Specifically, the agency has received a number of complaints that stated that the vehicles from the affected model years could have a faulty parking pawl that may not hold the car in park, allowing the car to roll away.
The NHTSA has opened a preliminary probe of the BMW cars from model years 2002 through 2008 after receiving a complaint that a 2006 model rolled away after the consumer parked and exited the vehicle.
As some of you may know, the BMW 7-Series allows drivers to select their gears through a steering column mounted, electronically controlled shifter. The system is also designed to automatically park the car, after r the driver has shut the engine off.
There are also reports of similar incidents happening through BMW’s field reports on similarly equipped 7-Series from 2002 to 2008.
However, a BMW spokesman said the automaker is cooperating with the NHTSA and is not aware of any reports of accidents or injuries related to the issue.
A preliminary investigation is the first step in a process that may lead to a recall if the NHTSA determines that there is a safety concern. The NHTSA generally investigates for up to a year before deciding whether to upgrade an investigation into an engineering analysis, but it usually happens that an automaker voluntarily recalls the vehicle before then. The agency said no issues have been identified yet for any incident reported.
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