Power Train Problems of BMW 528 - part 2

Drivetrain malfunction, car is shutting off while in drive and vehicle is not safe to drive. Vehicle is only at 66k miles.

See all problems of the 2013 BMW 528 🔎.

I currently have a 2013 528i BMW with less 90k miles and less than 8 years old. I was driving the vehicle and all of a sudden I received a drivetrain malfunction that abruptly stopped the car. I got to find out that the engine was completely done. I called BMW to see if there was any recall on that issue, I also found out that many BMW owners have had the same issue and had to get the engine replaced. If I was on the freeway this would have been a major traffic incident accident,.

Driving down the street when all of a sudden car says drive train malfunction I was stopped at the light on a one way street on 11/20/2020 when the car just died no warning just shut off wouldn't start couldn't put it in neutral blocked traffic for about 90 minutes before I could get a tow truck to remove my car. I have a 2012 BMW 528xi with about 90k + miles on it I was so scared because it could have happens to me on the highway or in the middle of the street and I would no have been able to get out of harms way.

See all problems of the 2012 BMW 528 🔎.

On numerous occasions after restarting the car after a short period of rest (30mins-1hr) and a couple times on extended drives(2+ hours) car stalls out the first 6 times came up with power train and fuel module codes took to dealer. Dealer replaced high pressure fuel pump and timing chain issue appeared fix till it started doing it again no longer throwing codes.

Found faults for vanos system. I was driving on the highway and car start making a rattle noise like something bucking against something as I accelerated.

See all problems of the 2010 BMW 528 🔎.

When turning my car on and while driving on the highway, my car displayed a drivetrain malfunction error. I took the car to my local BMW dealer on August 3, 2020 for service and they diagnosed the car with a computer error. They made a repair to the computer and told me it was fixed. This cost $350. On August 7, I drove from maryland to south carolina and received the same drivetrain error message and the oil service light warning came on. We had to add a quart of oil and drive slowly per the drivetrain error message. As soon as I returned to maryland, I took the car back to BMW of annapolis. They told me that the front end of the engine was gone and that they would need to rebuild the motor including new timing chains, chain tensioner, chain guides, and exhaust vanos unit (a $6000 repair). The car only had 72,000 miles and I had never missed a service appointment. BMW north America offered to pay half of $6000 after being contacted by BMW of annapolis. However, I thought that BMW north America should have paid the entire amount because this is a known problem with the 2012 BMW 528i and I could have had a major accident. In addition, this car has had 2 prior major recalls. I sent BMW north America a formal complaint, but they still only paid $3000.

Car begin to stall on traffic, drivetrain malfunction light appeared. . Took it to BMW dealer my fuel pump replace with new ekp module- which is the same recall that BMW issued in 2017 which included the model/year vehicle that I have.

I was driving on the road and I accelerated a lil bit faster to beat the traffic light and then my car loss power and stalled out and I got stuck in the middle of the bridge and I was causing traffic the power train malfunction and the fuel supply light cam on and the charge battery light came on I try starting it but it wouldn't start and the fuel supply light kept coming on and some wiring problem was going on when trying to start it my tv screen would turn orange and the speedometer where the mph/gas/temperature/and rpm would twitch like some electrical problem.

My 2012 528xi has 117k miles on it. While I was on a long road trip, driving on I-95 at 1am on a Friday night, without any weird engine noises or anything out of the norm, the car displayed a warning message that said "drivetrain malfunction" immediately followed by warning "engine oil pressure low" warning. Within a few seconds, the engine shut off and the car told me to pull over safely. Luckily, there was a nice big shoulder and there was no traffic around, so I was able to safely coast to a stop. Had the car towed 100 miles to an independent mechanic, and he said there was no oil pressure, so there was too much friction due to lack of lubrication, which seized the camshaft and caused jumped timing. I've had a lot of "very unusual" (mechanic's words) issues with this car, of course all out of warranty. And now the engine is completely fried. I can spend another $11k to put a brand new engine in there, but the car itself isn't worth $11k anymore. Lots of other people have the same issue. Hasn't been reported to NHTSA but can find it on BMW enthusiast forums (like bimmerfest dot com).

