[amontoya1982]

So I've had my first BMW for a week. Get home, park car behind my spare car blocking it in. Then I get two error codes, parking brake malfunction, and unable to shift gear. Can't put it in neutral, can't disengage the brake, can't do anything but start the engine and sit in the car. Can't even get it into neutral to roll it out of the way for my other car, which I can't drive either. Fast forward, all day Sunday and three tow trucks later (it took 3 tries for BMW roadside assistance to send the right type of tow truck with the right equipment due to the fact that it can't be put into neutral and with this error they specifically did not want it dragged up onto the tow truck based on what they were telling me, although the tow truck drivers all had 3 different opinions on what to do about it.) Apparently, the electric gear shift is so "reliable" that they did away with the emergency tool the owner used to be able to use to put it in neutral.

Now it's at the BMW dealer, still under warranty and with CPO warranty on top. Today I am told that some fluid (water) got into the electric gear shift, I guess from the cupholders, and it needs to be replaced at a cost of $1600 to me, for the car I hadn't even driven long enough to need a tank of gas, and certainly have not spilled any drinks on the electronics or anything. Come to find out, this is a known issue, but BMW thinks it's fine. Apparently, the cup holders are not reliable for holding beverages or something, and there has already been a class action lawsuit filed in California over this issue. Their cupholders apparently leak if fluid is spilled, or even if there is just too much condensation, and causes fluid to leak into the electronics underneath causing major errors such as shorting out the shifter, or deploying airbags.

Anyone else have this? The lawsuit was for X7 and other models and I have seen at least one or two other posts about this, but was wondering how common it really is.

[timmahh]

Originally Posted by amontoya1982

So I've had my first BMW for a week. Get home, park car behind my spare car blocking it in. Then I get two error codes, parking brake malfunction, and unable to shift gear. Can't put it in neutral, can't disengage the brake, can't do anything but start the engine and sit in the car. Can't even get it into neutral to roll it out of the way for my other car, which I can't drive either. Fast forward, all day Sunday and three tow trucks later (it took 3 tries for BMW roadside assistance to send the right type of tow truck with the right equipment due to the fact that it can't be put into neutral and with this error they specifically did not want it dragged up onto the tow truck based on what they were telling me, although the tow truck drivers all had 3 different opinions on what to do about it.) Apparently, the electric gear shift is so "reliable" that they did away with the emergency tool the owner used to be able to use to put it in neutral.

Now it's at the BMW dealer, still under warranty and with CPO warranty on top. Today I am told that some fluid (water) got into the electric gear shift, I guess from the cupholders, and it needs to be replaced at a cost of $1600 to me, for the car I hadn't even driven long enough to need a tank of gas, and certainly have not spilled any drinks on the electronics or anything. Come to find out, this is a known issue, but BMW thinks it's fine. Apparently, the cup holders are not reliable for holding beverages or something, and there has already been a class action lawsuit filed in California over this issue. Their cupholders apparently leak if fluid is spilled, or even if there is just too much condensation, and causes fluid to leak into the electronics underneath causing major errors such as shorting out the shifter, or deploying airbags.

Anyone else have this? The lawsuit was for X7 and other models and I have seen at least one or two other posts about this, but was wondering how common it really is.

I'm not familiar of rampant reports of this issue on here. Having fried a control unit and having the same exact errors as you mentioned (while doing a crystal shifter swap and being too lazy to unplug things), I am fairly familiar with the area. I can't see how a cupholder leak would be of any relevance here if I recall the setup correctly. It would have to overflow and spill over the cup holder... and then... bounce up to the shifter area, because it's higher up than the cupholder itself.

What *could* happen is excess condensation from your drinks dripping out around the shifter, but that isn't a cupholder issue. I drink big ass iced lattes every day, and there is plenty of condensation from it that drips around but have never had an issue from that thankfully.

And edit now that I have reviewed some photos from my crystal shifter install. If you're using a big cup without a lid, I can see how it would spill *from driving the vehicle* and the way that liquid does what liquid does. If it's a sealed top/has a lid, sloshing around shouldn't be a concern. Again, from personal experience of large iced beverages with lids and soda cans/bottles, I've never been worried about soaking the shifter with liquid. The holders have three spring-loaded arms that keep drinks centered and secured.

FYI, I bought a used control unit on eBay for $200 or so. It would need to be coded to your car though, but you at least have an option outside the dealer. Also look for the part online (OEM) from another dealer and see if they will price match.

Anddd double edit after reviewing the X7 posts about the airbag stuff. I don't recall what's directly under the cup holder, other than it is NOT the gear shifter electronics. Those are directly below the shifter itself. The control buttons, shifter, and iDrive controller are all contained within that center module. Leaky cup holders may or may not cause the SRS issue, but a leak from the side/bottom of the cup holder wouldn't have a practical route to the shifting components given what I stated above.

