BMW Locking Defect Class Action Shouldn’t Be Dismissed, Plaintiff Says

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The plaintiff in a BMW class action lawsuit is opposing the car company’s attempt at dismissal, claiming she adequately stated claims for violations of consumer protection laws.

Plaintiff Kieva Myers argues her BMW class action lawsuit adequately states product liability claims under California law.

Myers alleges that for years, BMW knew about a defect in the automatic door locking system in some of its vehicles that could lock the driver out of the vehicle, and she claims the company actively concealed that defect from the public.

The plaintiff argues BMW breached its duty to either fix the defect or notify customers about it.

In her BMW class action lawsuit, Myers takes issue with an alleged defect in the car manufacturer’s Comfort Access System, an automatic door locking mechanism that uses an electronic remote control in place of a traditional key.

The system is designed to unlock the vehicle automatically when the remote control is brought close to the vehicle. Myers alleges that under normal and expected reasonable use, the Comfort Access System locks the remote inside the vehicle.

This BMW class action lawsuit began in January 2016 with allegations by Myers that the Comfort Access System in her own 2013 BMW X5 locked her young child inside the vehicle, with Myers herself locked outside.

The plaintiff says she had to smash a window on the vehicle, incurring a repair cost of $192.25.

Myers claims that according to the vehicle’s manual, this mishap never should have happened.

She says the vehicle’s owner’s manual states more than once that in order to automatically lock the vehicle, the remote control must be outside the vehicle. She claims those statements are false and misleading, given the incident that allegedly happened with her own vehicle.

When Myers contacted BMW about the incident, it responded by contradicting those manual provisions – proving the company knew about the problem, she claims.

In an email Myers received in November 2015, a BMW representative allegedly stated that “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.”

Internal BMW documents supposedly show the company was aware of the alleged defect for years.

Myers cites a training document from July 2007 that she says acknowledges that the system is in fact capable of locking the vehicle’s doors while the remote is inside the vehicle.

The plaintiff proposes to represent a nationwide Class consisting of persons who own BMW X5 vehicles from model years 2008 through 2015. She also proposes a subclass consisting of Class Members who live in California.

She seeks an award of damages including statutory and exemplary damages and reimbursement of repair costs.

Myers is represented by attorneys Adam Rose and Robert L. Starr of The Law Office of Robert Starr APC and by Stephen M. Harris of The Law Office of Stephen M. Harris APC.

The BMW Remote Locking Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Kieva 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 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 2: 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 3: February 2019, the BMW key fob locking defect class action settlement. Click here to file a claim.