2007 BMW 328XI

2007 BMW 328XI. LOCKING SYSTEM FAILED. UNABLE TO UNLOCK PASSENGER DOORS EITHER WITH THE KEY OR BY PULLING THE DOOR HANDLE FROM THE INSIDE. ONLY THE DRIVER DOOR WAS ABLE TO OPEN FROM THE INSIDE. THIS PRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE. I HAD TO HAVE MY WIFE AND KIDS CRAWL OUT THE WINDOWS ON CHRISTMAS EVE IN THE CHURCH PARKING LOT SO THAT WE COULD ATTEND CHURCH. BMW NEEDS TO ISSUE A RECALL AND HAVE THIS PROBLEM FIXED PROPERLY. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 BMW 328XI. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH WHEN HE APPROACHED A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND ATTEMPTED TO ENGAGE THE BRAKES; THE BRAKES DID NOT RESPOND WHICH RESULTED IN A CRASH. THE CONTACT STATED THAT DURING THE FAILURE, THE NAVIGATION SCREEN DISPLAYED ABS AND DSC MALFUNCTIONS. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED INJURIES AS A RESULT OF THE CRASH. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 40,000.

I HAVE A 1999 BMW 328I THAT I PURCHASED IN 2005 FOR $25,000 I JUST PURCHASED A 2007 BMW 328XI ON MAY WITH 54K MILES ON 11/1/10 IT TURNED OUT THAT I BOUGHT A $35,000 DEATH TRAP WITH THE DOORS NOT OPENING OR THE GAS TANK TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP SO NOW IT JUST SITS THERE IN MY DRIVEWAY. MY 1999 WITH STILL DOES THAT SAME PROBLEM BUT OFF AND ON NOT LIKE THIS 2007 DEATH TRAP. I'M NEVER EVER BUYING A BMW AGAIN. *TR

I JUST PURCHASED A 2007 USED BMW 328XI WITH ~45K MILES. ONE WEEK TO THE DATE OF PURCHASE, THE TIRE PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON IN THE CAR. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP (STILL UNDER WARRANTY FOR 5K MORE MILES) AND THEY TOLD ME I HAD A CRACKED RIM, "LIKELY DUE TO IMPACT." I HAVE DRIVEN IT ONLY ON ROADS UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS, HITTING NO SIGNIFICANT POTHOLES OR OTHER ROAD OBSTRUCTIONS. THE RIM IS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY AND WILL COST ~$500 TO REPLACE. I CHECKED THIS OUT INCIDENT REPORTS ONLINE AND IT SEEMS THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE RIMS/RUN-FLAT TIRES BEING DEFECTIVE UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS. *TR

2007 BMW 328XI SEDAN; LOCKED VEHICLE WITH KEY FOB. RETURNED TO VEHICLE AND KEY FOB WOULD NOT OPEN LOCKS. USED KEY FOB TO ROLL DOWN WINDOWS. INTERNAL BUTTON WOULD NOT UNLOCK DOORS. PULLING TWICE ON DOOR HANDLE WOULD NOT OPEN DOORS. ACTUAL KEY WOULD UNLOCK DRIVER'S DOOR ONLY. DROVE CAR. TRIED INTERNAL BUTTON AGAIN, BUT IT DID NOT WORK. PULLING TWICE ON DRIVER'S DOOR HANDLE WOULD UNLOCK THE DOOR. NO WAY TO OPEN ANY OF THE PASSENGER DOORS. ONLY WAY FOR PASSENGER TO EXIT IS TO GO OUT WINDOW OR THROUGH DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR. KEY FOB WOULD LOCK DOOR BUT NOT UNLOCK DOOR. CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY BY 2,000 MILES. I HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO TAKE IT TO DEALER/MECHANIC OR ATTEMPT TO REPAIR MYSELF. *TR

HAVE YOU INVESTIGATED WHY BMW HAS NOT OFFERED A FIX FOR TRAPPING THEIR CUSTOMERS IN THE CAR WHEN A DOOR LOCK ACTUATOR FAILS AND BLOWS A FUSE? THIS IS A COMMON EVENT ON THE 2007 328 MODEL. WHAT HAPPENS IS A POWER DOOR LOCK ACTUATOR FAILS DURING THE UNLOCK PROCESS AND THE INCREASE IN AMPERAGE CAUSES 2 FUSES TO BLOW. THIS PREVENTS ANY OF THE CAR'S DOOR LOCKS FROM OPENING, THEREBY TRAPPING OCCUPANTS IN THE VEHICLE. THERE IS NO WAY TO UNLOCK THE DOORS FROM INSIDE THE VEHICLE. OCCUPANTS MUST EITHER CLIMB OUT OF A WINDOW OR HAVE SOMEONE UNLOCK THE CAR USING A MECHANICAL KEY FROM OUTSIDE OF THE CAR. PLEASE ADVISE. *TR

