Reporting Safety Defects - BMW 3 Series Owner's Manual

If the vehicle is not maintained according to
these specifications, this could result in serious
damage to the vehicle. Such damage is not
covered by the BMW New Vehicle Limited
Warranty.
Data memory
A variety of electronic components in your vehi-
cle include data storage devices, which store
technical information on the condition of your
vehicle, events and errors, either temporarily or
permanently. In general, this technical informa-
tion documents the condition of a component, a
module, a system or the surroundings:
> Operating conditions of system
components, e.g., fill levels.
>
Status messages regarding the vehicle and
of its individual components, such as wheel
rpm/vehicle speed, response delay, lateral
acceleration.
> Malfunctions and defects in the major
system components, such as the lights and
brakes.
> Responses of the vehicle in special driving
situations, such as the deployment of an
airbag, the utilization of stability control
systems.
> Environmental conditions, such as
temperature.
These data are exclusively of a technical nature
and are used for the detection and correction of
errors, as well as the optimization of vehicle
functions. Motion profiles of traveled routes can
not be deduced from these data. If services are
required, such as repair services, service pro-
cesses, warranty claims and quality assurance,
then this technical information can be read out
by employees of service departments, includ-
ing the manufacturer, from the event and error
data storage devices by using special diagnos-
tic equipment. There, if necessary, you will
Online Edition for Part no. 01402911383 - © 06/13 BMW AG
Notes
receive further information. After remedying an
error, the information in the error memory is
deleted or progressively overwritten.
When using the vehicle, situations are conceiv-
able in which this technical data, in conjunction
with other information, such as accident
reports, vehicle damage, witness statements,
etc. - possibly with the assistance of an expert -
could be traced to particular individuals.
Additional functions that are agreed upon con-
tractually with the customer, such as vehicle
tracking in case of emergency, permit the trans-
mission of certain vehicle data from the vehicle.

Reporting safety defects

For US customers
The following only applies to vehicles owned
and operated in the US.
If you believe that your vehicle has a defect
which could cause a crash or could cause injury
or death, you should immediately inform the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
NHTSA, in addition to notifying BMW of North
America, LLC, P.O. Box 1227, Westwood, New
Jersey 07675-1227, Telephone 1-800-831-
1117.
If NHTSA receives similar complaints, it may
open an investigation, and if it finds that a safety
defect exists in a group of vehicles, it may order
a recall and remedy campaign. However,
NHTSA cannot become involved in individual
problems between you, your center, or BMW of
North America, LLC.
To contact NHTSA, you may call the Vehicle
Safety Hotline toll-free at 1-888-327-4236
(TTY: 1-800-424-9153); go to
http://www.safercar.gov; or write to: Adminis-
trator, NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20590. You can also obtain
other information about motor vehicle safety
from http://www.safercar.gov
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