This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW 545I. The contact stated that he noticed that there were various warning lights that illuminated on the instrumental panel. He stated that the vehicles I-drive would malfunction causing the radio to fail, gps, and he was unable to make phone calls from the vehicle. The speedometer also displayed 0 instead of the actual mph that was being driven. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer and they were unable to diagnose the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 88,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact would like to use his submitted email as the actual complaint. Our 2004 BMW 530I had the driver's heated seat catch fire. I am not getting much help from BMW on this matter. To me, this is one helluva of an easy way to cause a major accident. Only because of my partner's quick thinking and turning off the heater was she able to stop the fire. It was hot enough that it melted the foam (toxic I am sure) in the seat. Something like this happening while you are going down the road is right up there with Toyota and their acceleration problems. Either way a major accident can happen. Not to mention that a person could be severely burned. While the car is out of warranty this seat has never been abused. The driver of the car weighs in at about 120 pounds. From checking the internet there seems to be a quite a number of such instances. Thank you scott the failure mileage was 60,000.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW 5 series. The contact noticed a burning smell and felt something burning her leg. She sustained burns to her thigh and buttocks area due to the seat warmer. The manufacturer was unable to assist. The contact was able to locate NHTSA campaign id number 08V384000 (air bags:frontal) for the same year, make, and model vehicle. She also stated that the passenger side air bag was inoperable. The manufacturer advised her to expect a recall on the air bag; however, without a recall, they could not assist. The manufacturer stated that there were no open recalls based on her VIN, but NHTSA campaign id number 04V575000 (seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler) was referenced. The failure and current mileages were less than 54,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Upper Marlboro, MD, USA