Do you have the heated/cooled cupholders?

[amontoya1982]

Update, I do have the cooling/heating cupholders. The dealer has already reached out to BMW and they will repair it at no cost as a good will item. If a small amount of liquid spilling from a cup in a cupholder (not that I am saying that happened, I drink coffee and sodas. Could something have sloshed out from a cup in the cupholder while driving and I didn’t notice, yes it is possible obviously. However if such as simple thing can happen why is the center console not more water resistant. How does a few drops of liquid do this. I didn’t drop my drink all over or anything like that. Didn’t even know that a “spill” had occurred, and if I did I would have cleaned it up immediately. If I leave my sunroof open and it rains for a few minutes before I get it closed would all the electronics suddenly short out? I have owned tons of cars from all manufacturers over the years, never had to worry about spilled liquid on the console, and I can’t believe that people defend this engineering oversight. Guess what, Americans drinks beverages while they drive. People have kids, people have dogs, people sometimes have to slam on their brakes or accelerate quickly while driving. Beverage holders should hold beverages and if they are put in a place where such an easy spill can and probably will happen, then they should have engineered it to be water proof or at the least water resistant. I can drop my iPhone 15 feet underwater in a muddy lake bed and go get it and it still works. (My friends actually I would never drop mine on the lake). BMW could have easily solved this flaw at any time with some very minor engineering changes to make it more waterproof, but chose not to, because they didn’t care to, and now expect customers to pay for it out of pocket.

But, at least for me, they agreed to pay.

[timmahh]

Originally Posted by amontoya1982

Update, I do have the cooling/heating cupholders. The dealer has already reached out to BMW and they will repair it at no cost as a good will item. If a small amount of liquid spilling from a cup in a cupholder (not that I am saying that happened, I drink coffee and sodas. Could something have sloshed out from a cup in the cupholder while driving and I didn’t notice, yes it is possible obviously. However if such as simple thing can happen why is the center console not more water resistant. How does a few drops of liquid do this. I didn’t drop my drink all over or anything like that. Didn’t even know that a “spill” had occurred, and if I did I would have cleaned it up immediately. If I leave my sunroof open and it rains for a few minutes before I get it closed would all the electronics suddenly short out? I have owned tons of cars from all manufacturers over the years, never had to worry about spilled liquid on the console, and I can’t believe that people defend this engineering oversight. Guess what, Americans drinks beverages while they drive. People have kids, people have dogs, people sometimes have to slam on their brakes or accelerate quickly while driving. Beverage holders should hold beverages and if they are put in a place where such an easy spill can and probably will happen, then they should have engineered it to be water proof or at the least water resistant. I can drop my iPhone 15 feet underwater in a muddy lake bed and go get it and it still works. (My friends actually I would never drop mine on the lake). BMW could have easily solved this flaw at any time with some very minor engineering changes to make it more waterproof, but chose not to, because they didn’t care to, and now expect customers to pay for it out of pocket.

But, at least for me, they agreed to pay.

Glad it's being resolved without cost to you!

I do not disagree that usage, spills, etc. should be taken into account. I would say that, except in a few specific cases, they did. Not to be a BMW fanboi lover defender, but we're talking about a few specific cases that seem to be some form of a perfect storm.

There are over 200,000 G05/07s on the road. I don't think a fraction of those having a specific issue would indicate severe engineering/design problems.

Again, could it be better, sure, so that this isn't even remotely possible. But it doesn't seem like this is a massive flaw impacting thousands of vehicles.

Seems like what would make things easier is to have a liquid shield applied (as I think someone mentioned Toyota did), and then know to expect a higher ratio of these with the heated/cooled cupholders and simply good will it as relevant not stress the owner out.

Enjoy your X5!

[weinerbarn]

I've only run into 1 other post on another BMW forum that has had this issue but they did indeed spill something on the console with the same result as yourself. Google "BMW Coffee spill advice on center console"

But there's also this:

https://carbuzz.com/news/bmw-faces-5...ive-cupholders

The consoles between X5 and X7 aren't really that different. Same setup as I can recall from my X7 vs X5MC. The issue in the lawsuit though is lwaking through the cupholder underneath whereas I think in your case and the other person, liquid was spilled onto the console and leaked into the electronics of the shifter and park mechanisms.

[soxfan66]

Same exact situation on my 2022 X5. The techs said I spilled something in it and that's not covered by warranty so I have to pay $2,100 to replace it. I did not have a massive spill that I'm aware of and if I did, that would destroy the entire gear selector? Could some coffee have splashed into it? Sure. Some crumbs or dog drool? Yes. If that's enough to destroy a piece of electronics in a high end vehicle, I blame the manufacturer.

[jad03060]

Don't spill anything in the rear hatch area...