BMW I4 GRAN COUPE

Crashed my car because brakes failed.

•August of 2023: BMW i4 leased from BMW of Gwinnet place. During the sales process, the customer was assured that BMW has many years of expertise in electric vehicles. Trade in vehicle valued for $11,000 as a downpayment. •July 25, 2025: Customer notified of a recall for BMW i4. During interactions with BMW of Gwinnet sales team, customer was assured that this is a “simple programming fix”. Vehicle dropped with service department on the following Monday for recall fix. •October 11, 2025: First Powertrain failure message received while operating the vehicle, vehicle delivered to service department the same day. BMW Gwinnett service team was prompt and accommodating with a loaner vehicle. oService technician notified customer that he depended on BMW Germany to troubleshoot and fix the car. oCar returned to customer on October 29. When asked if the electrical power cells were tested the answer from service technician was negative. •October 31, 2025: Second alert on i4 dashboard “Possible Drive Train”. Message disappeared on its own but certainly does not make customers feel safe driving the vehicle. oExchanged text messages with service technician on November 3. According to text, BMW Gwinnet service manager instructed customer to keep driving the car “to see if the warning light comes back on”. •November 17, 2025: Third message, stating “drive carefully, drive train fault”. Customer delivered vehicle to BMW Gwinnet service department for the third time in 4 months. Vehicle has been with the dealer ever since. Attempt to chance controlling unit did not work. BMW NA denied request for trade assistance, car is still at the dealership as of 12/17/25.

The contact owned a 2024 BMW i4 eDrive40. The contact stated that while slowing for a traffic signal, as he slowed down to approximately 10 MPH and was coming to a full stop, the vehicle failed to stop. The contact stated that he was still depressing the brake pedal when the vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into the rear end of the vehicle in front and stopped at the traffic signal. No warning light was illuminated. The contact's front end and hood were crushed and bent in towards the windshield. The contact stated that all of the air bags had deployed, front, side, and knee air bags. The contact stated that he was not injured nor was his wife who was seated in the front passenger seat, his daughter who was sitting behind his wife in the rear passenger seat complained of some back pain. The contact stated that the person in the vehicle in front of his vehicle was also not injured. The police arrived on the scene and filed a report. The contact stated that EMS was also at the scene and had examined his daughter who was transported to the hospital and later released with no injuries only soreness. The contact stated that his vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The contact was not sure of what happened to the other vehicle. The contact stated that his insurance provider had declared the vehicle a total loss. The contact stated that the manufacturer had contacted him to request permission to have two investigators check his vehicle. The contact was advised that the electrical system had been tampered with. The contact had recently received a recall notice from the manufacturer for another vehicle he owned, a 2024 BMW 530i, for NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V104000 (Electronic Stability Control - ESC, Service Brakes Hydraulic). The contact related the failure of his 2024 BMW i4 eDrive40 to the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.

The contact owns a 2024 BMW i4 equipped with Pirelli Tires, Tire Line: P Zero XL, Tire Size: 255/40/19, DOT Number: (N/A). The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the passenger's side rear tire had a blowout. The contact was able to pull over to the side of the road, and the vehicle was towed to the residence of a friend. The following morning, the contact purchased another tire and replaced the tire. While the tire was being replaced, the contact inspected the tire and became aware that the tread on the inside of the tire was separating, which caused the failure. The contact researched and became aware that the failure was a common failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who confirmed that it was a common failure and that the failure occurred due to the angle of the design of the tire. The tire was replaced. The manufacturer was informed of the failure, and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.

Lost control of the car while parking. It accelerated automatically and run into my garage. Car was out of control and damaged my home

I was parking my car and there was a car that was car parked beside the place I pulling into to. I had backed up and when took my foot off the brake the car took off and struck the corner of the parked car. It literally took off. I had zero control of the car and it didn’t brake until after I hit the car. Where I was parking was on an incline that was going up. It happened again when I was pulling into another parking spot. I was not close enough to the curb and that car felt the same way. It felt like it was just going to take off. I just put it in park at that point. When I restarted it was fine.

I encountered the safety issue on a test drive. The VIN which I supplied is typical of this model. The design of the gear selector lever makes it easy to inadvertently and unintentionally shift into Reverse, when Drive or Neutral is desired. A single click of the lever can engage either Reverse or the desired gear, depending on the engagement status of the brake pedal and the speed of the car. There is no Reverse gear lockout button, a standard safety feature on other vehicles. I almost backed into the vehicle behind me, when a red traffic light turned green. When the brake pedal is untouched, a single upward click of the selector lever engages a shift from Braking (B) mode, to Drive (D) mode. I had stopped for the red light in Brake (B) mode, and desired to shift into Drive (D) mode. I clicked the lever upward one time, while holding the brake pedal down. Unbeknownst to me, Reverse was engaged. A similar condition occurs when attempting to shift from Drive (D) mode into Neutral (N) mode. In normal driving, a single upward click of the lever engages Neutral, to allow (for example) coasting up to a red light without engaging regenerative braking. When stopped with the brake pedal depressed, that same single upward click engages Reverse gear. This condition could be remedied by: - Providing a reverse lockout button. - Altering the control algorithm to ensure that gears are sequentially engaged (R-N-D-B) with each click of the lever. The current algorithm skips different gears in the sequence, based on the rolling status of the car and the position of the brake pedal.

Summary of the Problem: While driving my leased BMW i4 M50 on the highway on [XXX], the rear passenger tire suddenly exploded without any prior warning or impact. This caused me to lose control briefly and nearly resulted in a serious accident. I was forced to pull over in unsafe conditions on a busy roadway. Details of the Incident: The tire failed suddenly while traveling at highway speed. No pothole, debris, or curb impact occurred prior to the blowout. I contacted BMW Roadside Assistance immediately, but was told it would take at least two hours before anyone could arrive, leaving me stranded in a dangerous location. The vehicle was towed the next day, [XXX], to BMW of Sacramento. The service department dismissed the issue and told me it was not their problem, refused to cover the tire failure, and even told me to go rent a car from Enterprise instead of providing a loaner. Safety Concern: This is a new EV leased vehicle and the sudden tire failure presented a serious safety hazard. A tire blowout at highway speeds could easily have caused a crash with severe injuries. The lack of immediate roadside support further increased the danger. The dismissive response from the dealership raises concerns about whether BMW is properly addressing potential tire or component defects in this vehicle. Action Requested: I am reporting this incident because I believe this may represent a defect or safety issue that warrants investigation. A sudden tire explosion on a new BMW EV, combined with BMW’s inadequate safety support, puts drivers and the public at significant risk. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)