Rollaways of BMW 7 Series Sedans Prompt Upgrade of Safety Investigation The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said reports of 16 crashes prompted it to intensify an investigation into whether the automatic transmission on almost 122,000 BMW 7 Series sedans could slide into Neutral and roll away when the driver intended the gear selector to be in Park. The investigation, covering the 2002-8 model years, began last August. In a document filed over the weekend on the safety agency's Web site, investigators said they found 50 complaints of vehicle rollaways, including 16 crashes and five reports of injuries. The extent of the injuries was not disclosed. The findings led the agency to upgrade its preliminary evaluation to a more significant engineering analysis. The models under investigation have a small gear-selector stalk mounted on the steering column, directly behind the wheel, that is used to change gears on the automatic transmission. In response to the inquiry, BMW told the agency there were circumstances, though not described in the owner's manual, under which the transmission was designed to go into Neutral instead of Park. One involves the transmission being in Drive or Reverse with the engine running. If the driver then presses the start-stop ignition button two or three times "within a 0.3 second to 0.5 second interval," the engine would stop but the transmission would move into Neutral. The other circumstance would be when the driver selected Park with the gearshift stalk at the same time the stalk was moved up or down. In this case, the transmission would either shift into Neutral or remain in Neutral if it were already positioned there.