NHTSA Complaint #11544923 — 2024 BMW I4

I encountered the safety issue on a test drive. The VIN which I supplied is typical of this model. The design of the gear selector lever makes it easy to inadvertently and unintentionally shift into Reverse, when Drive or Neutral is desired. A single click of the lever can engage either Reverse or the desired gear, depending on the engagement status of the brake pedal and the speed of the car. There is no Reverse gear lockout button, a standard safety feature on other vehicles. I almost backed into the vehicle behind me, when a red traffic light turned green. When the brake pedal is untouched, a single upward click of the selector lever engages a shift from Braking (B) mode, to Drive (D) mode. I had stopped for the red light in Brake (B) mode, and desired to shift into Drive (D) mode. I clicked the lever upward one time, while holding the brake pedal down. Unbeknownst to me, Reverse was engaged. A similar condition occurs when attempting to shift from Drive (D) mode into Neutral (N) mode. In normal driving, a single upward click of the lever engages Neutral, to allow (for example) coasting up to a red light without engaging regenerative braking. When stopped with the brake pedal depressed, that same single upward click engages Reverse gear. This condition could be remedied by: - Providing a reverse lockout button. - Altering the control algorithm to ensure that gears are sequentially engaged (R-N-D-B) with each click of the lever. The current algorithm skips different gears in the sequence, based on the rolling status of the car and the position of the brake pedal.