NHTSA Campaign 01V196000

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:PARK/NEUTRAL START INTERLOCK SWITCH

Issued by BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE · Reported Jun 14, 2001 · 14,300 vehicles affected

What's wrong

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: 4.4I SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES. OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME, ABRASION PARTICLES COULD DEPOSIT ON THE ELECTRICAL CONTACTS WITHIN THE SWITCH, CAUSING A DISRUPTION OF THE ELECTRIC CURRENT THROUGH THE CONTACTS. IF THE DISRUPTION OCCURS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS STATIONARY WITH THE TRANSMISSION IN THE NEUTRAL OR PARK POSITIONS, THE TRANSMISSION WILL SWITCH AUTOMATICALLY INTO THE EMERGENCY PROGRAM, WHICH IS DISPLAYED IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER VIA A WARNING LAMP AND A MESSAGE, "TRANS. FAIL-SAFE PROG." IN THIS CASE, THE VEHICLE CAN BE DRIVEN IN LOWER GEARS ONLY WITH LIMITED ENGINE OUTPUT.

Consequence

IF THIS PROBLEM OCCURS, THE ABILITY TO MAINTAIN SPEED IN TRAFFIC AND/OR ACCELERATE COULD BE GREATLY DIMINISHED, POSSIBLY LEADING TO A CRASH.

Remedy

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION GEAR POSITION INDICATOR SWITCH. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN AUGUST 14, 2001. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT BMW AT 1-800-831-1117.

Vehicles affected by this recall

Make Model Year Units
BMW X5 2000 14,300
BMW X5 2001 14,300

Source: NHTSA Campaign 01V196000 on nhtsa.gov. To check the current repair status for a specific vehicle, use our free VIN decoder.