2003 BMW 530I

STARTED THE VEHICLE NORMALLY AFTER IT HAD BEEN IN A COLD OUTDOOR GARAGE FOR 3 DAYS. CAR RAN A BIT ROUGH. A HALF MILE DOWN THE ROAD IT BEGAN BILLOWING WHITE SMOKE OUT THE EXHAUST THEN STALLED AND WOULD NOT START. TOWED TO REPAIR SHOP - NOT THE BMW DEALER - WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE ENGINE HAD SEIZED AND WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED - A $6000 REPAIR (OR MORE). HE DIAGNOSED THE CAUSE WAS A KNOWN DEFECT DESCRIBED IN THIS BMW SERVICE BULLETIN: HTTP://WWW.BIMMERFEST.COM/FORUMS/ATTACHMENT.PHP?ATTACHMENTID=210092&D=1259409341. THIS VERSION OF THE BULLETIN DIFFERS FROM THE PRIOR ONE WHICH INCLUDE "COMPLETE ENGINE FAILURE" AS A POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCE. BASED ON WEB SEARCHES, THIS FAILURE HAS HAPPENED MANY TIMES. IT IS CLEAR BMW KNEW THAT THE OIL SEPARATOR IN THIS VEHICLE HAD A SERIOUS DEFECT THAT COULD RESULT IN SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE AND THEY HAVE A MODIFICATION KIT FIX IT, BUT NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO NOTIFY OWNERS OF THIS DEFECT OR THE NEED TO INSTALL THE KIT. BMW STATES THAT HAD THE VEHICLE BEEN BROUGHT TO THEIR DEALER THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO "HELP" WITH THIS REPAIR, AND THAT THE NTSB WOULD HAVE TO ACT BEFORE THEY WOULD TAKE THE ACTION TO NOTIFY OWNERS. *TR

I HAVE A 2003 530I BMW WITH 100K MILES ON IT THE HEATED SEAT ON THE DRIVERS SIDE HAS BURNED THOUGHT THE SEAT, THIS WAS AN ISSUE WITH THE 7 SERIES SEATS (WHICH ARE THE SAME SEATS AND THEY WERE RECALLED.) THE ISSUE HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLES. THERE WAS A VERY STRONG BURNING SMELL, RESEARCHED THE ISSUE ON THE INTERNET AND IT IS VERY COMMON WITH THIS MODEL. I ALSO HAVE FOUND THAT IT IS A VERY WELL KNOWN SAFETY CONCERN THAT THE PIXELS GO OUT ON THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AND THE MID. ALSO THE BACK DOORS HAVE A STRUCTURAL PROBLEM WHERE WATER POOLS IN THE BACK SEAT. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 BMW 530I. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED, THE VEHICLE WOULD SHAKE VIOLENTLY. THE BRAKE PEDAL WOULD HAVE TO BE RELEASED THEN RE-APPLIED DUE TO THE FAILURE. WHEN THE VEHICLE WOULD DRIVE OVER NUMEROUS BUMPS AT ONE TIME AND THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED, THE SHAKING WOULD OCCUR. THE FAILURE WOULD NORMALLY NOT OCCUR IF THERE WERE NO BUMPS PRESENT IN THE ROAD. IT SEEMED AS IF THE ENTIRE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE WOULD FALL APART. HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER, BUT THEY FOUND NO FAILURE. THE ISSUE WORSENED AND THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE BACK TO THE DEALER. THEY WERE ABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE; HOWEVER, THE SERVICE MANAGER WHO NOTICED THE FAILURE NO LONGER WORKED AT THE DEALER. HE THEN TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A CERTIFIED BMW MECHANIC, WHO NOTICED CRACKS ON THE SUSPENSION BUSHINGS AND ASKED FOR A SECOND OPINION. THE OTHER MECHANIC NOTICED THE SAME ISSUE. THE CONTACT PAID APPROXIMATELY $800 TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE. THE MANUFACTURER ADVISED HIM TO TAKE THE VEHICLE TO A DEALER, BUT OFFERED NO FURTHER ASSISTANCE. THE CONTACT STILL HAS THE ORIGINAL PARTS FROM THE REPAIR. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 67,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 25,000.

