Engine began suddenly making a very loud knocking sound without any warning, and I drove it straight to sandy sansing BMW service center, where they stated that the vehicle has suffered a catastrophic crank bearing failure. The engine has to be replaced now... car has been meticulously maintained and always serviced at BMW dealers since it was new... a car with 56K miles on it should not have such an extreme failure in this nature...

- Gulf Breeze, FL, USA

Incident 1 I was making a left turn after the signal and entering into the freeway at 25 mph, and during the turn, there was a slight inclination in the road like a bump and the car landed on the front right wheel and immediately the I lost steering control and had dsc (dynamic stability control) and brake warning and I was this close to getting rammed by a truck from behind and I hurt my hand during this event because I could hardly steer my car and barely pulled on to the curb of the freeway. How can a BMW be so delicate, it cant handle a bump and if it cannot, then why did I loose steering control ? incident 2 2 weeks before this incident had a clutch bearing failure, which resulted in the clutch pedal stuck to the floor and did and retrieve, I could not change the gear and almost ran into another accident because the car came to a halt in the middle of the road. The vehicle is pre-certified by BMW and it's been only 4 months since I purchased the vehicle.

- Detroit, MI, USA

There's an issue with the car's dct/transmission. The problem occurs when you slow down- like for a turn, but do not come to a complete stop. The dct transmission seems to have trouble figuring out what gear to select because when you step on the gas to accelerate, there is a very significant delay in the onset of power- up to 2-3 seconds. By this time, the driver is usually really digging into the throttle. The transmission finally picks a gear, which results in the car suddenly lurching forward, sometimes invoking the anti-skip control. This has happened several times since I bought the vehicle and can prove to be very dangerous when you're in close proximity to another car and the car thrusts forward.

- Voorhees, NJ, USA

I have a 2008 BMW M3 sedan, built 2/08, which I bought new in July, 2008. It has a dual clutch transmission. The problem is as follows. There is a significant hesitation or delay between stepping on the gas, and getting the car to go, when I have slowed almost to a stop, then want to accelerate. This happens all the time. It is dangerous especially when merging into traffic. In Wyoming in late June, 2009, for example, I was coming from a side road onto a main highway. There was no stop sign for me, just a right curve in the road I was on, then merge into oncoming traffic on the main highway. The transmission had shifted into second gear because I had slowed down for the curve. As I turned right and stepped on the gas, nothing, it seemed like for a second or two. Oncoming traffic was moving along at a fast speed, and I almost got rear-ended before the motor finally responded to throttle input. I think this is dangerous. When I step on the gas, the motor should respond immediately, without any significant lag time. It seems like some computer is trying to figure out what to do. Maybe there is a software fix. Whatever it is, it is a dangerous condition.

- Portland, OR, USA

My M3 with M-dct transmission has significant throttle delay in lower gears at rolling speeds. Car would not respond to throttle input for one second or more and then suddenly surge forward. This is a significant safety issue as the car fails to accelerate when needed.

- Houston, TX, USA

M3 with dct automated manual transmission will not shift when at lower speeds going around corners. There is a long delay before it shifts so its dangerous when merging out into traffic. The car has performed this way since purchased and multiple software reprogramming has not remedied. When turning the rear differential makes a grinding noise. It started at about 1200 miles and continues at 5000 miles. The dealer put fluid in to remedy and said to wait 300-500 miles for it to go away. That was over 1500 miles ago.................

- Kirkland, WA, USA

My 2008 BMW M3 E92 rapidly slows when the dct transmission is downshifting. The car lags and has almost stalled several times in the middle of the road increasing the possibility of a crash. BMW North America customer service has refused to accept that there is a problem with the dct transmission software for all of these VIN production cars. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks brad larkin

- Ellicott City, MD, USA

This is a problem with the M-dct automated manual transmission in the E92 BMW M3. It is a recurring issue and is a safety issue as well. When traveling at low speeds, say when coasting and when the transmission is in it's D mode (automatic like mode), when you quickly transition from light braking to medium throttle application the vehicle becomes completely unresponsive to the gas pedal input and offers no acceleration. After a delay of a second or so the car will rev a bit, slip the clutch and accelerate strongly. This occurrence is not universal but is common. Any time you make such a transition and require the vehicle to "obey" and accelerate as per your use of the gas pedal the vehicles marked lack of acceleration can be a safety issue. Such obvious cases include lane changes, intersections with a yield or merging into traffic after a turn. This issue is widespread on internet message boards for owners of this car.

- San Diego, CA, USA