n1das
TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2002
- Location
- Nashua, NH, USA
- TDI
- 2014 BMW 535xd ///M-Sport, 2012 BMW X5 Xdrive35d, former 3x TDI owner
<VENTING>
I need to vent a little here.
Wednesday evening this week during my commute home in my 535d, I had the misfortune of being unable to avoid hitting a truck tire "alligator" on the highway.
I was haulin' ar$e in the high speed lane with other traffic around me at 70+ MPH and at night. This was in Marlboro MA on 495N. The truck tire "alligator" was laying flat and nicely hidden on the pavement. The passenger side front took the hit and then it flipped up and hit the underside of the car in the rear as I went over it. Given that I was haulin' ar$e in traffic, stopping somewhere to check for damage was not an option. I was hoping for no damage verything seemed OK, or so I thought. 15 minutes later on 495N in the Chelmsford MA area, I got the warning message "Drivetrain malfunction, engine power reduced. Drive moderately." Uh-Oh, more damage than I originally thought and it dropped in to limp mode. Then I noticed it was worse than limp mode....losing power and slowing down to a crawl. Traffic was light enough and I had the presence of mind to get over to the breakdown lane before it died. It could crank but not restart. DEAD. Electricals appeared to be OK. I couldn't troubleshoot it just yet because I had to stay in the car to stay safe.
Then the fun began. I hit the SOS button to use the car's system to call BMW Roadside Assistance for help. I arranged for a tow from Chelmford MA to Tulley BMW in Nashua NH, about 14 miles away. They recommended I arrange a ride home because whoever tows it will likely store the car overnight before getting it to Tulley's. OK, so I called a friend and he's in Manchester NH and he immediately got on the road to get to me. Meanwhile, BMW Roadside Assistance was working on getting a tow provider to handle the tow. I got a call back saying they were having trouble finding a tow provider because none of the tow providers they use will tow a vehicle across state lines. Ridiculous! Totally <expletive>-ing USELESS! Meanwhile, my friend eventually arrives, and still no tow arrived yet. I finally said <expletive>-it and we used my friend's AAA membership to call AAA to get it towed. I canceled the call with BMW Roadside Assistance. I currently don't have AAA but I will get it after this. OK so I'm almost 2 hours into this and AAA showed up after another 1/2 hour.
When my friend arrived, we checked out the damage....diesel fuel everywhere on the back of the car and a puddle of fuel on the pavement. No obvious signs of any body damage. The truck tire alligator ruptured the fuel tank and it was pouring diesel on the highway while I drove. It eventually died when it ran out of fuel. I did notice the fuel gauge below 1/4 just before it died and I recall it was at 1/2 tank at the start of the trip.
Now comes the REAL fun part and why I filed a complaint with NHTSA as the situation created a serious safety issue and presented challenges for the tow operator. Given that the 535d has AWD (Xdrive), the car can only be towed on a flatbed ramp truck. No other method of towing is possible. I'm OK with that part because of the AWD. To get the car onto the ramp, this requires shifting the car from Park (P) to Neutral (N) and releasing the parking brake so the car can be moved. Releasing the (electrically controlled) parking brake was no problem however shifting the transmission from P to N was a no-go. Starting with 2011 model year BMWs, the shifter on all BMWs is all electric. The shifter is just an electronic control. There is no longer a mechanical linkage between the shift lever and transmission. This means there is also no hardware method inside the car to manually override the interlock to get it out of Park so the car can be moved while disabled. The car's system software is such that the transmission is not allowed to be shifted out of Park without the engine running. Trying to shift to park while cranking the engine was also a no-go because the car expects to see the engine running and systems OK before allowing a normal shift out of Park while stepping on the brake pedal.
The tow operator and I were digging through the owner's manual and surfing the internet on our smartphones to find out how to override the interlock. Nothing found in the owner's manual. I called BMW Roadside Assistance again using the car's system, figuring somebody SHOULD know the procedure. All I got was "I'm sorry sir, none of our technicians are available at this time to help you with your question. Is there anything else I can help you with?" ARRGGHH!! Again, totally <expletive>-ing USELESS! From surfing on our smartphones, we found a hardware method which involves jacking the car up and getting under it to crank on a bolt on the transmission to manually move the shift mechanism. Not going to happen while on the highway with cars flying by at 70+ MPH and a puddle of diesel under the car. From my online searching I found an electronic method to put the car in N that requires a particular magic shifting sequence while cranking the engine. However it was not the correct sequence for my car so this was a no-go after trying it. So we were out of options at this point and the car had to be dragged with all wheels locked to get it loaded onto the flatbed.
