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.
I purchased said automobile from my neighbor for my son to drive. I figured it was a good car to buy because it was serviced by Hendrick BMW (Charlotte, NC) only and regularly. BMW's also have a reputation for being safe as well as reputable so this also weighed into my decision. Fast forward 18 months. The passenger rear brake bulb went out. We replaced the bulb, it worked for a short time, then went out. We replaced the bulb again. This time it didnt work. About a week later the front passenger side head light went out, then the other side. We took it to Hendrick BMW for repair. Hendrick has told us the car wiring basically needs to be replaced due to the protective coat wearing off and corroding the bare wire underneath. The headlights/ brake light will also need to be replaced due to the corrosion blowing out the bulb. For the front headlight the whole assembly needs to be replaced at a tremendous cost. I performed a google search on this and found many, many instances of the same issue. Ive seen many of these cars while casually driving around town. It would seem to be a MAJOR issue if an active drivers head and tail lights suddenly stopped working on a busy road. Also due to the cost most people probably wouldnt fix the issue on their own and drive the car anyway causing an ever bigger safety issue. I have never had this issue with any other vehicle brand ive owned. Ive looked into this issue with other brands and most tell me they use wiring which will not do this. I am not sure why BMW would not do the same. The car is also up for inspection. The car will not pass inspection unless I pony up over $6k ($2500 NADA value) to fix. My taxes are also due. In NC you cant pay the tax unless the car passes inspection. This is costing me daily penalties in addition to the major safety issue. I believe the NHTSA has a duty to look into this major manufacturing defect and have BMW provide remedy to those other unfortunate folks who are experiencing the same issue.
Headlight wiring insulation rot lead to failed high and low beams on driver side and intermittent failures of both beams on passenger side. See photo for exampole of disintegrated wiring on driver high beam wiring harness. Only known option is to buy a complete new headlight assembly ($1250+ per side) or attempt diy. This problem is well-known and has long been reported by other BMW E60 (5 series 2004-2010) owners at bimmerfest.com and 5sriest.net. See these urls for more information: Https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php"T=798640 https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php"T=883000 https://5series.net/forums/E60-E61-parts-accessories-mods-22/opening-up-E60-headlights-138473/
Went to replace my front headlamp bulbs after headlamp failure while operating my vehicle at night, on a winding road, in rural Texas. Mechanic pulled the "sealed" housing, and discovered that the majority of the wires in the headlamp assembly had faulty insulation. The insulation had "flaked" off to the point that many of the wires were exposed, causing a short circuit, and failure of the headlamp. Researched the issue on many forums, and it is a common occurrrence. Replacement costs of each headlamp assembly is approx $1500. The use of subpar insulation appears to be the cause of this safety issue.
- Richmond, TX, USA
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When I realized a lightbulb in my headlights went out I bought the bulb online ready to replace it. I realized when replacing that the wires connecting to the headlights are completely flaked off. So I wanted money on a new bulb because it won't light up regardless. Now this not only causes the bulb to not work but it messes with the lights in the whole side of the headlight. My entire left headlight tweaks. Sometimes jus one parking light is out, then it's the high beam that doesn't work, then it's the low beam. Sometimes when I have low beams on the left headlight has its high beams on by itself. All this happened because I tried to change a bulb and the wirings jus flaked off as soon as they moved or bended a bit. This is very dangerous because my headlight won't work sometimes and that makes me not so visible at night. Also I end up unintentionally having my high beams on with no way for me to turn it off besides completely turning off my headlights. Pretty sure it's an electrical or fire hazard too to have a bunch of naked wires side by side. Fault number 2 is the brakes. When coming to complete stop my car jerks. There's nothing wrong with the brake system. I talked to a couple people with the same model car as me and they all had the same problem. It just happens once the car gets to a high number of miles. Something should be done about this because a functional car shouldn't be jerking when coming to a stop. Especially if the brakes are in perfect condition.
My problem started 2 years ago. After two days of very heavy rain I started my vehicle and my navigation screen started to flicker then eventually burned out over a two week time also my radio stopped working at the same time. I didn't have the 2,000 dollars to get it fixed. A few months later after several days of heavy rain I've noticed the drivers floor soaked then the car was hesitant to start. The car over another few months my wipers would cut on by themselves and I couldn't cut them off. It got to the point that I turned the car off and the wipers were still working with no key in the car... the car had to be towed to the mechanics.. now my window work intermittently sometimes they work and sometimes they don't...at this time I also smell the odor of a burning electrical from time to time.