COLD MORNING, TURNED SEAT HEATERS ON. DRIVERS SIDE SEAT HEATER TURNED ON AND FAILED, BURNING THROUGH SEAT AND BURNED PANTS ON DRIVER. IT FAILED ONE TIME, HAD DISCONNECTED. BURNED HOLE IN SEAT. NOTHING DONE YET, TRYING TO GET BMW TO REPLACE, AS THIS WAS A PROBLEM WITH THERE 7 SERIES, EXACT SAME FAILURE, AS I FOUND THEY HAD A RECALL ON THE 7 SERIES TO REPLACE SEAT HEATER. WHY NOT ON 5 SERIES, SAME SEAT AND PROBLEM!! *TR

PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT OWNERSHIP OF VEHICLE WITH PLASTIC PARTS AND WIRING OF VEHICLE, A 2003 BMW 530I. WIRING TO BRAKE LIGHTS WHICH WERE REPAIRED EARLY ON UNDER WARRANTY. THE VEHICLE NOW HAS APPROXIMATELY 97,000 MILES. MOST OF THESE ISSUES HAVE BEEN GOING ON SINCE THE 50,000 MILE MARK. I DRIVE 20,000 MILES PER YEAR TO AND FROM WORK. ANOTHER PROBLEM INCLUDED THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY DROPPING ACCELERATION TO JUST A FEW MILES PER HOUR. WITH MY PEDAL TO THE FLOOR, I MADE IT UP A HILL AND PULLED OVER. AFTER SHUTTING DOWN THE ENGINE AND RESTARTING, MY VEHICLE PERFORMED NORMALLY. THE SERVICE ADVISOR AT THE DEALERSHIP INDICATED THAT THE UNDERWIRE HARNESS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND PRESENTED A SAFETY ISSUE. THE COST OF THIS SERVICE WAS AROUND TWO-THOUSAND DOLLARS. I'VE YET TO DO THE SERVICE AND HAVE PUT MANY THOUSANDS OF MILES ON THE VEHICLE SINCE. THE CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS WERE FOUND TO BE CRACKED AT JUST OVER 50, 000 MILES AND THEREFORE NOT COVERED UNDER THE WARRANTY. I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT THEY SHOULD LAST LONGER. THEY'VE NEVER BEEN REPLACED THOUGH STEERING SEEMS TO BE AFFECTED. AN INTERIOR LIGHT CONSOLE SIMPLY FELL OUT OF THE BODY AND DANGLED BY ITS WIRING. THE PLASTIC AROUND THE CLIPS APPEARS TO BE DECAYED OR MELTED BY THE HEAT OF THE BULBS. I WROTE TO BMW NORTH AMERICA DESCRIBING ALL THESE ISSUES AND WAS TOLD THAT THE LIGHT WOULD BE REPLACED. I ASKED FOR THIS IN WRITING. THIS WAS NEVER DONE. AFTER SEVERAL PHONE CONTACTS, I WAS TOLD THAT THE SERVICE MANAGER AT MY DEALERSHIP WOULD BE MY CONTACT. HE INDICATED THAT HE HAD RECEIVED COMMUNICATION THAT I SHOULD RECEIVE A FREE OIL CHANGE (ALREADY COVERED UNDER MY CURRENT EXTENDED WARRANTY). WEEKS OF MY MESSAGES AND NO RETURN CALLS MADE ME SUSPICIOUS THAT SOMETHING MORE WAS GOING ON. THE LAST MESSAGE I LEFT WAS THAT A NHTSA COMPLAINT WOULD BE FILED AND FINALLY ELICITED A RESPONSE. NO RECALLS HAVE EVER OCCURRED ON THIS VEHICLE. *TR

CAR HAS NEEDED TO BE JUMPSTARTED AT LEAST 6 TIMES THIS YEAR. I'VE TAKEN IT TO MY LOCAL DEALER SONNEN BMW AND THEY SAID THEY WOULD NOT REPLACE BATTERY BECAUSE THEY WERE ABLE TO GET IT TO TAKE A CHARGE. I'VE RECENTLY FOUND A RECALL (OPENING CAMPAIGN #610504) ON THE CONTROL MODULE WHICH I JUST REPORTED TO THE DEALER. BMW REFUSES TO REPLACE THE BATTERY UNLESS THE CAR IS SO DEAD IT CAN'T BE JUMP STARTED AND NEEDS TO BE TOWED.*AK

WHILE SLOWLY ENTERING MY GARAGE FROM DRIVEWAY, CAR ACCELERATED AND LUNGED FORWARD. I APPLIED BRAKES AS HARD AS POSSIBLE, BUT COULD NOT STOP CAR. CRASHED INTO REFRIGERATOR AT BACK OF GARAGE. SUBSEQUENTLY, TOOK VEHICLE TO BMW DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT. THE REPORT FROM SERVICE DEPARTMENT SAID, "COULD NOT REPRODUCE FAULT. CAR IS OPERATING PROPERTY. NO FAULTS ARE STORED IN THE SYSTEM, AND THE SYSTEM SAFEGUARDS ARE FUNCTIONING PROPERLY." *LA