2008 BMW 5 Series

2008 BMW 535I TOOK MY CAR INTO DEALERSHIP DUE TO CAR RUNNING ROUGH. THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING AND SENT ME ON MY MERRY WAY. TOOK MY CAR IN ON MONDAY, MAY 4 DUE TO CAR RUNNING ROUGH AND TICKING NOISE IN ENGINE...TOLD THEM WE WERE GOING ON A 1,000 MILE ROAD TRIP THE END OF THE WEEK. THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING BUT DID REPLACE SOME BRAKE ITEMS. DRIVING HOME AT THE END OF OUR TRIP, ON ACCELERATION MY CAR 'SKIPPED' THREE TIMES....A COUPLE OF MINUTES LATER I TESTED IT AND ACCELERATED AGAIN (ON FL TURNPIKE) IT 'SKIPPED' HARD AGAIN THREE TIMES. GOT OFF AT THE NEXT EXIT...AT THE LIGHT I GOT A 'ENGINE MALFUNCTION' LIGHT AND LIMPED INTO THE 7-11. PUT GAS IN CAR, CALLED BMW CONCIERGE. WE WERE CLOSE ENOUGH TO HOME TO HAVE IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP, GET A DRIVER TO HELP US TRANSFER ALL OUR LUGGAGE ETC, AND TAKE US HOME. NEXT DAY CALLED DEALERSHIP...THEY HAD CAR DAY AND A HALF AND SAID IT WAS THE FUEL INJECTOR PUMP. I UNDERSTAND FROM TONS OF BMW OWNER BLOGS THAT THIS IS VERY COMMON OCCURRENCE...WE WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH NOT TO BE GOING 65 MILES AN HOUR IN FRONT OF A SEMI LIKE MANY OTHER FAMILY'S HAVE THE MISFORTUNE OF. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT PEOPLE HAVE HAD TO HAVE THIS REPLACE NOT ONE, TWO, OR THREE TIMES BUT CONTINUOUS...FOUR! THIS IS ABSURD. WHERE'S BMW'S INTEGRITY TO DO THE RIGHT THING, ADDRESS THE SITUATION, AND NOT PUT THEIR CONSUMERS IN HARMS WAY. DO WE NEAR A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE OR OUR FAMILY'S FILING LAWSUITS ONCE WE'RE SIX FEET IN THE GRAVE FOR THEM TO STAND UP AND TAKE CARE OF THESE PROBLEMS ONCE AND FOR ALL???? *TR

WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEED, THE CAR BEGAN TO RUN VERY ROUGHLY. A WARNING LIGHT AND WARNING MESSAGE APPEARED, INDICATING THAT THERE WAS AN ENGINE PROBLEM. WE PULLED OFF THE HIGHWAY AND INTO A PARKING LOT. WE STOPPED THE ENGINE, WAITED A FEW MINUTES AND RESTARTED THE CAR. THE CAR CONTINUED TO RUN ROUGHLY BUT THERE WAS NO WARNING LIGHT OR MESSAGE. WE CONTINUED ON TO OUR DESTINATION (SHOPPING). WHEN WE FINISHED OUR SHOPPING, I STARTED THE CAR AND IT CONTINUED TO RUN ROUGHLY AND THE SAME WARNING LIGHT AND MESSAGE APPEARED. I WANTED TO DRIVE THE CAR TO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE BUT WHEN I PULLED OUT OF THE PARKING SPACE THE CAR STALLED. I RESTARTED THE CAR, DROVE IT ABOUT 100 FEET INTO ANOTHER PARKING LOT AND HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALER. WHEN I DESCRIBED THE PROBLEM AT THE DEALERSHIP, A SERVICE REP INDICATED THAT THEY THOUGHT IT WAS THE FUEL PUMP. I HEARD THAT THIS HAS BEEN A RECURRING PROBLEM. THE DEALER WAS NOT ABLE TO REPLACE THE PUMP WITHOUT GETTING AUTHORIZATION FROM BMW BECAUSE BMW HAD HAS SO MANY FUEL PUMP PROBLEMS. A FAILURE AT HIGHWAY SPEED THAT WOULD CAUSE THE CAR TO STALL IS A DANGEROUS CONDITION. *TR

I AM REPORTING KNOWN FAILURES AND AN "UNOFFICIAL RECALL" (SEE WEB LINK TO BMS SERVICE REPORT) OF HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMPS FOR 2008/2009 BMW CARS WITH THE 3 LITER TWIN TURBO ENGINES. WHEN THESE FUEL PUMPS FAIL THERE IS AN IMMEDIATE REDUCTION OF POWER AND THE CAR GOES INTO "LIMP MODE". BMW HAS RECENTLY EXTENDED THE WARRANTY ON THE FUEL PUMPS TO OVER 100K MILES AND 10 YEARS, BUT I AM CONCERNED THAT THERE HAS NOT BEEN A FORMAL SAFETY INVESTIGATION BY THE US GOVERNMENT (THAT I KNOW OF) OR A FORMAL RECALL BY BMW SINCE THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION IF CARS SUDDENLY SLOW AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. I AM THE OWNER OF A 2008 BMW 535, IT IS NOW HAVING PROBLEMS STARTING IN THE MORNING AND I AM NOW CONCERNED ABOUT WHEN/IF MY FUEL PUMP WILL FAIL - TO THE POINT I WILL NO LONGER LET MY WIFE DRIVE THE CAR. WWW.BMWBLOG.COM/2009/03/.../MORE-BMW-FUEL-PUMP-NEWS/ HTTP://WWW.E90POST.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=181600. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 BMW 535XI. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH. THERE WAS A SUDDEN REDUCTION IN THE ENGINE POWER FOR 30 SECONDS. THE ENGINE SHUTTERED AND STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER AND THE FUEL PUMP WAS REPLACED. THE FAILURE OCCURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER ON A SEPARATE OCCASION AND THE COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM SOFTWARE WAS UPDATED. THE VEHICLE WAS BEING DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALER WHEN THE COMPLAINT WAS FILED. THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT ADDRESSED THE FUEL PUMP FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 37,500.

I AM REPORTING TWO FAILURES OF THE HIGH-PRESSURE FUEL PUMP ON A 2008 BMW 535I. THE FIRST OCCURRED ABOUT ONE YR AFTER DELIVERY RESULTING IN THE CAR HAVING TO BE RETURNED TO THE DEALER IN LIMP MODE. A YEAR AFTER THE HPFP WAS REPLACED, THE EXACT SAME FAILURE OCCURRED, AND THE PUMP WAS REPLACED FOR A SECOND TIME. IMO, THIS REPRESENTS A SERIOUS SAFETY DEFECT THAT BMW SEEMS INCAPABLE OF CORRECTING. *TR

WAS DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WHEN CAR BEGAN TO "SPUTTER" CAUSING ROUGH RIDE. AFTER ANOTHER 5 MILES, THE ENGINE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. I PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, STOPPED THE CAR, THEN RESTARTED IT. THE LIGHT DISAPPEARED, BUT REAPPEARED AFTER ANOTHER MILE OF DRIVING. CONTACTED BMW WHO SAID THE CAR WAS SAFE TO DRIVE. SERVICE CENTER FOUND THAT IT WAS STORED FAULT CODES, WHICH A PREVIOUS SERVICE BULLETIN HAD ADVISED. THESE FAULT CODES WERE CLEARED AND THE CAR FUNCTIONED PROPERLY. PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS FOR A 2009 BMW 535I. THE CHOICES AVAILABLE FOR 2009 BMW'S DO NOT INCLUDE THE 5 SERIES. *TR