I was driving my vehicle on the highway in the left lane, trying to pass a car in the middle lane. After getting in front of the car in the middle lane, I tried to accelerate so I could re-enter the middle lane, but the car acted as if it slipped into neutral and would not accelerate. The engine growled as if it were in neutral. It kept driving, but would not accelerate, despite me stepping harder on the gas. This was potentially dangerous as there was a car immediately behind me, which could have rear ended me at over 60mph, and the car in the middle lane that I was trying to pass could have also hit me on the passenger side of my car. In researching this, many bmw owners have been complaining about this, and yet bmw has not issued an investigation or recall: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/bmw_trans.html there are 650 complaints regarding this problem at the above link. People should not be having transmission problems like this under 75k miles.
2006 BMW 3 Series engine complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 15 of 15, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have a 2006 325i sedan with 55,856 miles on it. I took it in for a routine service on 4-18-2013. It has been maintained by only bmw dealerships in its lifetime with all required maintenance done on schedule. They called to notify me that upon inspection they had found the head bolt broken behind the oil filter housing, the oil filter housing gasket leaking and the drive belt tensioner leaking. I had not been experiencing any outward s+s of this problem. They quoted me $3400 to repair this. I was shocked that a car in such great condition would have such a problem at this mileage. I asked why this would happen and essentially was told it is unusual but does happen. They advised a repair in the future. I went home and researched this and found it has been a common problem in this model and that subsequently bmw has changed the type of bolt they use. So I thought I would call the customer service line to follow up on any assistance from bmw. Long story short they took the complaint but because I have a low mileage vehicle that has been outside of warranty for 3+ years they would offer no help. You know shame on bmw this is my 4th bmw and very likely my last due to this. This should be a recall, this should not be happening no matter how long it took to get to the 50,000 mile + range where this problem shows itself.
Independent repair shop noted aluminum head bolts broken which could cause extensive damage to engine. Broken bolts caused oil leak and heads of bolts could have gone into the timing belt destroying the engine. Independent repair shop directed us to the dealership stating they had noted this issues on almost all of this year and model. Repair cost was very expensive.
My bmw 300 series wagon (2006) had a brake and emergency warning light turn on. There was also a smell of burning oil. My mechanic identified the problem as broken aluminum bolts on the cylinder. He said he personally sees this all the time on 2006 models, that bmw is aware, and that they redesigned the part for later years. Likewise, my bmw dealer is aware of it and a simple google search finds at least 1000 complaints posted at various sites on the web. Aluminum does not hold up in this setting and these bolts cost more than$1200 to repair. I am told by my mechanic that it usually happens after 60k miles which means most are off warranty. Bmw is aware and should either do a courtesy repair or be forced to do the right thing by the federal safety agency.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 bmw 330xi. While driving 24 MPH there was a clanking noise and the aluminum bolt that was holding the cylinder head in place broke. The failure caused the cylinder head to crack the cylinder head and caused a massive oil leak into the engine. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. They replaced the aluminum bolt. The dealer replaced one defective part with another. The failure mileage 25,774. The consumer stated the repairs were almost $4,000 and it took more than a week to complete the repairs. Updated 03/12/10 updated 03/30/10 *bf updated 07/26/10.
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