The car started losing power while on the road. It got slower and slower, till it finally came to a complete stop. It had to be towed the rest of the way to the house. The engine would start up, but it would not engage any of the gears.

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

Driving slowly down street, saw smoke coming from front right under hood, puled over to side, flames visible coming from hood, within 15 minutes, entire front on fire, fire department came within 5-10 minutes, major fire, total loss. All this took about 30 minutes. Fortunately, no injuries.

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

While driving on a freeway at about 80 miles per hour, with the cruise control on, it was necessary to dis-engage the cruise control for a slower vehicle. When I then applied my foot to the gas pedal, it suddenly felt unstable and wobbly. I found it difficult to maintain steady pressure on it and maintain my speed in heavy freeway traffic. I was very uncomfortable with the situation. Fortunately I was just 20 miles from my destination, and I was able to very carefully and repeatedly re-position my foot on the gas pedal to maintain speed in heavy traffic. Upon arriving at my destination, I examined the gas pedal, only to find most of it had detached from the floorboard - a thin, flimsy web of plastic that held the gas pedal to the floorboard had split at the floorboard, causing the problem. Only about 15 or 20% of the attachment remained. Had 100% of the attachment failed, I would certainly have lost all accelerator control in traffic and at high speed, a potentially dangerous scenario. It is my opinion that the design of this gas pedal is defective, which led to the problem at only 33500 miles! I complained to BMW U.S.a with no satisfaction. I claimed that they should be responsible for the repair cost due to faulty design, which constitutes lifetime responsibility outside of the warranty period. They did not agree. I also feel the extreme heat conditions present in the desert southwest where I live may have also contributed to the failure. I am reporting this incident in the hope it may prevent a similar, possibly more serious failure for someone else owning a BMW. I have retained the failed gas pedal and can provide pictures to you if you like.

- Scottsdale, AZ, USA