10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
67,586 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2008 BMW 535 miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2008 BMW 535 Owner Comments

problem #7

Sep 212020

535

  • 155,400 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Copious amounts of smoke are released upon start and now it smokes even worse no matter what. It used to stop but not anymore. So many people have a problem with this. I noticed my car couldn't accelerate and then smoke started coming everywhere and then it ran ok but as soon as I got home my car smoked and smoked so much I was barely able to get into a spot

- Savannah, GA, USA

problem #6

Jan 302019

535

  • 65,000 miles
Car reduced power, shakes and will not run anymore. Is so unsafe to be driving this specially in the fwy very scary.

- Bellflower, CA, USA

problem #5

Jul 252018

535

  • 103,000 miles
Wednesday July 25th, 2018, as I was getting ready to leave work, I started my car which was parked in my company's underground garage and the interior became engulfed with smoke. I turned the car off and got out to check the engine. There was no smoke coming from the under the hood of the car. I got back into the car and started it again and more smoke entered into the car. I turned the car off and went back to my office to call aaa. Approximately 20-30 minutes later I went back to the car and immediately smelled smoke in the garage. As I approached the car it was completely filled with smoke but I could tell that the both the back and front window shields and the sunroof were scorched. My key fob did not work so I had to open the car with the key. With the door open the thick smoke escaped and then I was able to see the damage to the car as a result of a fire. I have attached some pictures so you can see. I did some research and found that there have been some instances where this has happened to other BMW owners in the past and that this was a course of action to take in letting you know.

- Fairport, NY, USA

problem #4

Aug 012013

535

  • 60,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Insulation crumbling on all wiring inside both headlight (driver and passenger sides) units resulting in malfunctioning headlights, running lights, and marker lights. Unfortunately, a common problem and a huge safety concern. Issue is exacerbated but not caused by heat. Insulation on wiring to navigation, radio/media player, climate control unit, or ccc (car communication computer), crumbling causing malfunctions to occur in all the above sections. I suspect much of the car's wiring to be in similar, poor condition. I have read that many european cars from the '80S, '90S through the first ten or so years of the 21st century used a soy based, biodegradable wire insulation as part of a "green movement". this early implementation of said wire does not last much longer than 10 years, much less than that when exposed to heat. Please see: Https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2132684-headlight-wire-jackets-just-flake-off https://5series.net/forums/E60-discussion-2/headlight-wiring-outer-jacket-deteriorating-139655/ www.peachparts.com/shopforum/off-topic-discussion/330631-can-you-believe-BMW-still-using-biodegradeable-wiring-insulation.html www.mercedesdefects.com/2008/04/wire-harness-defect.html https://rennlist.com/forums/Porsche-cayenne-forum/733521-brittle-wiring-insulation.html there are many, many more threads such as these on the web. There are thousands of cars on the road like this. The manufacturers keep producing vehicles with this type of wiring. It's wonderful that the insulation degrades. It's absurd to start biodegrading when the car is just five or so years old.

- Moncks Corner, SC, USA

problem #3

Oct 152017

535

  • 1 miles
While driving, the car stopped accelerating and a transmission malfunction warning came up on. The fan on the engine also came on very loud and there was lots of exhausted coming out. I drove slowly to a shop. Once at the shop they stated they could not get the car to shift into gear. They did diagnostics on it and said it was a shift module that needed replaced, I had it replaced and it did not fix the problem. They then said it needed a reset that could only be done at the BMW dealership. BMW performed the reset and that did not fix the problem. BMW diagnosed that the transmission pump was out and a $9K transmission needed to be replaced. The car continues to not be drivable, not stay in gear. It has also started spitting out milky substance from the exhaust like the coolant is leaking into engine. In addition the paint on the hood and roof of the car has become dull for no apparent reason, like it has reacted to a high amount of heat from the engine. A car with only 132,000 miles on it should not need a transmission replaced and the paint should not be wearing like it is. There was coolant recall on all models except the 535I, this coolant problem could have been what caused the transmission to go out very prematurely. The car is now not drivable, will not stay in gear. I believe there is something wrong with the car that is due to a failure or malfunction of the car itself and not wear.

- Orcutt, CA, USA

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problem #2

Jul 092016

535

  • 89,700 miles
At C. 89,000 miles - warning: "driver side air bags malfunction". BMW dealer, rockville, md, wants $660 to tell me if it's a real problem with the bag, and/or its housing and/or only a faulty sensor sending an incorrect message (!!) following that suspicious drill they can then fix it - a couple hundred dollars if it's only a sensor, much more $ if it's something else. Car moving or not, the warning remains on.

- Etchison, MD, USA

problem #1

Feb 242016

535

  • miles
Fraud activity possible clone refinanced identity theft remote access was put on unauthorized threat safety for owner. Two loan start dates one in repo

- Ft Worth, TX, USA

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