having major electronic/mechanical issues

[limotint]

This started sometime ago, on my 2003 X5 with, then 60,000 miles. Now, it has 73,000 miles.

At first, when it was cold out and/or the the car hadn't been run in 24 hours, the automatic transmission wouldn't shift into drive all the way. For stick drivers, I describe the issue as only letting the clutch out 10% so the car would move forward, but highly disproportionate to the revs and to normal. If continued, it would at somepoint slam into gear with a large jolt, like dropping the clutch suddenly.

BMW said that this was a computer update issue. So, I updated it. It's done this one time since. BUT if this was the only problem, I would be writing this...

Yesterday, in a parking lot, thank God, I lost complete control of my vehicle. The steering wheel would not turn, the transmission would not engage in any gear (not even when using the manual mode) I was only going 2-3 miles an hour, but I am glad that the e-brake is on a cable, not connected through a computer. That is what stopped the car. After stopping the car, I tried all the shifting of gears, which as I said, did not work. Also, every dash light imaginable turned on like a Christmas tree!

I turned the vehicle off, and waited 5 minutes with people getting real pissed at me for blocking them. After turning it back on, it seemed to work fine.

two questions: 1) what the hell happened? (can't find anything searching for similiar problems) and 2) Has anyone ever experienced this themselves to any capcity in a BMW?