I have a 2005 BMW X5 4.4 auto.transmission is defective, it takes at least 10 seconds to go into forward or reverse gear and will shift late and bang hard. Occurs all the time resulting in almost getting hit by other cars because it takes so long to go in gear. Many other 2005 BMW X5 owners have the same problems. There should be a recall before someone gets injured or killed. Dealer tells me it is a known problem that will cost thousands of dollars to fix that I do not have.

- Lake Ariel, PA, USA

BMW's high instances of "hard 2-1 downshift" as they call it. Many models of BMW's experience a feeling of being rear ended while slowing to a stop and then asking for an acceleration. Also described as "slip and slam" by many people, there is an obvious defect in the transmission. This problem seems to get progressively worse the more you drive leading up to every time you drive your vehicle. BMW is obviously aware of the problem as they have a name for it, but getting a dealership to admit to a problem, let alone fix it is another story. Car is currently in the shop to be "reprogrammed" at a cost of $180, but the technician flat out told me that this probably wouldn't fix the problem and maybe I could just live with it. This is not an option, as every time this event happens my 4 and 6 year old daughters assume we have been in an accident and start panicking, not to mention the bonk on the head and strain on their necks from the jolt. My car is now out of warranty, but they will gladly replace the transmission at my cost and that should fix the problem. This is a widespread problem possibly involving many hundreds of cars and many complaints of this problem including claims of whiplash can be found on chat boards such as edmunds.com, xoutpost.com and bimmerfest.com...or just type in BMW feels like being rear ended...and it will all come up. Hopefully all of these people have put in a complaint as well so that something can finally be done about this problem, seeing as how BMW refuses to fix it themselves.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

2005 BMW X5 4.4 has a transmission problem. The car seems to slip out of gear when slowing down and then accelerating then violently lurches forward. The sensation and sound gives the impression that you were just rear ended by another car traveling at a high rate of speed. This has happened at least 50 times over the 2 years I have had the car. It has been reported to BMW at least 3 times and they always claim they cannot find a cause.

- Royersford, PA, USA

I have had a message come up on my bmx X5 saying "trans.failsafe.prog. The first time was on 7/31/09 they said nothing was wrong or came up when they drove it at the dealership. On 9/09/09 the same message popped up and my car would not change gears and felt like it was going to shut off.

- Honolulu, HI, USA