Fortunately I was able to get over to the breakdown lane before the car died. What would I have done if I couldn't get over and the car came to a stop in a travel lane? The car can't be pushed from behind by another car without doing a lot of damage. All 4 wheels are locked due to the AWD and being unable to get the transmission shifted out of Park.
Then the challenges began for the tow operator to drag the car onto the flatbed. He jacked up each wheel one at a time and put a skid under each wheel. Although the transmission was in P and parking brake was on, he instructed me to stay in the car and stand on the brake pedal to guarantee no wheel rotation occurs to protect the car. The car's tow hook was screwed into the front bumper and the car was pulled from this point. The tow hook is offset from the center and causes the car to be pulled to one side. The rear wheels were in a puddle of diesel fuel and made the skids slippery enough to cause the passenger side rear wheel to no longer line up with the ramp. I suggested he pull the truck forward a few feet to straighten it out. He tried this and it helped but then there was also another problem. The skids for each wheel needed a way to get over the lip of the end of the ramp where the ramp meets the pavement. He had to get creative with choices of skids that he had available and pull the car a few inches and use some different skids and pull it a few more inches and swap skids again. He eventually got the car loaded onto the ramp. He said unloading the car at the BMW dealer would be no problem since gravity helps.
The tow operator knew what he was doing and worked HARD to get the car loaded and without damaging anything. The whole loading process took over an hour. I have nothing but good things to say about the quality of his work. I highly commend the tow operator for his work however I am officially p!$$ed at BMW.
This was a 4 hour ordeal. The car died just before 10PM and we didn't get out of there until around 2AM. My friend gave me a ride to Nashua and we went to Denny's for some food and it was all on my dime. I reimbursed him for gasoline needed to feed his gas guzzler ride. It was close to 3AM by time I got home. As soon as I got home, I went online and filed a complaint with NHTSA about being unable to get the car out of Park and into Neutral so it could be pulled onto the flatbed. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night.
This was a dangerous situation that could have ended very badly. I have filed an insurance claim for the damage and the car is at my BMW dealer. In addition to the complaint filed with NHTSA, I plan to elevate the safety concern to BMW Corporate. I'm also looking into whether the design violates Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Being unable to easily get the transmission out of Park while the car is dead on the side of the highway is NOT OK in my book. I later found what I think is the correct magic shift sequence to electronically shift from P to N but it would have been nice to have that information in the car when the tow operator and I needed it most.
</VENTING>
I need to vent a little here.
Wednesday evening this week during my commute home in my 535d, I had the misfortune of being unable to avoid hitting a truck tire "alligator" on the highway.
I was haulin' ar$e in the high speed lane with other traffic around me at 70+ MPH and at night. This was in Marlboro MA on 495N. The truck tire "alligator" was laying flat and nicely hidden on the pavement. The passenger side front took the hit and then it flipped up and hit the underside of the car in the rear as I went over it. Given that I was haulin' ar$e in traffic, stopping somewhere to check for damage was not an option. I was hoping for no damage verything seemed OK, or so I thought. 15 minutes later on 495N in the Chelmsford MA area, I got the warning message "Drivetrain malfunction, engine power reduced. Drive moderately." Uh-Oh, more damage than I originally thought and it dropped in to limp mode. Then I noticed it was worse than limp mode....losing power and slowing down to a crawl. Traffic was light enough and I had the presence of mind to get over to the breakdown lane before it died. It could crank but not restart. DEAD. Electricals appeared to be OK. I couldn't troubleshoot it just yet because I had to stay in the car to stay safe.
Then the fun began. I hit the SOS button to use the car's system to call BMW Roadside Assistance for help. I arranged for a tow from Chelmford MA to Tulley BMW in Nashua NH, about 14 miles away. They recommended I arrange a ride home because whoever tows it will likely store the car overnight before getting it to Tulley's. OK, so I called a friend and he's in Manchester NH and he immediately got on the road to get to me. Meanwhile, BMW Roadside Assistance was working on getting a tow provider to handle the tow. I got a call back saying they were having trouble finding a tow provider because none of the tow providers they use will tow a vehicle across state lines. Ridiculous! Totally <expletive>-ing USELESS! Meanwhile, my friend eventually arrives, and still no tow arrived yet. I finally said <expletive>-it and we used my friend's AAA membership to call AAA to get it towed. I canceled the call with BMW Roadside Assistance. I currently don't have AAA but I will get it after this. OK so I'm almost 2 hours into this and AAA showed up after another 1/2 hour.
