2013 BMW X5

ON THURSDAY, MAY 2ND, 2019, MY WIFE AND 19-MONTH OLD SON WERE AT THE PARK AND RETURNED TO THE VEHICLE, WHICH WAS PARKED IN THE PARKING LOT. MY WIFE HAD THE KEY FOB IN HER BAG. SHE PLACED HER BAG ON THE FLOOR OF THE CAR, JUST BEHIND THE FRONT PASSENGER'S SEAT. SHE PLACED OUR SON IN HIS CAR SEAT, STRAPPED HIM AND CLOSED THE DOOR. THE VEHICLE THEN PROCEEDED TO LOCK ITSELF, THUS LOCKING MY SON IN AND MY WIFE OUT. SHE HAD TO CALL EMS TO COME AND BREAK OPEN THE CAR IN ORDER TO GAIN ACCESS, THIS TOOK CLOSE TO 15-20 MINUTES TOTAL IN WHICH TIME MY SON WAS TRAPPED IN THE CAR WITH TEMPS IN EXCESS OF 100 DEGREES AS IT WAS ABOUT 90 OUTSIDE AT THE TIME IT OCCURRED. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH BMW'S COMFORT ACCESS FEATURE. THERE HAS ALREADY BEEN ONE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FOR OWNERS TO RECOVER EXPENSES, HOWEVER I FEEL THIS IS A BIGGER ISSUE. IF A PERSON OR PET, WHO ARE UNABLE TO OPERATE DOORS OR LOCKS, GET TRAPPED IN A VEHICLE IT COULD VERY EASILY RESULT IN DEATH UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES. WHEN THEY PULLED HIM FROM THE CAR HE WAS SOAKEDDD IN SWEAT, GLOSSY EYED AND OUT OF IT. THIS WAS A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE THAT NO ONE SHOULD EVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH AND I FEEL BMW SHOULD STEP UP AND FIX THESE VEHICLES. I DON'T CARE IF THAT'S REPLACING THE SYSTEM OR TAKING IT OUT, IT'S DANGEROUS. HTTPS://COMFORTACCESSSETTLEMENT.COM/HOME/PORTALID/0 THIS IS LITERALLY THE SAME STORY OF WHAT HAPPENED TO US... HTTPS://WWW.CARCOMPLAINTS.COM/NEWS/2...TTLEMENT.SHTML BMW DESCRIBES THE COMFORT ACCESS SYSTEM AS FOLLOWS: 'THE VEHICLE CAN BE ACCESSED WITHOUT ACTIVATING THE REMOTE CONTROL. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TO HAVE THE REMOTE CONTROL WITH YOU, E.G., IN YOUR JACKET POCKET. THE VEHICLE AUTOMATICALLY DETECTS THE REMOTE CONTROL WHEN IT IS NEARBY OR IN THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. COMFORT ACCESS SUPPORTS THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS: UNLOCKING/LOCKING OF THE VEHICLE.'

WHILE DRIVING ONE RAINY AFTERNOON ON A CITY ROAD, I NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. THE SMOKE TURNED INTO FLAMES. I PULLED OVER AND CALLED 911. AN OFF DUTY POLICE OFFICER STOPPED AND HAD A FIRE EXTINGUISHER. HE WAS ABLE TO PUT OUT MOST OF THE FIRE UNTIL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT SHOWED UP AND FINISHED THE JOB. THE FIREMEN THOUGHT THAT THE FIRE STARTED IN THE AIR BAG CONTROL MODULE. THE BMW DEALER SAID THAT THE FIRE STARTED IN THE WIPER MOTOR. THE CAR WAS AT THE DEALER THE PREVIOUS WEEK FOR THE AIR BAG RECALL.

MY 2013 BMW X5 35D WAS IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET, WHEN IT STALLED, LOST ALL POWER AND ULTIMATELY WOULD NOT RESTART. I WAS ABLE TO GET IT TO THE SIDE, BUT NOT OFF THE ROAD AND IT WAS TOWED TO THE BMW DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY DISCOVERED THAT THERE HAD BEEN A STILL UNIDENTIFIED SOURCED, FUEL LEAK INTO THE ELECTRICAL HARNESS AND FINALLY POOLING INTO THE DDE COMPONENT, FRYING THE DDE COMPONENT TO FAILURE. THERE WAS ENOUGH FUEL IN THE DDE COMPONENT THAT IT WAS DRAINED INTO A DRIP PAN AND FUEL COVERED THE WIRING CONNECTION POINTS AS WELL AS HAD DISCOLORED THE WIRING. I WAS INFORMED THAT HAD THIS BEEN A GAS ENGINE AND NOT DIESEL, IT WOULD HAVE PROBABLY CAUGHT ON FIRE AS FUEL WAS ABLE TO ACCESS AND TRAVEL ACROSS THE ELECTRICAL WIRING IN THE CAR. BMW HAS REFUSED TO HELP IN ANYWAY TO INVESTIGATING THE REASONING FOR THIS HAPPENING AND OR ANY REPAIRS THAT WOULD BE INVOLVED AS THEY "DO NOT HAVE A FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE THE CAR IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY" I FEEL THAT THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO DISCOVER THE REASONING WITHOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE THAT A FIRE WOULD HAVE CAUSED AND THEY ARE CHOOSING NOT TO DO SO AS TO CLAIM IGNORANCE TO THE SAFETY ISSUES THAT THIS HAPPENING REPRESENTS.

