IllustrationOn 2/25/26, in rush hour traffic we were driving on a NJ highway. We happened to be in the left-most of 3 lanes with a concrete divider (no shoulder – there was about 3 ft between the concrete divider and the left side of the left lane). We were about 4 car lengths behind the next car when traffic was slowing for a red light. Th…
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On 2/25/26, in rush hour traffic we were driving on a NJ highway. We happened to be in the left-most of 3 lanes with a concrete divider (no shoulder – there was about 3 ft between the concrete divider and the left side of the left lane). We were about 4 car lengths behind the next car when traffic was slowing for a red light. The car indicated “Everything OK”. When I hit my brakes, they did not engage; they locked. The car skidded; it felt like we were on ice, but the road was clear. We were upon the car in front of us and had no place to go. I held the steering tight and tried pumping the brakes to disengage the lock. To no avail. I was planning on scraping the divider on my side to slow the car down. I steered the car into the tight space next to the divider thinking it would cause less injuries as opposed to plowing into the back of the stopped car in front of me. We slid at least 4 car lengths before traveling past 3 stopped cars in succession, I just barely missed hitting the concrete divider and/or the cars in the lane in front/beside me. On the left side, I could see that my mirror was over the divider and on right side we were within an inch or two of a hit. Realizing that I miraculously missed hitting anything, I tested the brakes going only a couple of inches and the brakes did engage. I slowly moved across the lanes to get to the right shoulder. Through all of this, the car indicated “Everything OK”. On 2/26 the car was towed to the dealership. The dealership technician and BMW representative easily replicated the brake failure. Through their testing they determined that the Integrated Brake Module, the same part that had be replaced in Nov 2025 for a recall, had failed again. Before, during, and after the incident, the car indicated “Everything OK”. After repeated requests, neither the dealership or BMW rep gave us any information about why the car failed to warn us of the problem or assurance us of its safety.