Consumer Law

BMW Stalls In Traffic; Ultimate Driving Machine, or Ultimate Nightmare?

By Kemnitzer, Anderson, Barron, Ogilvie & Brewer

Kemnitzer Barron & Krieg attorneys are working on cases for clients with BMWs that have shut off in traffic. Investigation shows the following model BMWs may be subject to the defect that has caused our clients cars to stall: BMW 135i, 335i, 335xi, 535i, 535xi, X5 sdrive35i, X6 sdrive35i, Z4 sdrive35i. It appears to involve essentially all models with BMW?s 300hp twin turbo engine. The fuel pumps in the cars suffering from this defect cannot pressurize the fuel reliably at the pressure required for the twin turbos. Once the pump fails, the engine does not get the amount of fuel required and the car loses power. At best the affected cars will take extra time to start and run roughly, sometimes the cars will run with limited power, while at worst they shut off suddenly. We have reports of these BMWs stalling suddenly at high speeds, even at 70 mph on a Los Angeles freeway. Imagine: the car shakes violently and then loses all power. When a car loses all power it soon thereafter loses power steering, and hydraulic brake assist. This can make the car difficult to stop and difficult to maneuver. Crashes have been reported to the NHTSA as resulting from the fuel pump failure in these BMWs. BMW in its own report to the National Highway Transportation Agency noted that it was aware of the problem back in 2008. BMW has only now issued a recall on all the affected cars, even though it noted in its report to NHTSA in 2008 that loss of all power could occur as a result of the fuel pump failure and that the steering and braking of the affected car would be compromised. If you own one of these cars, take care to look for the early indications of a possible failure. If the car takes longer to start then it has in the past, the check engine light comes on, or the car is running roughly, go immediately to your warranty repair center. If this problem has been worked on and reoccurred, you may have a claim to have your car repurchased by BMW under California?s lemon law, the Song-Beverly Act. Just because a recall has been issued does not mean that the Lemon Law does not apply, especially if BMW has had a number of attempts to solve the problem and been unable to do so. Regardless of what you do, ignoring the problem will not make it go away, and may lead to the ultimate nightmare.

Full post as published by Lemon Law Blog on October 26, 2010 (boomark / email).