THIS PARTICULAR MODEL, PLACING THE CARS, THE DRIVERS, AND THE PASSENGERS AT RISK. SEEING THE DARK, DENSE, BLACK SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE TAIL PIPE SEEMED VERY UNSAFE AND EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS AND SHOULD TRIGGER RECALL OF SUCH DEFICIENT FUEL INJECTORS. I BELIEVE THE FUEL INJECTOR MALFUNCTION CAUSED AN ABNORMAL FIRE INSIDE THE ENGINE WHICH CAUSED SUCH DARK SMOKE TO OCCUR.