NHTSA Complaint #11519153 — 2014 BMW 535D

On/around 4/24/2023, I was driving home at approximately 35mph when I heard a loud noise under the car as if I had run over something. I was able to safely pull into a parking lot and immediately shut off the engine. The vehicle was hard to steer but I managed to do it. There were no warning lamps or messages and the control center said "all systems are okay" I looked under the car and saw a significant amount of oil coming from underneath the car. I opened the hood and saw significant oil on the lower engine. I called AAA and had the vehicle towed to my local BMW dealership where I had worked done recently around 11/2022. My service advisor was able to check the car in and told me he would give me an update the next day. I received an inspection video on 4/25/2023 in which the service technician stated that the car experienced a catastrophic failure: the driveshaft broke and knocked a hole in the oil pan and broke a few other things. The technician is recommending replacing the driveshaft and the engine assembly. The technician stated that there could be other repairs involved. To date, I'm still awaiting to hear back from the service advisor for the cost of repairs. This was a very scary incident and could have been fatal if I was driving on the highway at a higher rate of speed. In fact, it could have been fatal on the road I was traveling on because it was during rush hour traffic. I was extremely lucky to have been able to pull over to safety. I did some research and found that BMW did some recalls regarding the drive shaft failures on certain Xdrive vehicles but mine was not part of those recalls. I have well maintained the vehicle and this should not have occurred. Anything that you can do to assist would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).