By now it’s no secret that some BMW high pressure fuel pumps are defective on some models of their vehicles. Norman Taylor & Associates has settled many of these cases for its client under the California Lemon Law. Just for the record, BMW has for the most part settled these cases sensibly without dragging their feet.

There is a reason for this. To fail to act on this problem could easily have lead to a recall. “Recall” is the great curse word. The word is spoken in whispers around the boardrooms of car manufacturers all across the world. It is met with the same fear and loathing as an outbreak of Ebola Virus in downtown Los Angeles. Had BMW not dealt with this defect quickly many of the people experiencing the defect might have reported the problem to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Office of Defects Investigations, and rightly so. There is definitely a safety component when the the high pressure fuel pump fails. One of the failure symptoms is a sudden loss of power on the freeway. This can be a scary and memorable event for the driver and his or her passengers.

For the manufacturer this widespread defective high pressure fuel pump problem is a serious business problem. One high pressure fuel pump can cost about $3,000. BMW claims this defect only affects around three thousand vehicles. If a recall was issued they would have to replace all the defective pumps. At $3,000 per unit it would cost BMW nine million dollars just for the pumps. Add to this cost of getting the word out to all of the dealers and to those affected by the recall in addition to the cost of the technician work to effect the change. Certainly the total would exceed ten million dollars.

It does not end there. The replacement high pressure fuel pump has the same problems as the defective unit removed. Sometimes a replacement unit does not repair the problem and in cases where the problem is repaired, there is no telling how long the repair would last. For this reason BMW has issued a 100,000 mile warranty on the part.

California Lemon Law moves forward on these cases where multiple defective high pressue fuel pumps have been replaced or when a reasonable number of attempts to repair these defects have failed. If you aren’t sure how the Lemon Law can help, it’s a question that can be answered quickly with a call to Norman Taylor & Associates.