general problems of the 2002 BMW 330

My car had been sitting across the street from my house for about 3 weeks after I had gotten it back from the body shop. It had been hit on the drivers side by a drunk driver when parked in front of my house. He took out six cars in a row. Heard a loud noise about 2 am - looked out the window and saw nothing. But then the fire trucks showed up after someone called them when they heard the bang. According to the firemen, it was probably caused by an electrical fire even though there were no visible flames. But the inside was filled with thick gray smoke which also came out of the trunk when they opened it. , the air bag was activated on the driver's side - the windshield was broken and the interior was a melted mess. The dashboard was melted on the driver’s side and the window was blackened. . The drivers side was where the damage had been from the accident. I do not think it coincidence. It seems I am not the only person whose BMW has spontaneously caught on fire. I did get BMW involved as far as sending documentation and talking to a rep. They of course were blameless. They did say they believe it was caused by an error made during a repair that allowed the rain water to get into the wiring. It had been raining hard for a couple days. But they could not say based on what I sent them if it was the body shop that did the most recent repair that made the error or it was done prior to that by another shop. But that they would not be investigating further. My much loved BMW been totaled and I will never what caused it.

After reading many forum questions and answers my vehicle problem is the gm5 module. This module controls a wide selection of electrical function on this car. The function that is at issue is the central locking/unlocking function initiated by the key, key fob or locking control button on the console. By researching online it is apparent that the BMW e46 model has had a long period that this module has been a problem and they have not done anything to remedy the issue. This faulty module (gm-5) will leave you locked out of your car and or once inside not allow any other doors to open by any means. This can be a very dangerous if you may be threatening situation. The manufacturer know this is a problem as it spans years of production. I am just reporting the most recent incident, this has been an ongoing problem. We happen to keep our cars along time and this is an expensive and frustrating problem.

Having a problem with my gm5 module which controls locking/ unlocking doors, windshield wipers and interior lights. Got stranded today because I could not unlock my car. The key fob wouldn't unlock it and even using the key in the door didnt work. This is a big safety problem.

The smell of electircal fire and thick black smoke poored out the left side of my stearing colum. Flames started to shoot out and enguffed my BMW to nothing!.

Car was driven daily. Parked in garage at 6:30pm. At 7:20am the following day it was noticed that a white vapor/smoke was coming from the front grill of the BMW 330ci. The car had not been started since being parked the evening before. Within minutes, the white vapor turned into heavy black smoke and the entire engine compartment became engulfed in flames. (flames were visible from beneath the car as it was parked in a garage) the fire department was called at the first notice of vapor and firemen arrived 12 - 18 min. Later, at which time the fire was fully engaged. Two explosions emanated from the car. The fire and its significant heat caused structural damage to a portion of the home, including a bent lolly column and burned framing. It took the fire department over 2 hours to fully extinguish the fire which led to major smoke and water damage as well.

Failure of the general module 5 which results in failing to opening the door via the unlock button on the center console and key remote. This will also result in the double locking mechanism to activate to which passengers are unable to exit the vehicle properly either electronically or mechanically (manual locks do not work) forced to leave either through the window, trunk through rear seat if the car has this feature or possibly only through driver side door. This is a safety hazard, if the locks fail electronically the passengers inside should be able to trigger a mechanical way of exiting the vehicle.

After driving my 2002 BMW x 5 five blocks from my home, I smelled something burning and parked the car. From the time it took me to get out and walk to the rear of the car, it was filled with black smoke and in short order the car burned. My insurance company declared it a total loss and hired an independent professional company that specializes in vehicle fires and causation. The conclussion of the report was that it was an electrical short, originating in the center of the dash. I have since researched this situation with BMW fires on different web sights, including roadfly, and have found to my shock, there are way to many other BMW owners out there with a simular situation. This is an extremely dangerous problem that could cause someones life. If my grandchild or elderly mother had been in the car with me, I would not have been able to get them out in time! I appreciate your help. Thank you, hope pessis.

A/c blows extremely hot when set on maximum cooling power about 40% of the time (intermittently). Problem seems to be inherent in the model. . . BMW says if they cant duplicate the problem at a service center in front of a technician, then it must not exist.