NHTSA Complaint #11471445 — 2019 BMW X5

Since February of this year, my X5 has suddenly gone into neutral gear while driving in stop and go traffic on multiple occasions over the past 3 months. This incident first started on 2/26/2022, wherein my car abruptly went into neutral, coming to a complete stop in the midst of heavy stop and go traffic, while approaching George Washington Bridge. This happened twice within a 20 minute interval during that same trip. The car wouldn’t start back again for several minutes each time. Following this, I took my X5 to my local dealership to get it checked out. The dealership kept the car for a few days, ran some tests, but were unable to replicate the issue. The car was subsequently released to me. (Ref: dealership service invoice dated 3/8/2022) The exact issue recurred on 5/22/2022, again in heavy stop and go traffic, approaching George Washington Bridge. This time the car wouldn’t start for more than 10-15 minutes. Following this, I had to call 911 to help me out. The car eventually started after 20 minutes. I took it back to the same dealership. Once again, the issue couldn’t be replicated. However, after consulting with the factory technicians, the dealership replaced the gear shifter. (Ref: dealership service invoice dated 6/8/2022) Unfortunately, this exact issue recurred on 6/24/2022 – heavy stop and go traffic, on the approach to Whitestone Bridge. The car abruptly went into neutral from drive mode, stopped completely and wouldn’t start back again for a few minutes. Please note that the Automatic Start/Stop (MSA) system on the vehicle was always set to OFF. It is a miracle I did not get into an accident when this issue manifested each time. I have made yet another appointment with my local dealer for 7/11/2022 to re-evaluate the issue. In the meanwhile, I called the main office at BMW USA and got a case started as well.