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A group of BMW owners has filed a class action lawsuit against the carmaker regarding an alleged battery defect affecting 2020 and 2021 hybrid vehicles.
Lead plaintiffs Adam Kavon, Erin Camden, David Venner, and Craig Geller seek to represent a nationwide Class of BMW owners and lessees in a class action lawsuit filed in New Jersey federal court last month. They claim that certain 2020 and 2021 models come with a dangerous battery defect that the automaker has refused to fix or replace.
“Plaintiffs and members of the proposed class have been cautioned not to charge the battery under any circumstances, nor should they use the vehicle in ‘sport’ mode,” alleges the complaint. “There is no recall for the manufacturing defect, nor is there any fix offered by the Defendant.”
Each of the plaintiffs says that they purchased or leased a 2021 BMW and were notified by the automaker in September that debris may have entered the hybrid battery cells during production. This alleged battery defect increases the risk of a short circuit, potentially resulting in a vehicle fire or other injury.
The class action alleges that, despite BMW’s awareness of the battery defect, the automaker failed to offer a repair or fix.
“Instead of taking back customer’s vehicles and putting them into newer, safer, vehicles, BMW instructed Plaintiffs and all customers, in their bulletin, ‘Until the remedy is available, drivers will be instructed to not charge their vehicles. Drivers will also be instructed to not drive in manual mode, sport mode, and to not use the shift paddles,’” points out the class action lawsuit.
The plaintiffs seeks to represent others who own or lease a vehicle affected by the alleged battery defect nationwide. Class vehicles include:
- 2020-2021 530e
- 2020-2021 530e xDrive,
- 2020-2021 530e iPerformance
- 2020-2021 X3 xDrive30e
- 2020-2021 MINI Cooper Countryman All4 SE
- 2020 BMW i8
- 2021 330e
- 2021 330e xDrive
- 2021 745Le xDrive
- 2021 X5 xDrive45e
The plaintiffs also seek to represent subclasses of California, Nevada, Texas, and Minnesota residents who own or lease a Class vehicle.
Do you own a new 2021 BMW with the alleged battery defect? Have you noticed any issues related to the battery? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below!
The lead plaintiffs are represented by Ross H. Schmierer of Kazerouni Law Group, APC and Todd M. Friedman of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman, PC.
The BMW Battery Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Kavon, et al. V. BMW of North America, LLC, Case No. 2:20-cv-15475-KM-ESK in the U.S. District Court for the district of New Jersey.
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9 thoughts onBMW Class Action Claims ‘Unreasonably Dangerous’ Battery Defect in New Hybrid Models
I have a 2020 530e; after taking 6 weeks to change the battery out once it was recalled (an expense for which they didn’t reimburse me), the replacement batteries function extremely poorly. They hold half to one-third of the charge that the original ones did. I aldo get unexplained engine warning lights periodically, which come and go. This is not the reliable and safe car I was told it would be, and I’m sure other are experiencing the same thing.
My BMW dealer is completely unresponsive about when the X3 hybrid can be charged again. What do I need to do to be part of the class action suit? Before this occurred, the prongs on my charging cord came loose and the service man chuckled when he saw this, in recognition I assume. It happened in my 51st week of a lease. In another week, they would have charged me $1200 for a new cord. They also never told me it takes 18 hours for a full charge using a 110 outlet, gaining me all of 16 miles.
I purchased a 2021 BMW sDrive30e in March 2021 and the dealership never said a word about the battery issue. The engine/electric motor started “bucking” in Sept 2021, I took in for repairs and they told me they would have to reinstall the software. That seemed to fix it but then I came to realize that I could not program the AC settings for the driver’s seat. Then I got the recall notice for the battery problems. I immediately made an appointment with the dealership and they provided a loaner car. I went back down to dealership after a week and was told they had to order the battery modules and they did not know when they would come in. The recall notice said the parts for repairs were available but evidently, they are not. Then I got an email from the BMW concierge and they offered $1000 for the inconvenience of being without my vehicle. Now I know there is a class action lawsuit and do not know if I should except it. I live in Texas and don’t know which Lawer’s office I should talk to since is filed in California and the other in New Jersey.
I have had the same situation with my 2021 bmw 330e… I have been with out mine for 2 weeks. What do we do? Or talk to?
I have a leased 2021 BMW 530e. I have not received any correspondence regarding the battery issues as noted in some of the previous information. Last week, my engine light came on. I took the car to the local BMW Dealership. The service department diagnosed the problem as an electrical problem. I was provided a rental car, paid for by BMW, as I wait to have my car repaired. Service tech ordered the part which was not in stock and should be in within two to three weeks. One week has pasted and the dealership has not heard about the part.
I was deceived about the battery I want compensated
I bought a 2020 BMW X3 x drive 30 e last year 8/2020 , and just received a call last week 10/30/2021 that my battery has a recall !! No one has reached out to me in over a year that this recall was announced!?…And now they are trying to offer $1000 for inconvenience that I shouldn’t charge my car anymore ..
I owned a 2013 dodge dart and I have mountains of paper work from when I owned this peace of shit car. I was pregnant and got in to an accident with this car the replaced the engine and the car still shut off while I was doing 45 miles per hour!!!!!!
This same thing happened to me with my 2021 330e. BMW has been extremely unprofessional about how this potentially dangerous situation has been handled. They’ve lost a customer for life!