BMW's fatal flaw?
Having owned BMW's for over 30years and a current
owner of an X1, 5 series and a Z3 I will never buy another BMW until they fix
this flaw. Why?
Having had a nice Sunday lunch with our neighbours my wife
pops into a garage to pick up some milk. Unbeknown to her she locks the car of
my 5series as she put the keys in her bag.
One of my passages was feeling a bit sick and said she
could not open the window so I said I would try but it was dead and would not
work. No problem I said, I need to press the unlock button on the
dash board but again no luck. Then I tried to open the door in the back seat but no joy,
so I jumped into the driver seat to open the door. It looked promising as the
button that locks the car lifted up but again no luck. So there we were completely locked in with no way out and
we all stated to panic. I tried to phone my wife but kept dialling the wrong number
and the tension started to build as we all realised we were trapped inside. It was a terrible feeling something I never want to experience again totally trapped inside my BMW with no way out. Eventually my wife returned to see us banging on the door
and she opened the car to our relief. This can't be right I thought so when I got home I tried
locking the Z3 with the key and again I was locked and the only way out was
using the key. Luckily in a Z3 I could
manually take the roof down. So I then tried the X1 same thing no way out unless you
have the key. So I then called the dealer that I have bought all my cars
from over the years and told them the problem. “No sir this can't happen you just need to pull on the
handle twice and you will be fine.” Was the reply. “No I said, go and lock the door when you are inside and try getting out of the car without the key.” “But why would you do that sir?” Implying that I am a bit stupid. “Well you go and try it.” And with that the conversation
ended. 5 minutes later my BMW sales rep calls me “Nick it's a security feature so that once the car is
locked from the outside everything is switched off and disabled.” “But what happens if I have a crash or an electrical
failure” I argued. “Nick this can't happen if the key is in the ignition the
doors would open automatically, trust me” and “Now you know about the dead lock you won't do that
again” he continues “It's the same for all German cars.” I said thanks put the phone down and thought what would I
prefer? A car that is difficult to steal or a car that lets me out of if I get
locked in. Plus I have to trust technology in an accident and hope the doors
will open. Just imagine if the car caught fire and you could not get
out!
So I then searched YouTube and quickly found a tragic story of a young 14 year old girl that had suffocated. Her brother had a lecture an hour before her so he left her in the car as she slept and locked it.
The report said that this was a locking error. Sorry, this is
a built in so called feature that goes back to all BMW’s probably 15 years plus.
Today with health and safety you can’t cross the road without some law to save you yet BMW have been turning out cars like this for years. I now have hammers in all my cars so that I can smash the window in an emergency. So now I know and the reason why I can't get out of a locked BMW and I am posting this so that now you know, as locking in your children or a loved one by accident in a BMW could lead to death.
This is BMW's reply
Dear
Thank you for
your email dated April 10, 2014 and for the information I requested.
I am grateful for your patience whilst I have been investigating your
complaint and I acknowledge that you feel there is a design flaw with
the locking system of your BMW 525d M Sport Saloon. I can
certainly understand your concern, especially as you and your passengers
were recently locked into your vehicle and I am sorry for the distress
the experience caused you all.
All BMW models
are fitted with a dead-locking function which works in combination with
the key and prevents the vehicle being entered by a potential thief.
It is for this reason the unlock button within the vehicle is
deactivated when the car is deadlocked. Many other manufacturers
use this function to assist with the security of the vehicle.
It is
disappointing that your dissatisfaction with the dead-locking function
has caused you to reconsider your future purchasing options, however
this is not considered to be a manufacturing failure. Your
comments have nevertheless, been duly noted with us for use in product
auditing as we welcome the feedback we receive from our customers.
Your previous loyalty is appreciated and I trust that in time your faith
will be restored in the BMW Marque. Should you have any further
queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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