2009 BMW 535I

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 BMW 535I. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY SLOWED DOWN AND THE "ENGINE POWER MALFUNCTION" INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN UNKNOWN BMW DEALER IN COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA WHERE THE TECHNICIAN WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 118,900. *TT *TR

MY 2009 BMW 535I XDRIVE HAS BEEN OWNED BY ME FOR 6 YEARS. IT HAS LESS THAN 90,000 MILES ON IT. SINCE I BECAME OWNER, IT HAD 2 FUEL PUMP FAILURES, ONE WATER PUMP FAILURE, AND NOW FUEL INJECTOR FAILURE. WHEN ITS FUEL INJECTORS FAILED ON 10/27/17, THE CAR'S ENGINE STARTED SHAKING RIGHT AFTER I TURNED IT ON. THE CAR WAS PARKED OVERNIGHT AND I PROCEEDED ON THE SIDE STREET AT 10 MILES AN HOUR SPEED TOWARDS WORK IN THE MORNING. CAR THEN LOST POWER AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. VERY DARK, DENSE, BLACK SMOKE WAS COMING OUT OF THE TAIL PIPE. AFTER TOWING IT TO THE DEALER BECAUSE IT WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE, I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY BMW DEALER THAT THE FUEL INJECTORS ARE MALFUNCTIONING AND RATHER THAN SPRAYING THE FUEL INSIDE THE ENGINE, THEY WERE DUMPING IT IN LARGE AMOUNTS INSTEAD. THIS CREATED A STATE OF TOO MUCH UNBURNED FUEL INSIDE THE ENGINE AND IT CAUSED THE BLACK SMOKE. COST OF REPAIR ESTIMATE WAS $3075. I WAS TOLD THAT THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER MAY HAVE BEEN AFFECTED AS WELL DUE TO THIS DYSFUNCTION AND AS A RESULT I MIGHT NEED REPLACEMENT AS WELL ADDING ANOTHER $1500 TO THE COST. I HAVE LEARNED OF SIMILAR REPORTS OF FUEL INJECTORS PROBLEMS IN THIS PARTICULAR MODEL, PLACING THE CARS, THE DRIVERS, AND THE PASSENGERS AT RISK. SEEING THE DARK, DENSE, BLACK SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE TAIL PIPE SEEMED VERY UNSAFE AND EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS AND SHOULD TRIGGER RECALL OF SUCH DEFICIENT FUEL INJECTORS. I BELIEVE THE FUEL INJECTOR MALFUNCTION CAUSED AN ABNORMAL FIRE INSIDE THE ENGINE WHICH CAUSED SUCH DARK SMOKE TO OCCUR.

AS MY WIFE WAS DRIVING HOME, IN AN ONLY ANKLE DEEP PUDDLE INSIDE OF OUR SUBDIVISION, WATER WAS ABLE TO GET INTO THE AIR INTAKE CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO HYDROLOCK AND EVENTUALLY DESTROY THE ENGINE. I BELIEVE SUCH A SMALL AMOUNT OF WATER SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DISABLE A CAR IN THE MIDDLE OF A RAINSTORM. I OBSERVED NUMEROUS OTHER VEHICLES TRAVELING THRU JUST FINE INCLUDING A LATE MODEL INFINITI Q50.

I AM REQUESTING NHTSA INVESTIGATE THIS KNOWN DANGEROUS DEFECT AND ISSUE A MANDATED RECALL TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC. FUEL PUMP FAILURE OR RELATED FAILURES CAN CAUSE A CAR TO BE UNABLE TO MOVE OUT OF A DANGEROUS HIGHWAY AFTER ENGINE POWER FAILURE AT IDLE, CAUSING RISK TO HUMAN LIFE. ON 08-08-17, I WAS ON INTERSTATE IN STOPPED TRAFFIC. MY 2009 BMW 535XI WITH 115, 502 MILES ON IT QUIT RUNNING. TRAFFIC CLEARED AND I COULD NOT GET THE VEHICLE TO START, RUN, AND MOVE. IT WOULD START, BUT IT WOULD THEN QUIT RUNNING BEFORE I COULD PLACE IT IN GEAR. INTERSTATE TRAFFIC WAS APPROACHING AT 60 TO 70 MPH. MY THREE PASSENGERS GOT OUT AND PUSHED THE VEHICLE WHILE I STEERED IT IN NEUTRAL, NOT RUNNING, OFF THE ROADWAY. WE HAD A NEAR MISS COLLISION FROM APPROACHING VEHICLES ON THE INTERSTATE. THE DASH DISPLAY SAID "HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP FAILURE." AFTER SITTING 5 MINUTES, THE CAR STARTED AND APPEARED TO RUN NORMALLY. I E-MAILED BMW AND THEY SAID THEY HAD EXTENDED THEIR WARRANTY ON HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP TO 10 YEARS OR 120,000 MILES, AND SAID TAKE IT TO BMW SERVICE CENTER. ON 08-10-17 BMW DEALER DIAGNOSED IT AND SAID IT WAS THE "LOW PRESSURE FUEL PUMP LOCATED INSIDE THE FUEL TANK HAD FAILED." THEY OFFERED TO REPLACE IT AT A COST OF $2,079.90, STATING "BMW DOES NOT OFFER RECALLS." FOUR PEOPLE WERE ALMOST KILLED. BMW HAS "EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO 120,000 MILES ON HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP" BUT NOT ON THE "LOW PRESSURE FUEL PUMP." I ASKED SERVICE TECH IF HE WAS SURE IT WAS "LOW PRESSURE FUEL PUMP FAILURE" IF VEHICLE COULD RUN INTERMITTENTLY. HE OFFERED NO SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION, COMPARING IT TO A "LIGHT BULB THAN CAN WORK SOME TIMES AND NOT WORK SOME TIMES." I AM REQUESTING NHTSA INVESTIGATE THIS KNOWN DANGEROUS DEFECT AND ISSUE A MANDATED RECALL TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC.

