Other Fuel System Pump problems of the 2015 BMW X5

On 12/14/18 at 11pm on a dark road with my young kids in the backseat and wife as passenger, we were in motion at 35 mph when the car suddenly lost power. The dash indicated a drivetrain malfunction and the engine completely died. To make matters worse, this car has a transmission lock to prevent two-wheel towing that makes it near impossible to put the car in neutral. We are left sitting in the middle of a dark road around a blind curve and no way to move the car, and a flat-bed tow truck would not arrive for hours. BMW has diagnosed a high-pressure fuel pump failure that sent metal fragments throughout the fuel system. The entire fuel system including injectors must be replaced at a cost of over $14,000. I have learned that this same car had the same repair six months earlier by the previous owner. This car has suffered two catastrophic fuel system failures resulting in driver and occupants being stranded in very dangerous situations this year alone. Had this happened on the freeway at high speed, it could have caused a major accident with substantial injuries or even death as a result. A quick internet search reveals that this is a common problem with the X5 diesel high pressure fuel pump with many owners across the country reporting similar problems, some of whom state feeling lucky to have escaped without injury. It is highly possible that there are cases of this same vehicle causing tragic accidents that have not been tied back to the fuel pump due to excessive vehicle damage or perhaps driver death. BMW has refused to comment, but other BMW models have been recalled for fuel pump problems.

In January 2015, I bought a BMW X5 35d twun turbo (n57t engine) oe equipped with a bosch high pressure fuel pump ("hpfp") part #0445010667. Two weeks ago, I was driving at 75 mph in the 4th lane of a 6 lane highway when my car jerked and a "drive train malfunction" message came on the screen. I was towed to the dealer thinking this would be covered under warranty - the car is less than 3 years old! I'm told that there was a "catastrophic failure" of the high pressure fuel pump that I did not cause, had no warning of and could not have prevented. That failure caused metal shavings to break off, damage the fuel injectors and spread throughout the entire fuel system requiring replacement at the cost of $15,000! I was then told that my car was out of warranty because of the mileage (I drive my sons to lots of baseball tournaments so I am over 50k miles after this summer). I asked BMW na to stand behind their vehicle and repair it under warranty because no 2. 5 year old vehicle, especially a BMW, should have this happen to it. Indeed, a pump failure, no matter how catastrophic, should not require replacement of the entire fuel system. There are lawsuits out there over these hpfps and BMW has recalled over 150,000 vehicles and extended the warranties on many of the hpfps to 120k, but apparently not mine, even though it experienced the same type of failure, is made by the same company (bosch) and out of the same material (different part number). BMW has offered to fix it at warranty cost and contribute 50%, but that is still over $6,000 or roughly 10% of the original cost of the vehicle. Please investigate this as it is dangerous and consumers need to be aware that this is still happening.