I bought a certified BMW and had continuous issues with my engine, constantly refilling the oil, even after service. After taking this to the dealer, I was told that everything was fine and there weren't any issues. All of this finally came to a head-on Sunday, 6/21/2020 when my car finally came to an abrupt stop. After towing, I was told that this is a timing chain issue and would cost me $7,400 which wouldn't necessarily remedy the issue, I heard this could reach towards 15-20k. I find this hard to believe after having only driven this car on avg 8k/year and having roughly 84k miles in total. My experience with BMW has since been painful to say the least since. I've had this towed twice in 2 days, been given an ultimatum on either fixing the vehicle or buying a new one - when asking for a loaner, I was told that I needed contact enterprise and reserve one on my own. I've owned multiple german cars and never had to deal with this level of unprofessionalism.

While driving a message of drivetrain malfunction pops up on the idrive system. Spark plugs have been changed along with regular oil changes. Happens occasionaly then I shut the car off and lock then unlock and restart. Sometimes the message will pop back up and sometimes it does not.

Vehicle messaged me while driving that oil pressure was low. Stopped, and restarted with no issues. Investigated online and discovered that the engine had a well known problem with the timing guides becoming brittle and disintegrating sending parts into the sprockets and the oil sensors. Also chain makes a whining noise if affected. Had the vehicle towed to dealership where the timing chain guides were diagnosed as being the problem. Out of extended warranty (7yr/70k) by one year and 5k miles. BMW knows of the problem and refuses to voluntarily recall affected vehicles. Could result in catastrophic engine failure at highway speeds and result in a serious accident.

BMW engine n20b20 known timing chain issue. The car in question is 2013 BMW 528i xdrive, 4 cyl. Turbo engine, automatic, all wheel drive, sedan. I was at work and started driving home, got out on the highway, hit 65 mph and immediately notified by the instrument display that there is powertrain issue and to pull over and call service. I had to tow the car home and then again to the service since it would not start. I had 77130 miles on the car at the moment. I got call from the service this morning 05/29/2020 where they stated: car had 3 quarts of oil instead of 5 which caused mechanical damage and wear. Plastic lead for the timing chain broke and chain is loose. Camshaft I believe is broken. They also stated that the fix is engine replacement $11,000. 00. I asked is there any other solutions beside whole engine replacement they said no except for getting used engine instead of new. Now I have one more BMW (2007 328i, n52 6 cyl. Engine, 6 speed manual, rear wheel drive - still in great shape, never left me on the side of the road 176000 miles and counting), I am enthusiast, I take great care about my cars. Always full synthetic oil every 5000 miles, always mann filter(s), always BMW spec ll-01 for us, always castrol made in belgium. All the parts genuine, best tires. With all that care I know the weakness - oil thirsty engines. The car that's in problem got it's oil checked that morning or day before and showed up max. Those new engines have electrical oil reader (no stick anymore) so I have to rely on that. I am heavily disappointed in BMW and how they are handling this issue. They should offer remedy and full reimbursement or recall for this well known problem.

Warning for chassis stabilization is on, I encountered not being able to accelerate and had the car towed. I was on a main road and I got rear ended immediately after I was not able to accelerate and I had my hazard lights flashing.

Car was giving the powertrain service message, while driving it would start to power down the car apart of built in mechanism. Took to BMW dealership to have looked at. They came back to me and informed me that the timing chain links were folding over on itself, and the chain was confirmed to have excessive play. Timing chain guides have failed, causing exhaust camshaft to unsync from crankshaft. Can cause catastrophic failure if valves contact piston. Recommendation is to replace entire motor at cost just under $15,000. Car is under 7 years old with 98,000 miles on it. Warranty was "extended" to cover this issue in 2018 out to 7 years, 70,000 miles. This has occured throughout spring of 2020.

A catastrophic problem occurred with my BMW, a 2013 528i model, while I was driving on a busy expressway. A warning message indicated the oil pressure was low. As I attempted to navigate to the shoulder, another message stated there was a drive-train malfunction. The car proceeded to decelerate,. Shut down and the engine completely fail.