We would like the NHTSA to be aware that myself and a few colleagues own BMW and have experienced this issue. BMW has purposely built these vehicles to fail after the warranty period when a few months after the 100,000 mile warranty we began having problems specifically with the seals around all all windows including windshield and rear window as well as the seals around the trunk, however at the bottom of the trunk BMW keeps a main component board underneath the spare tire, once the seals begin to fail it causes water and moisture to gain access to this compartment and cause the board to ignite and catch fire and cause car to go crazy with acceleration and deceleration, why place a main component in this location with 10 feet of extra wire and no drain, I would also like to point out all BMW's of the same year experience M melting of the plastic interior parts and the paint to completely break down underneath the clear coat no matter how much ax is applied these are major flaws and BMW is well aware of them, there vehicles and service is terrible they should not be allowed on the road
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 525xi. While the vehicle was being serviced at the dealer, the ignition was turned to the on position but the engine did not start. The dealer diagnosed that the steering wheel lock mechanism failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 73,000. Updated 8/10/15 updated 10/17/2017
Bought the car in Aug started using the seat warmer about December of 2014. Here and there upon using I'd smell something burning so I would turn it off! but not all the time when using the warmer did I smell burning! late March my husband noticed a burn hole on my driers seat, I instantly remembered the burning smell when sometimes using the seat heater! I'm lucky I was not burned but my driver seat is ruined and I'm now afraid to use the heaters, ever!
The wires in the head light assembly are brittle and break upon just touching them. Causing day time running lights to fail as wires are bare and touching each other. This is also a fire hazard.
The car beeps every few miles and a warning light shows it need an oil change, I had just gotten a change, so they changed it again, the next day the bells started ringing again. Also the gear shifter went out. It is still ringing.
Trunk locking failure. Unable to open trunk with remote control or switch inside the car. I was only able to open the trunk with the key over-ride from the trunk. BMW usa customer service did not provide any assistance to open the trunk. I had to read the manual to be able to over-ride the electrical systems. Once I opened the trunk the trunk would not close. After extensive internet research and electrical trouble-shooting, I found broken brown electrical wire in the trunk harness boot above the battery compartment. I found several cases posted in the internet. This is a common problem with BMW. BMW usa customer relations was contacted to report this safety issue and a design flow but she did not offer any interest to resolve the issue. I offered the opportunity to BMW technicians / engineers to inspect the design flow and perhaps they can provide a solution to this defect but she wanted me to go to the dealer and pay the dealer to diagnose the problem ($150 per hour fee). I was clear that I already found the problem and can simply splice the wires back but I was calling because I am concern about the safety of other BMW drivers. Electrical shortage next to the battery can be a safety concern! BMW customer service manager did not offer any help either.
I was driving through a canyon area, and water spilled out of my ice chest into the trunk bay, where the spare tire is stored. Apparently the entire cars computer and wiring is underneath the spare tire. The water fried my tire pressure monitor module, which caused the computer to restart. When it restarted, the car showed a car computer failure. The car has safety features such as stability control, and many other safety modules connected to the computer. The cars computer, inside lights, gauges, and all my systems completely restarted every 30-45 seconds, causing the car to be a dangerous toy. I had to drive down the mountain without any safety features on my car turned on, which made it hard to control. It was very unstable driving, all because of a tire pressure monitor module going out. I spent over $55K on this vehicle, I don't think getting a small amount of water in my trunk would cause so much damage. The module cost me $1,800 to replace, as well as a $600 upcharge to move the computer to the side of the trunk, and $560 for the wiring harness. $2,960 in damage from water spilling in my wheel well. Give me a break BMW!
2007 BMW 525xi model not limited to or exclusive of this make/model but has a known issue where a red light indicator appears on the dash signaling an electronic steering column fault has occurred, do not turn the engine off or the car may not be able to be started again, contact your local BMW service department. This has yet to make it on the NHTSA database as an official recall but I have researched and made note of several hundred customers experiencing this same issue on their BMW. This car is out of the 3 year service warranty and this is not covered or a recalled item as of today. I am filing my complaint against BMW since it will be costing me over $1000 to have this addressed/fixed when in fact it is abnormal behavior by BMW engineering/manufacturing and is a defect in their design. It should be recalled and fixed for all BMW customers covering the span of years in which the commonality has occurred 2006-2007 325, 525 models.
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 525I. While driving approximately 75 mph, the transmission warning light illuminated on the instrument panel and the transmission began to slip. There was also a very low power response when accelerating. The warning indicator remained illuminated until the engine was turned off. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing and they detected failure within the computerized system. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle has not been repaired again. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 18,000.
Not precisely sure what is causing this electrical problem, but all 3 occurrences of this problem have happened after I washed the vehicle and did not drive it. The electrical system is malfunctioning to the point it completely drains the vehicle's battery. After the second time I went to start the vehicle, I had the battery replaced. The 3rd time, all of the vehicle exterior lights had turned themselves on during the course of the night, and had almost fully discharged the battery. The car started, but many items in the electronic memory were lost, including date and time. The car involved is a 2007 BMW 528I, which I purchased 3 months ago, certified pre-owned.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Charlotte, NC, USA