Judge Denies BMW’s Bid to Dismiss Convertible Top Class Action Lawsuit

On Tuesday, BMW  AG’s motion to dismiss a defective convertible top class action lawsuit was denied by the presiding New Jersey federal judge. The BMW class action lawsuit in question alleges that the car maker knowingly concealed a defect in its 6 Series convertible sold and manufactured in North America.

BMW had submitted a motion to dismiss claims of fraud, violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and an violation of Unfair Competition Law, but the German automaker’s bid was denied by U.S. District Judge William J. Martini.

In July, BMW argued that defective convertible top class action claims only pertained to the U.S. branch of the company and that the European unit should not be held liable. However, Judge Martini found this argument to be “unpersuasive,” based on the fact that the BMW class action lawsuit specifically alleged that the problems involving the top defect were found in the manufacturing, exporting, and warranting of the BMW convertibles.

“Considering that this is a case of an alleged fraudulent concealment perpetrated by sophisticated corporate entities that are related to each other, the plaintiffs need not distinguish the specific roles that each entity played in the fraudulent concealment,” Judge Martini wrote, denying BMW’s bid to dismiss the convertible top class action lawsuit.

The defective convertible top class action lawsuit against BMW was originally filed by plaintiff Robert Gray, a California consumer and owner of a BMW 6 convertible.  A few months after purchasing the BMW vehicle, Gray allegedly experienced a problems closing and opening his convertible top. A “top not locked” message would allegedly appear on Gray’s dashboard persistently even if the top was fully closed or open.

Gray claims that after thousands of dollars in repairs, he finally sold his convertible and bought another BMW convertible only to experience the same problem. During June 2013, Gray filed a BMW defective convertible top class action lawsuit against the German automaker claiming the company openly deceived its customers by not disclosing or making attempts to repair the defect present in 2004-2013 BMW 6 series models.

In late May, Judge Martini dismissed more than half of claims of the original BMW class action lawsuit that were specific to BMW North America LLC. Based on this ruling, BMW AG submitted their motion to dismiss the entire defective convertible top class action lawsuit allegations against the European division, reasoning that they should be given the same legal ruling as their North American unit. However, it seems the Judge Martini and court disagree and the BMW class action lawsuit will continue with future litigation.

Gray is represented by Matthew R. Mendelsohn of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman LLC, Payam Shahian of Strategic Legal Practices APC and Dara Tabesh of EcoTech Law Group PC.

The BMW Defective Convertible Top Class Action Lawsuit is Gray v. BMW of North America LLC, Case No. 2:13-cv-03417, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

UPDATE: On Nov. 14, 2016, plaintiffs in a BMW class action lawsuit finally secured a settlement that should get their allegedly defective convertible tops repaired or replaced.

UPDATE 2: The BMW 6 Series Convertible Top Class Action Settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim.