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Car Safety DB

NHTSA Campaign Number

01V196000

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:PARK/NEUTRAL START INTERLOCK SWITCH

Reported to NHTSA: June 14, 2001

Key Takeaways

  • Recall 01V196000 currently maps to 2 tracked vehicle-year pages across 1 make.
  • This page summarizes the official defect description, safety consequence, and remedy text published by NHTSA for this campaign.
  • This is a campaign-level lookup, not a VIN-level clearance result. Use a VIN lookup before assuming your specific vehicle is still open.

Defect Description

VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: 4.4I SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES. OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME, ABRASION PARTICLES COULD DEPOSIT ON THE ELECTRICAL CONTACTS WITHIN THE SWITCH, CAUSING A DISRUPTION OF THE ELECTRIC CURRENT THROUGH THE CONTACTS. IF THE DISRUPTION OCCURS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS STATIONARY WITH THE TRANSMISSION IN THE NEUTRAL OR PARK POSITIONS, THE TRANSMISSION WILL SWITCH AUTOMATICALLY INTO THE EMERGENCY PROGRAM, WHICH IS DISPLAYED IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER VIA A WARNING LAMP AND A MESSAGE, "TRANS. FAIL-SAFE PROG." IN THIS CASE, THE VEHICLE CAN BE DRIVEN IN LOWER GEARS ONLY WITH LIMITED ENGINE OUTPUT.

Safety Consequence

IF THIS PROBLEM OCCURS, THE ABILITY TO MAINTAIN SPEED IN TRAFFIC AND/OR ACCELERATE COULD BE GREATLY DIMINISHED, POSSIBLY LEADING TO A CRASH.

Remedy

DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE TRANSMISSION GEAR POSITION INDICATOR SWITCH. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN AUGUST 14, 2001. OWNERS WHO TAKE THEIR VEHICLES TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER ON AN AGREED UPON SERVICE DATE AND DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT BMW AT 1-800-831-1117.

What This Recall Page Shows

This page summarizes a single NHTSA recall campaign, including the defect description, safety consequence, and manufacturer's remedy. The affected vehicles listed below are the make/model/year combinations tracked in our database — this is not a VIN-specific result. To check whether your individual vehicle is covered by this recall, enter your 17-digit VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Click any vehicle below to view its full safety profile.

Affected Vehicles (2)

YearMakeModel
2000BMWX5
2001BMWX5

Browse Affected Vehicles

Affected Models

Affected Make + Year Views

Affected Years

Related Powertrain & Transmission Campaigns

These campaigns share the same broad recall component family, so they are useful if you want to compare how similar issue types appeared across other vehicles and time periods.

This recall information is from NHTSA campaign 01V196000. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA. Contact your dealer or call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 for more information.

Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026