When my friend arrived, we checked out the damage....diesel fuel everywhere on the back of the car and a puddle of fuel on the pavement. No obvious signs of any body damage. The truck tire alligator ruptured the fuel tank and it was pouring diesel on the highway while I drove. It eventually died when it ran out of fuel. I did notice the fuel gauge below 1/4 just before it died and I recall it was at 1/2 tank at the start of the trip.
Now comes the REAL fun part and why I filed a complaint with NHTSA as the situation created a serious safety issue and presented challenges for the tow operator. Given that the 535d has AWD (Xdrive), the car can only be towed on a flatbed ramp truck. No other method of towing is possible. I'm OK with that part because of the AWD. To get the car onto the ramp, this requires shifting the car from Park (P) to Neutral (N) and releasing the parking brake so the car can be moved. Releasing the (electrically controlled) parking brake was no problem however shifting the transmission from P to N was a no-go. Starting with 2011 model year BMWs, the shifter on all BMWs is all electric. The shifter is just an electronic control. There is no longer a mechanical linkage between the shift lever and transmission. This means there is also no hardware method inside the car to manually override the interlock to get it out of Park so the car can be moved while disabled. The car's system software is such that the transmission is not allowed to be shifted out of Park without the engine running. Trying to shift to park while cranking the engine was also a no-go because the car expects to see the engine running and systems OK before allowing a normal shift out of Park while stepping on the brake pedal.
The tow operator and I were digging through the owner's manual and surfing the internet on our smartphones to find out how to override the interlock. Nothing found in the owner's manual. I called BMW Roadside Assistance again using the car's system, figuring somebody SHOULD know the procedure. All I got was "I'm sorry sir, none of our technicians are available at this time to help you with your question. Is there anything else I can help you with?" ARRGGHH!! Again, totally <expletive>-ing USELESS! From surfing on our smartphones, we found a hardware method which involves jacking the car up and getting under it to crank on a bolt on the transmission to manually move the shift mechanism. Not going to happen while on the highway with cars flying by at 70+ MPH and a puddle of diesel under the car. From my online searching I found an electronic method to put the car in N that requires a particular magic shifting sequence while cranking the engine. However it was not the correct sequence for my car so this was a no-go after trying it. So we were out of options at this point and the car had to be dragged with all wheels locked to get it loaded onto the flatbed.
Fortunately I was able to get over to the breakdown lane before the car died. What would I have done if I couldn't get over and the car came to a stop in a travel lane? The car can't be pushed from behind by another car without doing a lot of damage. All 4 wheels are locked due to the AWD and being unable to get the transmission shifted out of Park.
Then the challenges began for the tow operator to drag the car onto the flatbed. He jacked up each wheel one at a time and put a skid under each wheel. Although the transmission was in P and parking brake was on, he instructed me to stay in the car and stand on the brake pedal to guarantee no wheel rotation occurs to protect the car. The car's tow hook was screwed into the front bumper and the car was pulled from this point. The tow hook is offset from the center and causes the car to be pulled to one side. The rear wheels were in a puddle of diesel fuel and made the skids slippery enough to cause the passenger side rear wheel to no longer line up with the ramp. I suggested he pull the truck forward a few feet to straighten it out. He tried this and it helped but then there was also another problem. The skids for each wheel needed a way to get over the lip of the end of the ramp where the ramp meets the pavement. He had to get creative with choices of skids that he had available and pull the car a few inches and use some different skids and pull it a few more inches and swap skids again. He eventually got the car loaded onto the ramp. He said unloading the car at the BMW dealer would be no problem since gravity helps.
The tow operator knew what he was doing and worked HARD to get the car loaded and without damaging anything. The whole loading process took over an hour. I have nothing but good things to say about the quality of his work. I highly commend the tow operator for his work however I am officially p!$$ed at BMW.
This was a 4 hour ordeal. The car died just before 10PM and we didn't get out of there until around 2AM. My friend gave me a ride to Nashua and we went to Denny's for some food and it was all on my dime. I reimbursed him for gasoline needed to feed his gas guzzler ride. It was close to 3AM by time I got home. As soon as I got home, I went online and filed a complaint with NHTSA about being unable to get the car out of Park and into Neutral so it could be pulled onto the flatbed. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night.
This was a dangerous situation that could have ended very badly. I have filed an insurance claim for the damage and the car is at my BMW dealer. In addition to the complaint filed with NHTSA, I plan to elevate the safety concern to BMW Corporate. I'm also looking into whether the design violates Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Being unable to easily get the transmission out of Park while the car is dead on the side of the highway is NOT OK in my book. I later found what I think is the correct magic shift sequence to electronically shift from P to N but it would have been nice to have that information in the car when the tow operator and I needed it most.
</VENTING>
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