BMW issue exposed at consumer rights TV gala show
The BMW 530Li went on sale on January 13, 2023, but was later the subject of numerous complaints from owners due to the rattling sound of the drive shaft.
The issue of a rattling drive shaft in a BMW model was exposed at the CCTV special gala for consumer rights on Friday.
According to a video provided by a BMW owner played at the 3·15 CCTV Consumer Rights Gala, during the process of switching between the R and D gears of a BMW car model 530Li, the drivetrain emits a sharp friction and metal impact sound.
It is revealed in the video that a reporter visited several BMW dealership stores across the country. Dealership staff said that the drive shaft could be replaced but refused a car return or exchange.
Shortly after the gala show, BMW Group released a statement on Weibo, a domestic social media platform, announcing that technical verification carried out earlier had confirmed that the rattle would not affect driving safety. It will carry out further technical review and in-depth analysis, the statement said.
The official guide price of a BMW 530Li starts from 485,900 yuan, and it is equipped with an 8-speed manual transmission.
CCTV's "3·15 Gala" is a special public welfare gala broadcast at 8pm every year on International Consumer Rights Day.
Problems involving various industries, including food and labor protective equipment, were also exposed at the gala.
Among other issues, many enterprises used substandard pork which contained lymph nodes, lipomas, and thyroid glands that had not been processed, to make pre-made dishes.
And fire extinguishers made of inappropriate materials were sold in a well-known hardware market. They were proven ineffective in putting out fires.
"In the past, consumers could easily find fraudulent behaviors of companies in their rights defense, but nowadays, fraudulent behaviors are hard to spot, because they are hidden more deeply," said Tang Jiansheng, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission.
CCTV's "3·15 Gala" is a special public welfare gala broadcast every year on World Consumer Rights Day. The first edition of the gala was broadcast in 1991.
Each edition of the gala is aimed at exposing incidents that undermine the rights and interests of consumers in the domestic market, thus further standardizing the order of the market economy and promoting the improvement of laws and regulations.