WARNING LIGHT ON DASH THAT READS "FAULT IN PASSENGER RESTRAINT SYSTEM AFFECTING AIRBAG, TENSIONER OR BELT-FORCE LIMITER." BMW DEALER (ROADSHOW BMW / MEMPHIS) DID REPLACE BELT TENSIONER AT A COST TO ME BUT THE ERROR CODE REMAINS. THE PASSENGER SEAT MAT COULD CAUSE THIS PROBLEM. HAS THERE BEEN A RECALL ON THE PASSENGER SEAT MAT? I FEEL THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE DEALING WITH AIRBAGS AND SEATBELTS. THE BMW DEALER IN JACKSON, MS DID REPLACE THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER AIRBAG UNDER A RECALL BUT I AM STILL CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY DUE TO THE "SYSTEM MALFUNCTION...FAULT IN PASSENGER-RESTRAINT SYSTEM AFFECTING AIRBAG" WARNING LIGHT ON DASHBOARD. THIS WARNING MESSAGE AND SEATBELT WARNING LIGHT REMAINS WHEN CAR IS IN MOTION. I BOUGHT THE CAR ON MARCH 17, 2015 (33,000 MILES) FROM MY SISTER WHO BOUGHT THE CAR NEW FROM THE BMW DEALER IN NASHVILLE, TN. THE ERROR MESSAGE WAS ON THE DASH AT THAT TIME. THE CAR NOW HAS APPROX 64,000 MILES.

VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN A PARKING LOT. WIFE UNLOCKED DOORS USING LEFT/REAR DOOR HANDLE (VEHICLE HAS COMFORT ACCESS LOCKING SYSTEM) AND PLACED BABY AND DIAPER BAG WITH KEY FOB INTO THE BACK SEAT. SHE CLOSED THE REAR DOOR AND THE DOOR LOCKS IMMEDIATELY LOCKED WITH NO INPUT FROM MY WIFE. THE CAR WOULD NOT UNLOCK. POLICE WERE CALLED AND BROKE OUT THE REAR WINDOW. THEY WERE UNABLE TO OPEN THE DOOR USING THE INTERIOR HANDLE. THEY HAD TO RETRIEVE THE KEY FOB FROM THE BAG, BRING IT OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE, AND AFTER NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS WERE ABLE TO UNLOCK THE VEHICLE. AFTER DRIVING THE VEHICLE HOME, I WAS ABLE TO RECORD VIDEO OF THE LOCKS RANDOMLY LOCKING WITHOUT USER INPUT. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO BRAMAN BMW BACK IN AUGUST, 2017 FOR A SIMILAR ISSUE AND THE LEFT/FRONT DOOR HANDLE WAS REPLACED. IT IS DISCONCERTING THAT OCCUPANTS CAN BE RANDOMLY LOCKED IN THE VEHICLE WITH THE KEY AND NOT BE ABLE TO USE THE INTERIOR HANDLES TO OPEN THE DOORS.

DRIVERS DOOR NOT OPENING OR CLOSING PROPERLY. THE INSIDE DOOR HANDLE MALFUNCTIONS NOT ALLOWING DRIVER TO OPEN DOOR. IN SOME CASES AFTER OPENING DOOR THE DOOR ACTUATOR DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY AN MAINTAINS DOOR IN LOCKED POSITION WHICH PREVENTS CLOSURE OF DOOR. BOTH SITUATIONS ARE SAFETY CONCERNS WITH NOT BEING ABLE TO EXIT VEHICLE AND/OR CLOSE DOOR. ISSUES HAPPEN FREQUENTLY BUT ARE HARD TO REPRODUCE. THE ONLY WORK AROUND IS TO REPEATEDLY PRESS THE DOOR UNLOCK BUTTON UNTIL DOOR OPENS OR CLOSES. THIS PROBLEM ALWAYS OCCURS WHEN STOPPED AND VEHICLE IS IN PARK.

ON 3 SEPARATE OCCASIONS THE ELECTRIC DOOR LOCKS HAVE LOCKED THE CAR WITH THE KEY FOB INSIDE THE CAR. ON THE 1ST OCCASION , A 2 Y/O CHILD HAD JUST BEEN STRAPPED INTO HIS CAR SEAT , A PURSE WITH THE KEY INSIDE THE PURSE , WAS PLACED ON THE FLOOR BEHIND THE DRIVER'S SEAT , THE REAR DOOR WAS CLOSED & ALL LOCKS WERE ACTIVATED . THIS OCCURRED IN THE HEAT OF SUMMER & REQUIRED ANOTHER DRIVER WITH A SPARE FOB TO QUICKLY DRIVE TO THE SITE OF THE PARKED CAR & AVOID HAVING TO BREAK A WINDOW . THIS WAS A VERY SCARY MOMENT ! SAME THING HAPPENED ( NO CHILD IN CAR ) ; ALL DOORS LOCKED WHEN A BRIEFCASE CONTAINING BOTH KEY FOBS WAS PLACED ON BACK SEAT & REAR DOOR WAS CLOSED . A CALL TO BMW HOT LINE RESULTED IN THE DOORS BEING UNLOCKED VIA THE AIRWAYS .THE SAME INCIDENT OCCURED THIS WEEK WITH ONLY ONE KEY FOB IN THE CAR . THE VEHICLE WAS CHECKED BY THE LOCAL DEALER & NO PROBLEMS WERE FOUND . IT SEEMS THERE IS A POTENTIAL PROBLEM & I WISH TO DOCUMENT SUCH FACT SO AS TO HOPEFULLY PREVENT UNEXPECTED DOOR LOCK ACTIVATION WITH SMALL CHILDREN IN THE CAR. *JS