I PURCHASED A USED 2007 BMW 328XI COUPE WITH THE ZF 6-19 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. (NOT THE ZF 6-19 TU) TWO WEEKS AFTER THE PURCHASE I WAS TRAVELING AT A STEADY 45 MPH & HAD TO BRAKE QUICKLY TO ABOUT 5 MPH. I THEN IMMEDIATELY HIT THE GAS TO ACCELERATE AWAY, AND THE CAR DID NOT RESPOND FOR AN UNACCEPTABLE PERIOD OF TIME. DEALERSHIP COULDN'T FIND THE PROBLEM. I TESTED THE CAR & DETERMINED THAT WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS IN TOP (6TH) GEAR, AND WAS BRAKED RAPIDLY DOWN TO A SPEED NEEDING A SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER GEAR, THE TRANSMISSION REMAINS IN 6TH. WHEN THE DRIVER ATTEMPTS TO ACCELERATE THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS ONE GEAR AT A TIME, TAKES ABOUT 0.8 SECONDS PER GEAR CHANGE, AND DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY ACCELERATIVE FORCE UNTIL IT HAS MADE IT TO THE CORRECT GEAR. IN AN INCIDENT WHEN DECELERATING FROM TOP GEAR TO 10 MPH OR LESS AND THEN IMMEDIATELY ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE, THE CAR TAKES ABOUT 4 SECONDS TO BEGIN TO RESPOND. ONCE I DEMONSTRATED IT TO THE DEALERSHIP THEY LOOKED INTO IT FURTHER. BMW'S RESPONSE WAS "THE VEHICLE IS OPERATING AS DESIGNED." FURTHER COMPLAINTS RESULTED IN "CUSTOM SOFTWARE" FOR THE TRANSMISSION WHICH DROPPED THE DELAY FROM ABOUT 4 SECONDS TO ABOUT 3.75 SECONDS, AND ALLOWED THE TRANSMISSION TO TRANSFER SOME POWER TO THE WHEELS AS IT WAS WORKING DOWN THE GEARS. IT WAS AN EXTREMELY LIMITED IMPROVEMENT, STILL FAR FROM SAFE. A FOUR SECOND DELAY BEFORE A DRIVER CAN MOVE THE CAR EFFECTIVELY AFTER BREAKING IS UNSAFE. I AM FORTUNATE IN THAT I DISCOVERED THIS PROBLEM IN A SITUATION WHERE I WANTED TO ACCELERATE, BUT DIDN'T HAVE TO, IN ORDER TO AVOID A COLLISION. HAD THIS HAPPENED ON THE 75 MPH FREEWAYS IN IDAHO WHERE I LIVE, I COULD EASILY BEEN HURT OR KILLED. THIS WAS REPORTED TO THE DEALERSHIP, AND BMW NORTH AMERICA. NEITHER ENTITY INDICATED THAT THEY BELIEVED THERE WAS ANY SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

2007 BMW 328XI. ELECTRONIC DOOR LOCKS WOULD NOT UNLOCK. NO DOOR COULD BE UNLOCKED FROM INSIDE VEHICLE. NO DOOR COULD BE OPENED FROM INSIDE VEHICLE. PULLING THE INTERNAL DOOR LATCH REPEATEDLY FAILED TO UNLOCK OR OPEN DOOR. PUSHING ELECTRONIC LOCK/UNLOCK BUTTON ON DASHBOARD FAILED TO UNLOCK DOORS. LOWERING WINDOW AND USING MANUAL KEY IN EXTERIOR LOCK UNLOCKED DOOR BUT AS SOON AS KEY WAS ROTATED TO REMOVE FROM LOCK DOOR IMMEDIATELY ELECTRONICALLY RELOCKED. KEY HAD TO BE HELD IN UNLOCK POSITION WHILE INTERIOR DOOR LATCH WAS USED TO OPEN THE DOOR IN ORDER TO OPEN DOOR TO EXIT CAR. SUBSEQUENTLY EXCEPT FOR DRIVER'S DOOR ALL DOORS REMAINED INOPERABLE LOCKED BUT DRIVERS DOOR COULD BE OPENED ONLY MANUALLY WITH MANUAL KEY FROM EXTERIOR OR LATCH FROM INTERIOR WITHOUT AUTOMATICALLY RE-LOCKING. DEALER WAS NOTIFIED AND REPAIRED. DEALER REPORTED THAT A "SHORT" HAD CAUSED FAILURE OF ABILITY TO UNLOCK. EVENT HAS NOT OCCURRED AGAIN IN ONE MONTH. *TR

RUNFLAT TIRES ON BMW 328XI ARE NOT SUITED TO AMERICAN ROADS. HIT A POTHOLE ON THE HIGHWAY WITH THE RUNFLAT TIRES. WHEEL WAS DAMAGED AND TIRE WAS DAMAGED AS WELL. RUNFLAT TIRES SEEM LESS RESILIENT THAN STANDARD TIRES, AND RESULT IN GREATER LIKELIHOOD OF WHEEL DAMAGE. TIRE DID NOT GO FLAT, BUT WHEEL AND TIRE NEED REPLACEMENT. *TR