BMW Remote Locking Feature Named ‘Defective’ in Class Action Lawsuit

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On Sunday, BMW was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit claiming that the luxury car manufacturer’s hands-free remote locking feature used to lock and unlock doors is defective. According to the claim, certain vehicles have spontaneously locked, without driver input, locking keys and sometimes children inside the vehicle.

Plaintiff Kieva Myers filed the proposed BMW class action lawsuit in California federal court, stating that all BMW X5 vehicles manufactured from model year 2008 to 2015 were equipped with a remote locking system that is potentially defective, causing car doors to sometimes lock automatically, potentially trapping keys and young children inside.

The BMW X5 manual for Myers’ 2013 vehicle states that the “comfort feature” of automatically locking doors allows the vehicle to be accessed without the driver actually having to touch the remote control, according to the complaint. The BMW class action lawsuit further explains that the doors can be locked or unlocked by simply detecting that the remote control is in range, say, in the driver’s purse or pocket, and the feature is activated.

However, when the remote key is inside of the vehicle the feature is supposed to be disabled so the keys are not inadvertently locked inside of the car, but Myers claims this isn’t the case.

In October, Myers says she put her child in the vehicle, placed her remote in the vehicle and shut the door. As she attempted to open the driver side door, it had already locked on its own spontaneously, according to the lawsuit. Myers’ child was allegedly locked in the car and was too young to be able to open the car from the inside. Ultimately, Myers said she had to break the vehicle’s window to get her daughter out, damaging her vehicle and terrifying her child in the process.

Myers stated that she contacted BMW directly to make a complaint about the alleged defective remote locking feature. In an email back to Myers, a representative responded, “Therefore, we must be dealing either with a malfunction of the locking system or an inadvertent activation of the locking system via either the remote transmitter or the Comfort Access System. Again – it is not impossible to lock a key in the vehicle- and to do so is not necessarily indicative of a malfunction.”

Myers claimed that BMW’s response to her complaint was a complete contradiction to her owner’s manual that stated, “To lock the vehicle, the remote control must be located outside of the vehicle.” Myers asserts that the manual is false and misleading, saying, “Class vehicles locking by themselves is extremely unsafe.”

The BMW defective remote key class action lawsuit mentioned three other instances where consumers complained to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration about the remote locking feature spontaneously locking. Two of the instances involved keys being locked in the car and the third was a similar situation to Myers’ where police and firemen were called to the vehicle and had to smash a window to get the driver’s child out who was locked in the car.

Myers hopes to represent a nationwide class of BMW X5 owners and lessees and a California subclass as well. She is seeking reimbursement for the cost to repair her car, as well as compensatory, exemplary and statutory damages.

The plaintiff is represented by Robert Starr of The Law Office of Robert L. Starr.

The BMW Remote Locking Class Action Lawsuit is Myers v. BMW of North America LLC et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-00412, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Aug. 18, 2016, Myers opposed BMW’s attempt at dismissal, claiming she adequately stated claims for violations of consumer protection laws.

UPDATE 2: On Sept. 21, 2016, a federal judge granted BMW’s bid to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging a defective remote auto-lock feature causes cars to lock spontaneously.

UPDATE 3: On Feb. 8, 2019, owners of BMW X5 vehicles have asked a California federal judge for approval of both attorneys’ fees and a Class representative payment in a pending BMW class action settlement.

UPDATE 4: February 2019, the BMW key fob locking defect class action settlement. Click here to file a claim.