NHTSA Complaint #11171805 — 2012 BMW 528I

I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY AND MY 'LOW OIL PRESSURE' LIGHT CAME ON SO I PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD IMMEDIATELY AND SHUT THE CAR OFF. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO A CERTIFIED BMW REPAIR SHOP GLOBAL IMPORTS. THE BMW SERVICE CENTER CONFIRMED THE FAILURE WAS THE DRIVE CHAIN CAUSING THE ENGINE TO SEIZE AND NEEDING TO BE REPLACED. AS I RESEARCHED THE ISSUE I FOUND THOUSANDS OF SIMILAR INTERNET STORIES ELABORATING ON THE DESIGN FLAWS IN THE ENGINE THAT USES PLASTIC FLYWHEELS FOR THE DRIVE CHAIN/OIL PUMP CHAIN. BMW EXTENDED THE WARRANTY FOR THIS ISSUE BEYOND THEIR NORMAL 4 YEAR 48,000 MILES TO 7 YEARS AND 70,000 MILES. I AM AT 76,000 MILES JUST OUT OF WARRANTY. IT IS ODD THEY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY YEARS BY 3 BUT ONLY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY MILES AN ADDITIONAL 22,000 MILES OR AN AVERAGE OF 7,333 MILES PER YEAR. WHO ONLY DRIVES 7,333 MILES A YEAR. BMW'S OTHER EXTENDED WARRANTIES USUALLY OFFER AN AVERAGE OF 12,000 MILES PER YEAR ON THE ADDITIONAL YEARS IT IS EXTENDED. THE OTHER EXTENDED WARRANTIES FOR THIS ENGINE WERE EXTENDED 10 YEARS AND 120,000 MILES. I WAS DILIGENT IN CHANGING THE OIL LONG BEFORE THE RECOMMENDED CHANGE INTERVALS ISSUED BY BMW. THERE IS NO REASON AN ENGINE WOULD SEIZE AT 76,000 MILES WHEN THE REGULAR MAINTENANCE WAS FOLLOWED UNLESS THERE WAS A MAJOR ENGINE DESIGN FLAW. BMW HAS ALREADY ACKNOWLEDGED THE ENGINE DESIGN ISSUES BY EXTENDING THE WARRANTY ON THE 'TIMING CHAIN AND OIL PUMP DRIVE CHAIN', 'ENGINE OIL FEEDLINE' TO THE TURBO CHARGER AND THE 'FUEL TANK LEAK DIAGNOSTIC MODULE (NVLD)'. WITH THIS BEING A KNOWN DESIGN FLAW AND THE NUMBER OF ISSUES THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL ON THIS ENGINE SO THE FLY WHEELS CAN BE REPLACED WITH A BETTER PART OR AT VERY LEAST BMW SHOULD BE FORCED TO EXTEND THE WARRANTY AND MILES AS THEY DO WITH OTHER WARRANTY EXTENSIONS. THIS DESIGN FLAW CAUSED THE ENGINE TO STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY WHICH IS VERY DANGEROUS.