Brake vacuum pump has leaked lubricating oil into brake booster, causing booster to fail, causing power assist braking to be compromised, making braking difficult to impossible.

- Orinda, CA, USA

I noticed just short of 49,000 miles on my 2006 BMW 530I the brakes were very hard to push at slower speeds and when approaching traffic stops. Through tests of my own and of BMW service, the cause is brake booster failure. I was told by the dealer that they have seen a lot of these cars with this problem and the heat in this area was partially to blame. I've owned a lot of cars in this area and I've never heard of this happening. The brake booster needs replaced, but as of this date has not been done yet.

- Oklahoma City, OK, USA

The contact owns a 2006 BMW 5 series. After starting the vehicle one morning, all of the instrument panel indicators illuminated. The dealer stated that the vehicle needed a new szl module, which controlled most of the computer functions in the vehicle. The dealer did not have the part available, but assured the contact that the vehicle was safe to drive. Three weeks after the incident, while driving 15 mph, the steering and brakes failed. The failure lasted less than a minute, but during this time he was unable to stop or steer the vehicle. He called the dealer and took the vehicle in for service. They kept the vehicle for over a month and replaced the szl module and clock spring, in addition to an electrical repair. Within a month, the failure recurred. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure and returned the vehicle to the contact. The failure continued and the brakes began to squeal. The dealer replaced all of the brake pads and sensors. Even with all the repairs, the failure persists. The dealer is still unable to reproduce the failure and provide a remedy. Currently, the vehicle is experiencing unexpected acceleration. He believes that the issue is becoming progressively worse. Through research, he has found numerous complaints for the same failure. The failure mileage was 7,000 and current mileage was 31,000.

- Wilmington, DE, USA