NHTSA complaint #11740999

Owner complaint summary

I am writing regarding my BMW X5 xDrive40i, model year 2019, engine code B58TU. The vehicle has been serviced at authorized BMW dealerships. For this engine type B58TU especially years 2018-2021, repeated oil pump failures have been reported due to a known design issue: an internal plastic component can develop cracks, potentially leading to a complete oil pump failure. BMW silently replaced the oil pump with the updated version by keeping the same part number but featuring metal internals. Once there is a fail on the oil pumps with plastic components, engine loses access to get the oil an immediate stop is needed. This creates a huge safety concern cause: 1) If you are on a highway at highway speeds it might not be possible to move to the shoulder safely with no engine power or even worse: with a locked engine. 2) If there is a maintenance on the road with no shoulder access or if this is a bridge where there is no shoulder, it creates a huge risk to safely move the vehicle. An unavoidable sudden stop can create a huge accident risk for everybody. Of course any car can get a engine problem on those occasions but this is a very known and very common problem for BMW cars equipped with B58TU engine especially years 2018-2021. BMW is also definitely aware of that and this safety concern cause they updated the design silently. But, when contacted with BMW NA, they refused to help, refused to admit there is a design problem. They also refused to change the oil pump with the updated oil pump even with my proposal of goodwill pricing.