On March 2, 2025, while driving my BMW i4 with my daughter, the vehicle suddenly spun out twice into oncoming freeway traffic during a routine lane change, violently crashing into an embankment. Thankfully, we weren’t physically hurt, but my daughter was deeply traumatized. We brought the car to Stevens Creek BMW immediately. What followed only made things worse. Rather than investigate the serious safety failure, the service team blamed us—citing the i4’s heavy battery as the cause. They admitted it causes accelerated tire wear but denied any responsibility. They also falsely inflated our mileage to 22,892 miles (actual: 15,109) to justify the wear and shift blame. BMW is now demanding over $10,000 in repairs and has threatened $110/day in storage fees—pressuring us as we seek a fair solution. As longtime BMW customers, we trusted the brand with our safety. That trust is gone. A car under a year old should not spin out from normal driving. This is a clear safety defect. Efforts to escalate through BMW Consumer Services failed: the listed support email bounced, and the Consumer Advocacy page led to a dead link (screenshots available). That page has since been removed—highlighting a broken system. Unprofessional Conduct & Lack of Transparency At the dealership, I was treated dismissively for raising concerns and forced to return the loaner car despite no resolution. We’ve had to rent a car while still paying $776.64/month for an undriveable lease. BMW also refused to share the inspection report allegedly conducted by BMW USA engineers—despite initially promising it. BMW staff admitted the i4’s heavy battery causes premature tire wear—a known risk never disclosed at lease signing. This vehicle should never have been released without warning consumers. We no longer feel safe in this vehicle. We respectfully request: Lease Termination & Buyout — BMW to fully cover the lease as nothing they've offered us reflects the trauma, risk, or poor treatment we’ve endured.
NHTSA ODI 11655270