I recently bought a 2006 BMW 330 xi with a manual gear shift. The design of the clutch and brake pedals is such that one can accidentally step on both the clutch pedal and the arm of the break pedal while depressing the clutch, this causes the car to stop suddenly and unexpectedly. It has occurred to me when crossing intersections and most recently, while my wife was merging into expressway traffic, this is a serious accident waiting to happen. The car was reviewed by the dealer and I spoke to a representative from BMW, they insist that this is the way the car was designed and they cannot do anything about it. Also, when you depress the clutch with the middle of your foot, the end of your toe can slide between the clutch and brake arms, this interferes with the action of the break pedal. My wife an I are experienced stick shift drivers, we have been driving manual stick shift cars for 40 years, this is the first time this happens to us; we have had four close calls in a month.

- Newtown Square, PA, USA