Table 1 shows one common equipment related problems of the 2024 BMW 530.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Equipment problems |
The center console screen has a default screen that in part includes interior fan speed temperature. To adjust the fan speed and other a/c settings, the driver has to click press a small button at the bottom of the screen to open a new window. This is very dangerous because it requires the driver to take their eyes off the road. The car should have physical buttons for the fan speed. Since it doesn't have physical buttons for the fan speed, the car should have permanent fan speed buttons at the bottom of the screen at all times. The bottom of the screen should include permanent buttons for air temperature, a/c on/off, and fan speed. BMW can easily do this with a software update. The car does include the ability to make these changes through voice commands, but the voice commands do not always work.
I had stopped uphill, with my foot on the brake, heading east on the left lane of pomona road, at the approach to the traffic light junction with route 45, around 3. 50 pm on Friday 1/23/2026. There were about 5-6 cars also stopped, ahead of me, at the red traffic light and several cars behind me, when I heard my car engine rev up loudly. I kept applying the brake. I could hear my car tires spinning with a smell of burning rubber from the tires as they spun on the road, as my car lurched forward, and hit the rear of the stopped car ~ 5-7 feet ahead of me. I felt that I had no control of my car and turned the engine off after the collision. I called 911 twice at 3. 55 pm and 4. 12 pm and waited as advised, for the police officer who arrived about 30 mins later. I filed the report and the officer was able to retrieve my auto license plate which had fallen off from the road where I could clearly see the tire marks on the asphalt from the spinning tires at the time of the accident. The only message I recall receiving on the display was one that informed me that I had experienced a crash after the collision. I had never experienced this problem before. Later ,after the police officer had arrived and documented the accident, I was able to drive the car home. The burning smell from the tires persisted for some time. The next day I called the BMW dealer in the am, and with great trepidation, drove the car to the BMW dealership. I explained to the service advisor on duty on the Saturday, what exactly had transpired during the accident. I also explained this later to the BMW body shop manager when I spoke with him. I requested a full inspection and investigation by BMW. I personally do not feel safe driving the car again after this most unnerving and frightening episode.
I am a [xxx] physician who has been driving for about 30 years. Purchased this vehicle as a cpo with VIN as identified above. It is a 2024 BMW 530i x-drive from faulkner BMW in lancaster, PA. It was delivered on July 25, 2024. I have only put approximately 200 miles on in it since delivery. On Thursday, [xxx] there was catastrophic failure of the vehicle. At around [xxx] I was driving north on [xxx] about to make a right turn onto [xxx] for work at the hospital system where I am employed. The traffic light was red and I was going about 5 miles an hour and attempted to brake the car. There was an 18 wheeler truck about 10 to 15 feet ahead of me. My car instead of braking underwent unintended acceleration. Despite my efforts to slam on the brake, the car was accelerating. None of the safety features including automatic emergency breaking were activated. Unfortunately I collided with the 18 wheeler. This was fortunate in some regards as I could have potentially struck a pedestrian or a motorcycle and have had a potentially fatal event. Please note that additionally my airbag did not deploy. The BMW dealership was contacted. They dropped off a loaner vehicle and picked up my vehicle in a flat bed for investigation. I was informed to contact BMW of north America which I did. Interestingly enough, there were no safety recalls on this vehicle on [xxx]. The car is at the BMW dealership in lancaster PA for their internal inspection. I am being informed that the engineers are looking at the vehicle to find out what transpired. Interestingly enough, I did receive a phone call from the service manager advising me on August 9 that there was a safety recall as a relates to the brakes. As I review the NHTSA site, there is now a recall on my actual vehicle's braking system. I did a review of unintended acceleration and found multiple complaints. BMW is looking into this although into this, but external agency would be ideal. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C.