NHTSA Campaign 12V502000

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

Issued by BMW of North America, LLC · Reported Oct 17, 2012 · 45,500 vehicles affected

What's wrong

BMW is recalling certain model year 2005-2008 7-Series vehicles, equipped with the Comfort Access option, and manufactured August 23, 2004, through July 24, 2008. The affected vehicles have an electronic key and an electronic connection between the gear shifter and the transmission (shift-by-wire) that automatically shifts the transmission to Park when the driver presses the Start/Stop button to shutdown the engine. If the driver presses the engine Start/Stop button 2 or 3 times within a short time interval, the system may shift the transmission to Neutral rather than Park. If using the electronic key (Comfort Access mode), there would be no protection from the ignition interlock that prevents key removal if the vehicle is not in Park.

Consequence

If the driver exits the vehicle with the transmission in Neutral and the parking brake is not applied, the vehicle may rollaway. Unattended rollaway incidents often result in a crash or cause injury to pedestrians attempting to stop or enter the vehicle or to other bystanders in the path of the vehicle.

Remedy

BMW will notify owners beginning in November 2012. The remedy became available in March 2013. Owners may call BMW at 1-800-525-7417 or email BMW at [email protected].

Vehicles affected by this recall

Make Model Year Units
BMW 745I 2005 45,500
BMW 745LI 2005 45,500
BMW 750I 2006 45,500
BMW 750I 2007 45,500
BMW 750I 2008 45,500
BMW 750LI 2006 45,500
BMW 750LI 2007 45,500
BMW 750LI 2008 45,500
BMW 760I 2005 45,500
BMW 760I 2006 45,500
BMW 760LI 2005 45,500
BMW 760LI 2006 45,500
BMW 760LI 2007 45,500
BMW 760LI 2008 45,500

Source: NHTSA Campaign 12V502000 on nhtsa.gov. To check the current repair status for a specific vehicle, use our free VIN decoder.