NHTSA Complaint #11129081 — 2011 BMW 328XI

FOR SEVERAL MONTHS MY AIR CONDITIONER HAD BEEN BLOWING WARMER AIR THAN NORMAL BUT WAS TOLERABLE. A WEEK AGO, WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE I SMELLED A BURNING PLASTIC SMELL. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY MY AIR CONDITIONER SHUT OFF. FOLLOWING THAT THE RADIO AND DISPLAY SHUT OFF AS WELL. I PULLED OVER TO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD AND PUT THE CAR IN PARK. AT THAT POINT I NOTICED WHITE SMOKE COMING FROM THE VENTS IN THE DASH. I GRABBED SOME THINGS AND GOT OUT OF THE CAR. WITHIN 2 MINS OF NOTCHING THE BURNING SMELL, FLAMES BEGAN COMING OUT FROM UNDER THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE DASHBOARD. MY CAR WAS TOTALLY ENGULFED WITHIN SEVERAL MINUTES BEFORE THE FD ARRIVED ON SCENE. THE CAR IS A TOTAL LOSS WITH THE FIRE CONTAINED FROM THE DASHBOARD BACK THROUGH THE CAB OF THE CAR. AFTER READING ABOUT THE BLOWER MOTOR RECALL, I SUSPECT THE AC NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY WAS IN DIRECT RELATION TO THE ISSUE. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY RECALL NOTIFICATIONS ABOUT POTENTIAL FIRE ISSUES. IT WAS NOT UNTIL MY CAR BURNED AND I STARTED RESEARCHING THAT I CAME ACROSS MANY REPORTS OF VERY SIMILAR ISSUES.