Engine Malfunction #2 Cause Found?

[ranchhand]

There seems to be more malfunctions than one would expect.
(and there are a lot more 35d owners then belong to this forum)

At some point the government should become involved and determine if there is cause for a recall.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by ranchhand

There seems to be more malfunctions than one would expect.
(and there are a lot more 35d owners then belong to this forum)

At some point the government should become involved and determine if there is cause for a recall.

The government depends primarily upon formal complaints filed by owners. I wonder how many people have actually made formal safety complaints at the NHTSA.GOV website, including their VIN? (Complaints with a VIN get much more attention, as it give NHTSA the required tracking information for statistical analysis).

So if anyone thinks they have a safety defect, they should report it to NTHSA, including their VIN:

Office of Defects Investigation (ODI), File A Safety Complaint

That is the one action guaranteed to get BMW NA's attention.

P.S. In checking, it would appear that only two people in the entire United States have filed safety complaints about the 2009 BMW X5, and one of the two was that his fuel gauge didn't work. If that is all the more motivated the X5 owners are, I doubt there will be any recalls. (There are 16 complaints for the 2008 models)

P.P.S A further analysis of the 2008 complaints on the NHTSA website shows that 7 of them are duplicate postings, and 1 is actually for the X3. So there is actually a total of 9 complaints from all 2008 X5 owners filed with NHTSA. I have posted this data not to suggest there are not real and/or pervasive problems, but to point out that it is rather difficult for the government to respond if people do not bother to report the safety problems, e.g., if you were a governmental official reading the above, would you think there was a potential recall issue for the X5?

[MINIz guy]

Originally Posted by ABMW

What did your dealer do to resolve the issues? Did they replace any parts?

We will be getting it back today. Our SA said something about a fuel pump, but I will post what the invoice says once we get it back.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by MINIz guy

We will be getting it back today. Our SA said something about a fuel pump, but I will post what the invoice says once we get it back.

BMW has been having problems the past year or so with fuel pumps. I am sure they will be blaming it on the U.S. fuel quality, as they often have tried to do in the past to deflect blame.

[Retired Profile]

That happened to me - Low Pressure Fuel Pump was the culprit. Since the repair, no problems. In fact, I had the KM's to Empty showing zero and I made it to a gas station without incident.

Here is my thread on it:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...same-time.html

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by Penguin

BMW has been having problems the past year or so with fuel pumps. I am sure they will be blaming it on the U.S. fuel quality, as they often have tried to do in the past to deflect blame.

NHTSA complaint filed here w/confirmation #. It takes 3-minutes. Others need to do the same.

There's a hyper level of attention on these issues, as of late given the Toyota debacle and now the Honda Airbag issue.

The Gov. is cracking down, so please take the time, so we can all get on with our lives.

I love my 35d, but this is absurd.

I think BMWNA would have a hard time blaming it on fuel, given that this is taking place across the country. It's not an argument that would pass many legal tests.

It's happening to 35d owners all across the country. It would be difficult for BMWNA to suggest that this is a fuel quality issue.

Now that the NHTSA is aware of this situation, BMWNA is aware via my call (at the very least), and there's records here of others contacting BMWNA, should God Forbid a fatality take place, they're going to be out $150 to $200m in punitive damages at a minimum.

It's very likely Toyota will be out $1-billion in punitive damages alone, which is what they've likely prepared themselves for.

This is not a simple issue of "oh well, I'll pull over to the side of the road."

This is a matter of the vehicle losing all power, at completely random times. It's happened when driving on flat roads with a full tank, and on hills.

It's only a matter of time before we read about a 35d owner who's been injured, when their 35d "decides" to "malfunction" and stall at an inopportune moment.

We all know companies respond to the mighty dollar, and it's a risk vs. reward issue to them, to be sure. Right now, they're getting away with it.

I'd encourage those of you who hare having issues to take to use the avenues that are available to us, to rectify the issue. The most important of which is filing a complaint with the NHTSA.

Please start with filing a complaint at Home | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) | U.S. Department of Transportation It takes but a moment, and it can go miles in solving this problem.

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by ranchhand

There seems to be more malfunctions than one would expect.
(and there are a lot more 35d owners then belong to this forum)

At some point the government should become involved and determine if there is cause for a recall.

Yes, far more than who belong to this forum. Thousands, more, I'm sure. Few people participate in this forum. After all, there are only some 53,000 members across all the boards. That's a small number compared to the number of late model X5s on the road.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by ABMW

NHTSA complaint filed here w/confirmation #. It takes 3-minutes. Others need to do the same.

If enough people bother to complain, NHTSA will send a letter to BMW NA asking them for warranty and repair data, which will open the issue up for analysis and a potential recall action. If not, BMW NA will just keep fixing them one-by-one as they break and tell no one.

Your complaint appears to the be first NTHSA complaint for stalling made for a 2009 X5.

[Thunder22]

Originally Posted by ABMW

Yes, far more than who belong to this forum. Thousands, more, I'm sure. Few people participate in this forum. After all, there are only some 53,000 members across all the boards. That's a small number compared to the number of late model X5s on the road.

It is human nature to complain. If "thousands" were having this problem it's a better bet that they would be seeking our forums like this to post their angst as opposed to staying quiet about it.

[Penguin]

FYI, I think the total number of BMW E70 X5's sold to date in the U.S. is right around 100,000 vehicles total for 2007/2008/2009.