I own a 2007 BMW 328I with 21,000 miles on it. In July 2009 I was backing out of my driveway when the car lost all steering power, the accelerator no longer functioned, the check engine light came on, & the key was unable to be ejected. A BMW dealer was unable to duplicate the issue, so they said there was not a problem with the car. In Aug 2009, after turning the car on, the car began to shake and it powered down. Again, the check engine light came on, and the key was not able to be ejected. The same BMW dealership was unable to duplicate the problem, but they said they installed software updates. In Sept 2010 I was driving the car and at a low speed when the car lost all steering control, the accelerator did nothing when I pushed down on it. I had to push the car out of the road. The check engine light was still on, and the key would not eject itself. Minutes later, I was able to get the key out, and after I restarted the car, the check engine light went off. (I have photos of it on). The vehicle was towed to a different BMW dealership--but once again, they were unable to resolve the issue. They tested the fuel--the fuel was fine. They told me they had incentive to find a problem with the car so that they could be paid. I have contacted BMW N. America several times, but to no avail. At one point, I asked what it would take for them to fix the car-- personal injury" property damage" the BMW rep said no--but agreed that I'd just have to wait it out and see what happens. After sending a letter to BMW N. America the customer service rep said I would need a local dealer to consent to having an engineer look at my car. He said he would contact the dealer to see if they would grant me consent. He never called. I had to call on my own and beg them to have an engineer look at my car. The engineer was unable to explain why my car keeps powering down. He did however install a software update. BMW won't help me, so my only recourse is to sell it.

- Coral Gables, FL, USA

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.

- Boise, ID, USA

My vehicle shakes and shuts down when im stopped at a red light and even sometimes when I put it on in the morning, this has happened more than five or six times since I bought the vehicle, I took the vehicle to the dealership and they keep saying they can not find the problem and they refresh a computer they say. Also the service light comes on when I have this problem and before the check engine light came on.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA