2008 BMW 5 Series

2008 BMW 535I, WITH SPORT PACKAGE WITH 3.0 LTR TWIN TURBO ENGINE. TWICE SINCE PURCHASING NEW ON 1 AUGUST 2008 THE "ENGINE MALFUNCTION-REDUCED POWER" WARNING APPEARED. IN BOTH CASES WARNING LIGHT DISAPPEARED AFTER DRIVING BETWEEN 25 AND 40 MILES AS DID THE LACK OF POWER. CAR ALSO OCCASIONALLY STARTS WITH ROUGH IDLE THAT DISAPPEARS WITHIN LESS THAN A MINUTE. CAR IS IN THE SHOP NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME AND INITIAL REPORTS SHOW RECORD OF "MISFIRE" EVENT. ISSUE COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS IF IT HAPPENS AT A VERY INOPPORTUNE TIME SUCH AS WHEN ACCELERATION IS REQUIRED TO SAFELY BLEND INTO TRAFFIC. NEEDS DEFINITIVE FIX IMMEDIATELY! MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS ON LINE IN MANY FORUMS SUGGEST THAT FIX IS NOT YET AVAILABLE FROM BMW. PERHAPS A REDESIGNED HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP IS REQUIRED VICE A REPLACEMENT WITH ONE OF THE CURRENT DESIGN. *TR

I WANT TO VOICE MY UTMOST DISSATISFACTION WITH MY 535I(CUSTOMER #113894) THUS FAR BASED ON FOLLOWING DETAILS. SERVICE DATE: 5/22/08, MILEAGE: 7592, VEHICLE EXPERIENCED DIFFICULTY STARTING IGNITION. YOUR SERVICE DEPARTMENT REPLACED "HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP." SERVICE DATE: 1/17/09, MILEAGE: 16495, VEHICLE DISPLAYED MESSAGE, "ENGINE MALFUNCTION, REDUCED SPEED" THEN ENGINE STALLED DURING DRIVING IN 5 FREEWAY. YOUR SERVICE DEPARTMENT REPLACED "HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP." LATEST EPISODE HAPPENED DRIVING IN 5 FREEWAY WITH MY TWO KIDS IN BACK SEAT. CAR STALLED IN THE MIDDLE OF FREEWAY AND I'VE HAD CLOSE CALL WITH SEMI TRUCK COMING RIGHT BEHIND ME. I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO SLAM RIGHT INTO ME! NEEDLESS TO THIS EXPERIENCE HAVE GIVEN ME A SCARE AND FEAR FOR MY KIDS' SAFETY, WHICH PROMPTED ME TO FILE A COMPLAIN WITH NHTSA. THIS 535I IS MY FIRST BMW AND IT WILL PROBABLY BE MY LAST ONE. I'VE HAD ACURAS BEFORE THIS VEHICLE AND HAD NOT HAD THIS TYPE OF LIFE THREATENING VEHICLE MALFUNCTION. *TR

SECOND HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP FAILURE IN LESS THAN 2 MONTHS ( FIRST ONE REPLACED THE 2ND WEEK OF DECEMBER 2008 HAD ANOTHER FAIL TODAY ON THE WAY TO WORK 1/14/2009). THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP (HPFP FROM NOW ON ) ON THE N54 MOTORS FROM BMW HAS BECOME A MAJOR ISSUE SPREADING ACROSS 3 DIFFERENT LINES ( 1,3,5 SERIES) , SOME THING NEED TO BE DONE QUICKLY, SINCE BUYING LOW CONTENT ETHANOL FUEL IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. THIS WAS THE EXCUSE I WAS GIVEN, FAILURES DUE TO "HIGH" ETHANOL CONTENT ( ABOVE 10%), DRIVERS HAVE NO WAY OF TESTING AT THE PUMP HOW HIGH THE CONTENT IS EXCEPT FOR THE LABELS ON THE PUMP. *TR

I HAVE A 2008 BMW 535I WITH SPORT PACKAGE AND PREMIUM PACKAGE. I HAVE HAD AN "ENGINE MALFUNCTION/REDUCING HORSEPOWER" ISSUE WITH THIS CAR 3 TIMES SINCE PURCHASING IT IN AUGUST 2008. THE FIRST INCIDENT OCCURRED WITHIN 3 WEEKS OF DELIVERY AND ONLY 600 MILES. THE SECOND INCIDENT HAPPENED ABOUT A MONTH LATER WITH APPROX 1500 MILES; AND THE THIRD INCIDENT OCCURRED ON 11/3/08 WITH APPROXIMATELY 2200 MILES. BMW SAYS EACH TIME THAT IT'S A MISFIRE IN ONE OF THE CYLINDERS - BUT THAT THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO FIX IT. SO EACH TIME THEY RESET THE COMPUTER AND SEND ME AWAY. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION. I DRIVE ON CALIFORNIA FREEWAYS MOST OF THE TIME AND WHEN THIS ENGINE MALFUNCTION OCCURS, THE CAR STARTS "LIMPING" AND MISSING AND I HAVE TO SLOW AND PULL TO THE SIDE OF BUSY, BUSY FREEWAYS THAT ARE VERY DANGEROUS. BIMMERFEST FORUM SHOWS THAT THERE ARE LOTS OF OWNERS OF THE BMW 535I HAVING THIS SAME PROBLEM - BUT BMW WILL NOT ADDRESS THE ISSUE...... EACH TIME THE PROBLEM OCCURS, THE BMW DEALER ASKS ME WHAT KIND OF GAS I'M USING - AND IT'S ALWAYS BEEN 91 OCTANE. THEN THEY ASK ME WHAT BRAND - WHICH IS CHEVRON, THOUGH I DIDN'T REALIZE THE BRAND OF GAS WOULD BE A PROBLEM IN MODERN DAY CARS. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION TO BE OCCURRING ON THE CALIFORNIA FREEWAY SYSTEM, NOT TO MENTION ANY FREEWAY SYSTEM GIVEN THE SPEEDS AT WHICH PEOPLE DRIVE AND THE DANGER OF POWER LOSS IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC AND HAVING TO PULL OVER ON VERY SMALL SHOULDERS WHERE OTHER CARS PASS AT HIGH RATES OF SPEED WITHIN ONLY A FOOT OR TWO OF MY CAR WHEN THE ENGINE MALFUNCTIONS. *TR

I BOUGHT A BRAND NEW BMW 525I M SPORT WHICH HAS DONE 1000 MILES. IT IS JUST 6 WEEKS OLD AND THE HIGH PRESSURE PUMP (HPP) WENT BUST. I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT. I BUY A CAR WITH MY HARD EARNED MONEY AND THIS HAPPENS. BMW SHOULD REALIZE THE IMPACT IT HAS ON SOMEONE WHO EXPECTS A LOT FROM HIS CAR SINCE HE IS PAYING OUT OF HIS NOSE. *TR

ADDED EXXONMOBIL GAS 9/2/2008. CAR DEAD BY 9/7/2008, AFTER DRIVING APPROX. 50 MILES. THE FUEL PUMP ON THIS VERY NEW CAR HAS FAILED. THE DEALER CLAIMS THE GAS WAS BAD (SAYS ALCOHOL LEVEL TESTED TO 15%), WHILE EXXONMOBIL INSISTS THE FUEL WAS FINE AT 10% ALCOHOL, FROM THE ETHANOL. I BELIEVE THE REAL PROBLEM IS THAT THE 2008 BMW 535XI'S CAN'T HANDLE EVEN 10% ETHANOL, SO THE FUEL PUMPS ARE FAILING. *TR