Bad news for several thousand owners of BMW‘s previous flagship model, the E65 and E66 7-Series sedan, which is the one featuring the pronounced boot(ie) that came to be known sarcastically as the “Bangle Butt.”
The Bavarian carmaker filed two separate recalls on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website, the first concerning a transmission flaw that could cause the car to roll away, and the other, because of a faulty software concerning the door latches.
In more detail and beginning with the transmission issue, it affects 45,500 examples of the 2005-2008 model year BMW 7-Series sedans equipped with the Comfort Access option, manufactured from August 23, 2004, through July 24, 2008.
In these cars, as soon as the driver presses the Start/Stop button to shutdown the engine, the transmission automatically shifts the transmission. However, it was discovered that 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” instead of “Park”.
“If the driver exits the vehicle with the transmission in Neutral and the parking brake is not applied, the vehicle may rollaway,” NHTSA said on its website.
BMW said it will notify owners beginning in November 2012, but noted that it will “not have revised software available to remedy the vehicles until March 2013”, which means that drivers of the affected models should not play around with the start / stop button and make sure that the car is in “Park” before they lock it down.
The second recall involves 7,485 units of the 2005-2007MY BMW 7-Series, fitted with both Comfort Access and Soft Close Automatic options, and built between August 23, 2004, and September 3, 2007.
“Due to a software problem, the doors may appear to be closed and latched, but, in fact, may inadvertently open,” BMW told the NHTSA. “The door may unexpectedly open due to road or driving conditions or occupant contact with the door. The sudden opening may result in occupant ejection or increase the risk of injury in the event of a crash,” the automaker added.
BMW plans to update the software on the affected models free of charge with the recall to begin in November.
Transmission Issue Recall, Affected Models:
BMW 745I — 2005
BMW 745LI — 2005
BMW 750I — 2006-2008
BMW 750LI — 2006-2008
BMW 760I — 2005-2006
BMW 760LI — 2005-2008
Faulty Door Latches Recall, Affected Models:
BMW / 745I –- 2005
BMW / 745LI – 2005
BMW / 750I — 2006-2007
BMW / 750LI — 2006-2007
BMW / 760I — 2005-2006
BMW / 760LI — 2005-2007
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