- Vehicles
- 45,500
- Built between
- Aug 2004 – Jul 2008
- Models
- 6
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- NHTSA investigation
- Owners notified
- 20 March 2013
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between August 2004 and July 2008. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2005 BMW 745IBuilt August 2004 to July 2008
- 2005 BMW 745LIBuilt August 2004 to July 2008
- 2006-2008 BMW 750IBuilt August 2004 to July 2008
- 2006-2008 BMW 750LIBuilt August 2004 to July 2008
- 2005-2006 BMW 760IBuilt August 2004 to July 2008
- 2005-2008 BMW 760LIBuilt August 2004 to July 2008
What the defect is
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.
What could happen
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.
What gets fixed
BMW will notify owners beginning in November 2012. The remedy became available in March 2013.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtAugust 2004 to July 2008
- Recall reported to NHTSA17 October 2012
- Owners notified20 March 2013
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 17 October 2012.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Manufacturer contact
Owners may call BMW at 1-800-525-7417 or email BMW at CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- BMW of North America, LLC
- Recall initiated by
- ODI
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.