1997 BMW 740IL User Comment / Complaint

Purchased a "certified" bmw 1997 740il in 11/02 with 69,000 miles. in january i noticed a "tin can" popping sound from the rear of the vehicle and a vacuum like sound when opening the gas cap to fuel. i noticed that the driver side gas tank had a dent in it although i had not hit anything. i took the vehicle to john roberts bmw in dallas. the service advisor told me that they had never had any complaints resembling mine and that i must have struck something to damage the tank. about one month later the tank began to leak and basically imploded from vacuum pressure. i posted my experience on several web sites and received over 20 responses from owners who had the same problem. one of these people sent me a technical bulletin from bmw to its dealers describing the problem as a fuel tank vent which would become stopped up and cause the fuel tank to implode. i went back to the dealer but by this time my vehicle was one month out of warranty. i believe this defect is a potentially deadly hazard and could have easily resulted in an explosion or fire.