I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAYS, AMIDST OTHER VEHICLES WHEN THE ENGINE COMPLETELY LOST POWER AND STOPPED RUNNING. I WAS VERY LUCKY THAT I DID NOT CREATE AN ACCIDENT. THE VEHICLE JUST SHUT ITSELF OFF WHILE GOING 60!! I LOST POWER STEERING BUT MANAGED TO PULL OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE VEHICLE WOULD THEN NOT START AND ON THE IDRIVE IT GAVE ME A FUEL PUMP WARNING . ABOUT AN HOUR LATER AFTER CALLING FOR ASSISTANCE, I STARTED THE VEHICLE AND IT WAS AS IF NOTHING HAD OCCURED. THE WARNING DISSAPPEARING AND IT DROVE NORMALLY. IT HAS SINCE THEN DONE THIS SAME THING 4 OTHER TIMES. I HAVE READ MANY OTHER COMPLAINTS SIMILAR TO MINE AND WANT TO KNOW IF THIS VEHICLE IS RECALLED AND IF NOT THEN WHY IS IT NOT RECALLED?

WHILE TRAVELING AT APPROXIMATELY 30-40 MPH, AND ACCELERATING TO ENTER THE INTERSTATE, THE TRANSMISSION WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE TRANSMISSION ENTERED FAILSAFE MODE. THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCERLERATE. ATTEMPTS TO USE THE SHIFTER TO CHANGE GEARS WERE INEFFECTIVE. ONCE IN A SAFE POSITION, I PULLED OVER AND TURNED THE CAR OFF. UPON RESTART, THE TRANSMISSION ENGAGED NORMALLY. THIS HAS OCCURED ABOUT SIX (6) TIMES SINCE SEPTEMBER 2016 AND PRIOR TO TAKING IT TO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE, ON MARCH 25, 2017. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER ON APRIL 5, 2017, AND THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN REPORTED THE FOLLOWING: PERFORMED SHORT TEST AND FOUND CLUTCH E FAULTS IS STORED IN THE DME. PERFORMED TEST PLAN AND FOUND NO CURRENT FAULTS WITH TRANSMISSION. CLEARED FAULTS AND ADVISE CUSTOMER TO CONTINUE DRIVING VEHICLE UNTIL FAULTS COME BACK ON. THE NEXT DAY, APRIL 6, 2017 A SIMILAR INCIDENT OCCURED TWICE WHILE ENTERING TRAFFIC. ISSUE SIMILAR TO NHTSA ID NUMBER 10035010.

TAKATA RECALL. THE VEHICLE JUST SHUTS RIGHT OFF WITHOUT ANY WARNING SIGN OR CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THE VEHICLE LOSES POWER ON THE HIGHWAY WITHOUT ANY WARNING SIGN AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY DANGEROUS AND IT CAN CAUSES A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. BMW HAS ISSUED A RECALL ON LATER MODELS BUT NOT THIS MODEL. ONCE THE VEHICLE TURNS COMPLETELY OFF A MESSAGE ON THE VEHICLES IDRIVE DISPLAYS "FUEL PUMP FAILURE." AFTER THE VEHICLE COOLS DOWN FOR 20-30 MINUTES IT STARTS BACK UP AND IT HAPPENS AGAIN WITHOUT NOTICE MAYBE DAYS LATER OR WEEKS LATER. IT'S A DANGEROUS ISSUE AND THERE'S NO WAY TO DETECT IT SO WARRANTY COMPANIES ARE GIVING A HARD TIME TO COVER THE COSTS AND IT'S LISTED AS COVERED UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY. VERY DANGEROUS ISSUE AND IT'S SOMETHING BMW SHOULD LOOK INTO WITH THE OLDER MODEL AS WELL. CURRENTLY THERE'S A RECALL ON THE 2010-2011 MODELS FOR DOING THE SAME EXACT THING WITH THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP.