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BMW 335i Unintended Acceleration?

18K views 113 replies 27 participants last post by  Emission 
#1 ·
This is a repost moved from the new member section. I would appreciate more comments from other Bimmers. This is not to bash BMW. I loved the car every minute I drove it. Drivers usually don't floor the pedal or the brake in this situation. Thanks in advance.
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I had a weird experience I never thought real last week. I live on a hill side in Southern California, and the road down to the town is a bumpy, narrow, and zig-zag with sharp U turns. When I tried to make one turn driving 335i with a foot covering the brake, the car suddenly boomed and accelerated. It stopped with the belly on the curb and wheels in the air after hitting the guard rail about 12-feet away across the street. I could have rolled over the hill if not for the guard rail, or run over people if it happened in a busy intersection. Everybody, BMW and insurance, seems to blame me as a reckless driver.

I have never got into accidents that I caused for over 30 years of driving. My another car is Porsche Cayman. I enjoy driving, but I feel haunted and scared of driving now. I experience nightmares every morning since before I wake up. I have enjoyed driving BMW 335i immensely for over three years. It is a small car with an explosive power. Nothing to find faults with. I cannot replicate the same situation, but I was not in panic and I am not too old not to tell the pedal from the brake.

Is there anyone who can shed some light on this happening? When I looked through Internet, there are lots of sudden acceleration cases of other brands, but not specifically on 2007 335i. It is the first twin-turbo model, and they have extended warranty for 10 years on the defective high-pressure fuel pump on this model.
 
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#71 ·
Not true. Car systems store numerous implausible events, i.e. fault codes. Just because your check engine light goes off does not mean the code is erased. Some systems erase the codes after a specified number of re-starts, i.e 30 re-starts or a specified time, i.e. 30 days if no further occurance of said fault code re-occurs. If your vehicle is checked within a resonable time after a fault code is generated, it is still present until deleted by a technician.
True. But what I mean by fault is the case when the car sets the implausible events by itself, and doesn't know that it did. What you mean is the normal operation when the car detected faults. For example, if you don't close the gas tank tightly, the Check Engine light will be on. Even though you fix it and unless the computer is reset, the light will stay on for two to three weeks in some cars but will be reset eventually after 30 or 50 restarts. How long it will be on depends on cars. My case is the light went off when tried again. I mean the light was on when the car didn't start, and off if started. No record.
 
#72 ·
But what I mean by fault is the case when the car sets the implausible events by itself, and doesn't know that it did.
There is no 'car' from this perspective. There are multiple independent subsystems with built-in-test and self-monitoring functions.

It's clear you've experienced an event which was disturbing to you; and you're looking for an explanation - but it's not reasonable to argue these points as if an expert without actually educating yourself.
 
#74 ·
You might want to go to SAE.org and see if you can find a technical paper on the strategies used on current production ECMs. I think you'll be surprised at the comprehensive system checks and validation processes used to detect faults and record them.
I agree with you on that ECM or ETC is significantly better than old mechanical throttle systems. The current cars are also very fool-proof, and reliable. However, it is true only under the normal operating condition. If electronics fail, they fail miserably. So it would be better to open up a remote chance of failures.

Now the stage is set up with many extras filing legal suits, lawyers, or even divided internet warriors adding fuels to fire. Most car manufacturers know it, but have to deny it. Admitting the fact first is a death blow to them. The story seems to evolve so that Toyota may ride first a roller coater with no loop back. 2000 complaints are not negligible, and cannot be from all drivers' errors. In fact, it would be a life/death problem for any car manufacturer to admit it first. So both car manufacturers and the agency are busy in covering-up.

Electronics are fallible. Toyota is a well respected brand for their reliable cars. The problem is partly due to the consumers' unending appetite for cool electronic gadgets compounded by the incompetence of the agency that failed to rectify the issue. Hope this will lead to the development of more reliable cars in the future. What I mean by "reliable" is the level that it is unlikely for most of us to experience any deadly car faults in our life. I feel sorry, but it is time for Toyota to show the humor of our late President Reagan had - "I forgot to dodge (the bullet)."

Happy driving.
 
#75 · (Edited)
I agree with you on that ECM or ETC is significantly better than old mechanical throttle systems. The current cars are also very fool-proof, and reliable. However, it is true only under the normal operating condition. If electronics fail, they fail miserably. So it would be better to open up a remote chance of failures.
But not totally, as this thread is destined to prove.

I would also take the time to look up 'reliability' and apply that definition to your third sentence.

To be honest, I am more disappointed in myself for following this drivel than you for propagating it.
 
#80 ·
Wit, please do the Audi 5000 research I suggested. Hundreds of cases PROVING there had to be a problem. Victims crying into the camera SWEARING that they did not hit the accelerator. Journalists earnestly writing editorials, and staring out of the television PLEADING with Audi to take the car off the market before more innocents die! So much anecdotal evidence IT HAD TO BE TRUE!

But it wasn't. Not a SINGLE case of runaway acceleration was due to a malfunctioning system. Driver error in every single case. The only way the attorneys and armchair experts could make the car run away was to drop a brick on the accelerator.

This is going to be the same thing all over again. It's like having to prove you're not a witch in Olde Salem.
 
#81 ·
DSX, I do honor your opinion. I read about the Audi case, and I understood your point clearly.

IMHO, this Toyota case is quite different from the old Audi case. It is typical of the faults all modern cars with computer brains may have. It is difficult to piece together any human errors plus the floor mat to make up the story. Computers cannot tell right or wrong. They just execute the commands. I agree that people may lie for some benefits, but still it is not possible to exclude computer faults from the 2000 complaints. I knew this kind of problems will come out some day. After I experienced one personally, I just became a more concerned driver. I don't blame cars, and I don't claim to be a perfect driver, either. I became far more attentive now while driving and think continuously about what to do assuming something can happen. I drive the current state-of-the-art car as is. My intention was to learn more wisdom from experienced drivers like you for everyone to get prepared. It is like the earthquake. You don't know when it will strike.
 
#85 ·
DSX, My 335i is in the body shop until maybe after Thanskgivings. The estimate is over $11k. The towing guy messed it up with new scratches on the rear-wheel. But they will replace everything scratched under the body and the front bumper. Great insurance coverage, but the bill will be on me eventually. It is my first collision claim over 30 years of driving.

Have a good time in La Jolla. I live up on the hill on the ocean, that is where my car almost rolled over a slope.
Oh, I forgot to mention. Don't speed in San Diego. There are so many radar checks.
 
#86 ·
Oh, I forgot to mention. Don't speed in San Diego. There are so many radar checks.
That'll be hard for me to do, I'm going to be sporting a Hertz Nissan Altima Hybrid. A customer is picking up the bill so I'm not arguing. It's not a bad car, not as smooth in drivetrain management as the Prius but more trunk and interior room. I drove one all
over Virginia and DC three weeks ago and was very impressed.
As for having a good time in La Jolla, I've never had a bad one!:thumbup:
 
#91 ·
Sudden unintended acceleration

Hi all,

On Friday July 27 I was slowly pulling into my driveway and suddenly my 2007 BMW X3 took off. I managed to steer all the way, missed the wall, hit a tree, drove on my neighbour's lawn and barely missed her SUV (minor scratches to the rear bumper). Finally I used the emergency brake, put it in neutral and turned the car off to stop it while the engine was still reving high. I had my foot on the brake hence the tire marks on my driveway. A simple search on internet reveals other similar incidents. I have posted a few pictures.

Best,
 

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#92 ·
Hi all,

On Friday July 27 I was slowly pulling into my driveway and suddenly my 2007 BMW X3 took off. I managed to steer all the way, missed the wall, hit a tree, drove on my neighbour's lawn and barely missed her SUV (minor scratches to the rear bumper). Finally I used the emergency brake, put it in neutral and turned the car off to stop it while the engine was still reving high. I had my foot on the brake hence the tire marks on my driveway. A simple search on internet reveals other similar incidents. I have posted a few pictures.

Best,
Wow, glad you are okay and that you didn't hit the house!

Regardless of whether or not your vehicle exhibited "unintended acceleration" (a term, interestingly enough, that also fits when someone hits the incorrect pedal), the brakes on the X3 are stronger than the engine's output at the wheels - something required by U.S. law.

Those tire marks in the driveway appear to be from a sharply turned wheel turning under power, not a skidding wheel (BMW's have ABS, so skids are more frequently sideways).

Did you take you BMW to the dealer? I'd have it towed immediately, so they can download the engine codes.

- Mike
 
#93 ·
Thanks, I am glad there were no injuries. When I contacted the Police and told them what I thought happened, they towed it away to do an inspection. When I stopped the X3 and put it in Neutral and Park, the engine was still reving high so I believe it is unlikely that I had my foot on the gas pedal during the whole thing. I will post updates when I get more information. It is such a pitty, I enjoyed my X3 very much.
 
#94 ·
I don't question your observations or what happened, but it is good that the police towed it away (on a flatbed, I hope). Please post updates! :D

Welcome to Bimmerfest!

- Mike
 
#95 ·
How about common sense? You can take a 650hp auto trans car to the start line of a quarter mile run push the brake then push the throttle to the floor & hold it down. The car will not move till the brake is released.

These people with unintended acceleration are pushing the gas not the brake.
 
#98 ·
+1

- Mike
 
#104 ·
Not that I am aware of.

- Mike
 
#105 · (Edited)
Yes with the DCT. Involves holding the brake & flooring the throttle with the trans in full manual/sport. Release the brake & off you go quickly. I am modified to 380whp/440chp & it works fine although I personally prefer to launch without it.
 
#106 ·
Is that an official "Launch Control" mode, as recognized by BMW? If so, just learned something new...

- Mike
 
#108 ·
Cool, and interesting. I don't have much experience with the DCT, as most of the BMW models I drive are MT or Auto (slushbox). I'm scheduled to drive the new M5 and M6 at Laguna Seca in two weeks (both MT and 7-speed dual-clutch automatic). I'll try launch control. :thumbup:

- Mike
 
#109 · (Edited)
Car need at least 1200 miles on the clock, fully warm oil, stick pulled left to S mode, sport button pressed & traction control off. Ask to see the owners manual for the sequence to set it up. When its in LC mode a checkered flag will show up on the display. I have driven stick in competition since 1960 & am used to feathering the throttle for traction control off the line. To me its easier & I think the car is quicker then using LC & letting the car drive itself. Also with the JB4 my shift points are 6250rpm not redline like the robot.
 
#110 ·
I've found that most late-model turbocharged vehicles should be shifted about 1,000 rpm below redline (e.g., the turbocharged F30 328i).

- Mike
 
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