2001 BMW 330CI

MY CAR HAD BEEN SITTING UNUSED SINCE 6:00PM THE PREVIOUS DAY. AT 6:30AM I HAD ENTERED MY CAR PARKED AT PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY AND ANAHEIM STREET IN LONG BEACH,CA. (WHICH IS A SURFACE STREET). I STARTED MY CAR THEN DROVE A HALF OF A BLOCK THEN STOPPED AND TURNED OFF MY CAR AT THE STORE 7/11. I WENT IN MADE A PURCHASE CAME OUT MY CAR. I STARTED MY CAR AND THEN LEFT 7-ELEVEN DRIVING DOWN ANAHEIM ABOUT .2-.3 MILES. I CAME TO THE LIGHT AT ANAHEIM STREET AND PARK. BOTH SURFACE STREETS. I WAS IN THE TURN LANE TO TURN LEFT ONTO PARK. I BEGAN SMELLING SOMETHING ELECTRICAL. THE TIME WAS 6:40 AM. I LEANED MY HEAD OUT THE WINDOW AND COULD NOT SMELL THE ELECTRICAL SMELL OUTSIDE. I DISCERNED THAT THIS WAS COMING FROM INSIDE THE CAR. THERE WAS NO VISIBLE REASON FOR THE SMELL AT THIS TIME.THE LIGHT CHANGED I TURNED LEFT ONTO PARK. AS I BEGAN TO TURN LEFT WHITE TO GREY SMOKE BEGAN COMING OUT OF THE DRIVER SIDE VENT WHICH IS LOWER BY DOOR AND THAT FACES THE DRIVER. I GOT OUT OF MY CAR. I RAN OVER TO ANOTHER VEHICLE TO SEE IF THEY HAD A FIRE EXTINGUISHER. HE SAID HE WOULD FIND IT. I RETURNED TO MY CAR AND BLACK SMOKE BEGAN ROLLING OUT OF THE DRIVERS SIDE DOOR. FLAMES BEGAN ENGULFING THE DASHBOARD. TWO GENTLEMAN CAME OVER, ONE WITH A FIRE EXTINGUISHER AND BEGAN SPRAYING INTO THE DASHBOARD. THE OTHER GENTLEMAN WENT AROUND TO THE TRUNK AND DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY. THE LAST TIME I HAD SOMETHING DONE TO THE VEHICLE WAS BMW REPLACING THE AIRBAG FOR A RECALL. THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THE FIRE.

DASH INDICATED LEFT TAILLIGHT WAS OUT WHEN IT WASN'T, THIS WAS RANDOM ON AND OFF FOR A FEW MONTHS. AFTER A FEW MONTHS THE DASH PANEL INDICATOR LIGHT STAYED ON. AS I WAS DRIVING ONE DAY I NOTICED THE SMELL OF SMOKE COMING FROM THE TRUNK. I STOPPED, AND NOTICED THE MELTED WIRES FROM THE TAIL LIGHT HARNESS. AS I LOOKED AT THEM I COULD SEE THEM SPARKING WHEN CERTAIN MOVEMENTS OCCURRED., VERY DANGEROUSLY AND ERRATIC. BOTH MALE AND FEMALE SIDES MELTED. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS IT IMPEDES THE ABILITY TO WARN OTHER DRIVERS WHEN TURNING OR STOPPING. THIS WAS BROUGHT TO THE DEALERSHIPS ATTENTION BUT THEY DO NOT CONSIDER THIS AN IMPORTANT ENOUGH ISSUE TO REPLACE IT AS PART OF A RECALL OR SERVICE RECOVERY.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 BMW 330CI. WHILE DRIVING AT 40 MPH, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE IGNITION AIR LOCK NEEDED TO BE REMOVED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 120,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

