2000 BMW 323I Complaints

IN LATE MARCH,2007, MY BMW 323I BLEW A HEAD GASKET AFTER ONLY 82,000 MILES.THIS WAS AFTER THE CAR BEING BABIED WITH SERVICE ETC.THE DEALER I TOOK THE CAR TO, PRESSTIGE IMPORTS IN SANTA ROSA,CA. FOUND THAT THE COOLING SYSTEM WAS RUNNING AT OVER 300 DEGREES AND WARPED THE BLOCK, RUINING THE ENGINE. THEY WERE AS CONFUSED ABOUT THIS AS I WAS BECAUSE THEY HAD PERFORMED ALL OF THE SERVICE AND HAD JUST SERVICED THE CAR 2 MONTHS BEFORE, WITH NO INDICATION OF ANY PROBLEM. THEY ASKED BMW FOR SOME HELP IN THE REPAIR COST SINCE THIS WAS SO UNUSUAL.THEY ALSO GAVE ME A LOANER CAR AT NO CHARGE, AND HAVE BEEN UNBELIEVABLY WONDERFUL THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE. BMW CAME BACK AND ANNOUNCED THAT THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND WON'T INTERVENE AT ALL,CAUSING ME TO HAVE TO PAY ABOUT $6000 FOR A " USED" ENGINE TO BE PUT IN. I HAVE SINCE GONE ONTO GOOGLE AND FOUND HUNDREDS OF POSTED PAGES ABOUT OTHER OWNERS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM.THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A PROBLEM THAT BMW REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE, AND I WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT OR THEM. THANK YOU FOR ANY ASSISTANCE THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO PROVIDE. ROBERT LACKEY *TR

ON 8/707 I NOTICED THAT I COULD NOT SHIFT MY 2000 BMW323CI INTO REVERSE. NO PRIOR NOTICE AND NO ENGINE OR CHECK LIGHTS CAME ON. IT'S LIKE BEING IN NEUTRAL. THE ENGINE REVS BUT THERE IS NO MOVEMENT. IN ANOTHER INSTANCE I WAS ON A HILL AND TRIED TO BACK UP. WHEN I SWITCHED INTO REVERSE, THE CAR ROLLED FORWARD!! THE PROBLEM PERSISTS AS OF TODAY 8/13/07. A QUICK SEARCH OF THE INTERNET REVEALS THAT THIS PROBLEM IS WIDESPREAD (SEE ATTACHED LINKS). BMW RECALLED THE 5 AND 7 SERIES FOR THIS REASON BUT DID NOT RECALL THE 3 SERIES (PERHAPS BECAUSE TOO MANY 3 SERIES WERE SOLD COMPARED TO THE 5 AND 7 SERIES??). BMW REALLY NEEDS TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM BEFORE SOMEONE IS SERIOUSLY HURT. HTTP://WWW.CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM/AUTOMOTIVE/BMW_TRANS.HTML HTTP://WWW.CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM/NEWS04/2007/01/BMW_TRANSMISSION.HTML HTTP://ABCLOCAL.GO.COM/KGO/STORY?SECTION=7ON_YOUR_SIDE&ID=4407296 HTTP://WWW.MOTORTREND.COM/CARS/1999/BMW/5_SERIES/RECALLS/ HTTP://WWW.INTERNETAUTOGUIDE.COM/AUTO-RECALLS/09-INT/1999/BMW/7-SERIES/INDEX.HTML *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 BMW 323I. SHE STATED THAT WHEN THE GEAR SHIFT INDICATOR WAS SHIFTED INTO REVERSE, THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT MOVE. THE FAILURE ONLY OCCURRED WHILE VEHICLE OPERATED NORMALLY IN ALL OTHER GEARS. THE DEALER HAS NOT INSPECTED THE VEHICLE. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 61,850.

THE TRANSMISSION FAILED TO PERFORM IN REVERSE. IT SIMPLY ACTED AS IF IT WERE IN NEUTRAL. IT WAS VERY SCARY AND UPSETTING TO HAVE THIS HAPPEN, ESPECIALLY WHERE AND WHEN IT DID. I WAS STUCK AND HAD TO HAVE REVERSE TO LEAVE THE LOCATION WHERE I HAD TAKEN MY DAUGHTER. ONLY WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF TWO (2) MEN WAS I ABLE TO GET THE CAR WHERE I COULD USE THE FORWARD GEAR TO MOVE AHEAD. THIS MANUAL MANEUVERING OF THIS CAR PUT THE MEN HELPING ME, IT PUT ME, AND IT PUT OTHERS ON THE ROADWAY AT RISK WHILE THIS MANEUVERING WAS BEING DONE AT, OBVIOUSLY, VERY LOW SPEEDS. BMW HAS NOT OFFERED ANY SUBSTANTIAL HELP WITH MY PLIGHT, NOR DO THEY CONFIRM ALL OF THE OTHER COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE PROBLEMS WITH THE BMW 3 SERIES, 2000 AND LATER. PART OF THE LITANY OF THE SAME COMPLAINT CAN BE FOUND ON THE CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM BLOG SITE. I'M CONFIDENT BMW IS AWARE OF THESE COMPLAINTS. THEY SIMPLY TRY TO LOOK AWAY AND IGNORE US ALL. *TR

COULD NOT BACK UP IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY INTERSECTION (NO REVERSE AND NO WARNING). 323I BMW 2000 TRANSMISSION FAILED. *TR

MY 2000 BMW 323I ABRUPTLY STOPPED GOING IN REVERSE. LIKE MANY DISSATISFIED 323I OWNERS, I TOOK IT TO A LOCAL DEALERSHIP ONLY TO FIND OUT IT NEEDS A NEW TRANSMISSION. I SEARCHED ONLINE AND MANY OTHER BMW OWNERS ARE DEALING WITH THIS FRUSTRATION. THE COMPLAINTS ARE BEING LOGGED ON THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM/AUTOMOTIVE/BMW_TRANS.HTML *TR

AUTO TRANSMISSION REVERSE FAILED WITH NO WARNING AT 87,000 MILES. BMW SAYS REPLACE TRANSMISSION AT FULL COST. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 BMW 323I. WHEN THE CONTACT SHIFTED THE VEHICLE INTO REVERSE, IT FAILED TO MOVE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHO STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION FAILED. A LOCAL MECHANIC MADE THE REPAIR. THE POWERTRAIN WAS UNKNOWN. THE CURRENT MILEAGE IS 29,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 28,000. THE CONSUMER QUESTIONED WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY BMW WILL NOT ADMIT TO THE DEFECT WITH THIS SPECIFIC VEHICLE THAT HAS BEEN ON THE ROAD FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS? UPDATED 08/07/07 *TR

BMW IS NOT ON YOUR LIST OF VEHICLES! TRANSMISSION FAILED ON 2000 323I BMW WITH ONLY 57K. SCANNING ONLINE COMPLAINTS ABOUT 323I TRANSMISSION FAILURES IT SEEMS NHTSA SHOULD HAVE RECALLED THE UNIT BY NOW! *TR

2000 BMW 323I SERIES FAILED TO GO INTO REVERSE. NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS INVOLVING THIS YEAR ONLY FOUND ON CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM LEADING ME TO BELIEVE A RECALL WAS APPROPRIATE. ALL INCIDENTS WERE IDENTICAL AND HAPPENED WITH AS LOW AS 30000 MILES. *AK