MY VEHICLE IN THE LAST WEEK HAS AN TAIL LIGHT INDICATOR ILLUMINATED THE DASH. UPON INVESTIGATION OF THE PART IT LOOKS TO HAVE THE SAME ISSUES AS MANY HAVE DESCRIBED WITH THE GROUND WIRE BEING SCORCHED. I CONTACTED BMW NA BECAUSE OF THE SIMILAR RECALL ON OTHER BMW VEHICLES. UNFORTUNATELY THEY WERE UNWILLING TO HELP UNLESS I WAS WILLING TO TAKE THE CAR INTO A DEALERSHIP FOR AN 90 DOLLAR DIAGNOSIS. ONLY AFTER THAT WOULD THEY BE WILLING TO WEIGH IN IF THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO COVER THE COST OF THE REPAIR OR NOT. THIS IS NOT A GAMBLE THAT I'M REALLY WILLING TO TAKE. RECALL NHTSA ACTION NUMBER: PE09036 SHOULD BE EXTEND TO THE 2001 330CI BMWS. PLEASE OPEN A INVESTIGATION INTO THIS AS IT IS A WIDELY KNOWN ISSUE WITH THESE CARS. *TR

I WAS RECEIVING A INTERMITTENT LEFT TAIL LIGHT WARNING INDICATOR AND ASSUMED IT WAS A BULB THAT WAS GOING OUT. AFTER SOME TIME HAD PAST I RECEIVED A STEADY LEFT TAIL LIGHT INDICATOR AND WHEN I WAS ABOUT TO REPLACE THE BULB I DISCOVERED THE BULBS WAS FINE AND FOUND THE WIRING/CONNECTOR IN THE TAIL LIGHT BULB CARRIER HAD A SHORT/MELTED. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE SAME ISSUE/PROBLEM ON THE 2002-2005 BMW E46 3SERIES WHICH A TAIL LIGHT RECALL WAS ISSUED. *TR

2:00 PM I LEFT GREENWOOD VILLAGE, CO TO GO TO A MEETING AT 49TH AND NOME STREET. I ARRIVED AT MY MEETING IN MY BMW AT APPROXIMATELY AT 2:30 WITH NO PROBLEMS OR INDICATIONS OF PROBLEMS. 4:00 PM I LEFT THE MEETING. THEN I SMELLED SOMETHING WITH A DISTINCT ODOR 4:08 PM I DROVE ONTO EAST BOUND I-70 AND CONTINUED ON I-70 UNTIL THE RAMP TO SOUTHBOUND I-225, APPROXIMATELY ONE MILE OR SO. I WAS GOING ABOUT 55 MPH AND THERE WAS NOT MUCH TRAFFIC AT THIS TIME. MY WINDOWS WERE ROLLED UP AND I HAD THE RADIO ON. I DID NOT HAVE ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT ON INSIDE THE CAR. THE ODOR GOT A LOT WORSE AS I ENTERED ONTO THE RAMP. SMOKE STARTED TO COME OUT OF THE BMW FRONT VENTS AND THEN A FLAME CAME FROM UNDER THE STEERING WHEEL. I WAS NOW ON I-225 HEADING SOUTHBOUND AT ABOUT 55 MILES PER HOUR IN THE LEFT HAND LANE. AS I WAS MOVING OVER TO THE RIGHT HAND LANE THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIT UP. A LOT OF SMOKE CAME OUT FROM ALL OF THE FRONT VENTS, AND ESPECIALLY THE FRONT DEFROSTER. I LOOKED AT THE ENGINE TEMPERATURE LIGHT AND IT WAS NORMAL. THE AUTOMOBILE WAS RUNNING FINE. I TURNED THE CAR OFF. THEN MORE SMOKE STARTED COMING OUT OF THE VENTS. THEN, FLAMES STARTED COMING OUT OF THE VENTS AND FRONT DEFROSTER. 4:10 PM THE ENGINE WAS STILL TURNED OFF. I GOT OUT OF THE CAR. FLAMES AND BLACK SMOKE WENT THROUGH THE CONVERTIBLE ROOF STRAIGHT UP. 4:20 PM THE AURORA FIRE DEPARTMENT AND MORE AURORA POLICE CAME.. THEY TOWED THE CAR AWAY TO THE IMPOUND LOT. THE INVESTIGATOR SAID MAYBE HEADLIGHT CONTROL MODULE IS THE PROBLEM. ALL WORK HAS BEEN DONE AT BMW SERVICE AND NOTHING RECENT. CAR IS TOTALED. NO AFTERMARKET ACCESSORIES. *TR