My 2012 BMW 528i stalled twice 2 wks ago when I was slowing down at a traffic signal. The display showed either "drivetrain malfunction" or "transmission malfunction". Immediately I turned on the hazard lights, slowly changed lanes slowly and come to a halt, by which the warning was gone and I drove home at less than 15 mph. The next morning the car seemed fine and I was able to drive it to a local mechanic, who advised a BMW service. I took the car to an authorized service center (asc) for verification and was directed to come back in few days; within that week it happened again. I went to another asc to have it fully diagnosed. It was determined that faulty guides in the timing-chain caused it. I had no idea it was design flaw until I read about it in online. The service manager also said they have seen it happen in many cars and sometimes under 30k miles and in few instances needing entire engine replacement for $15000. I see several customers with n20 and n26 engines having this issue same as with n63 engines. I contacted Bmwusa and lodged a complaint about this for reimbursement referring to NHTSA TSB 110614, but was denied. I was told BMW knew of this issue and extended the warranty to 7y/70k. I was not aware of this and mygarage on Bmwusa is not showing it. I have received several marketing info on new BMW and leases instead. Class action lawsuits have been lodged in north America and deaths in ireland requiring a court order for mandatory recall. 1) williams, et al. V. BMW of north America llc, et al. , case no. 2:17-cv-1156. 2) gelis, et al. V. Bayerische motoren werke aktiengesellschaft, et al. , case no. . Read more...

Tl the contact owns a 2012 BMW 528xi. The contact stated while driving 80 mph, the vehicle shut-off. The contact pulled over to the side of the roadway. The contact stated that message read "do not stop vehicle, maybe unable to restart; charging error" was displayed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing the serpentine belt to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that they were unable to assist. The failure mileage was approximately 127,000.

Guiro joint cracked and worn after 25000 miles as stated by dealership (south shore BMW hingham). This seems suspicious as the car is garaged and rarely driven at high speed. Thank you for your help, it's really appreciated.

See all problems of the 2014 BMW 528 🔎.

My 2012 BMW 528 xdrive suddenly got a warning low oil pressure follows by drive train malfunction, and slows down-went on neutral and stop in the middle of the road. All that happened within less than a minute. I got it towed to the BMW dealership for a diagnostic and they told me that the timing chain guide has broken apart, timing chain came off, jumped time, starved engine for oil & contaminated engine and will require a whole new engine replace which will cost around $13756. 56 +labor+tax my total was $ 16456. I found out I am not alone and this is a known problem with BMW of this make and model. I also called the BMW north America they told me that the extended warranty was only up to 70,000 miles and they can not do anything about it, my car fails at 105k miles. I think BMW must stand behind there product. We can not buy an expensive car like BMW with an engine life is less than 8yrs.

Oil leaks engine compartment (all over) gaskets, oil filter housing , bottom of engine and bad smell enters to driver compartment even it is on inside circulation( oil burn smells,etc from engine dept).

See all problems of the 2015 BMW 528 🔎.

Car stalls, and a bunch of malfunctions arise, ultimately leaving the check engine light on.

See all problems of the 2011 BMW 528 🔎.

While driving on the interstate at 70 mph, the car, without warning, gave an error message that the oil pressure was low and then another message that said drivetrain malfunction. The car went into neutral on its own and wouldn't go back into drive. In traffic on a 4 lane highway, I had to immediately pull over (dangerous), and get the car towed. The belly pan had to be removed in order to manually engage the car in neutral so the car could be towed(dangerous to do on a busy highway). After the car was taken to a BMW dealership, I was told the engine was locked and the replacement was $18,000! this car has been serviced and was full of oil, so the dealer could not tell me what the issue was unless they tore it down. I complained to BMW north America (corporate) that there was obvious an issue with this vehicle, and they only came back with giving me the warranty rate of $12,000 and they would pick up 15% of the cost. This is not good enough on a vehicle that cost $$60,000 and does not hold its value. After further research, I found out that total story about these cars. BMW's who have the n 20 or n26 engines have a timing chain that have a systematic defect. My vehicle has a n 20 engine. Once these vehicles approach 70,000 - 100,000 miles, the timing chain will break which will cause extensive damage to the engine. BMW is aware of this issue, but have refused to do a recall to install the repair kit. This is most likely due to the cost of the replacement kit, but BMW would rather compromise one's safety and for over priced repairs. Instead, BMW issued an extended warranty on the drivetrain unit up to 70,000 miles. However, BMW is aware that the timing chain will break after 70,000 miles. In the vehicles with these engines, it is not a matter of if the chain will break, it is a matter of when it will break. I will never purchase another BMW product.

Tl the contact owns a 2010 BMW 528i. While driving approximately 5 mph and attempting to make a turn, the vehicle shut off without warning. The vehicle restarted after a few seconds, but the failure recurred several times. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 129,000.

Dodge has known about issues with transmissions for years 2011 grand caravan models and has put out several technical service bulletins regarding these issues and issues with oxygen sensors as well. Now, my vehicle is at a dealership with a transmission that needs to be replaced and faulty O2 sensors that total between $6,000 and $7,000 worth of work. Dodge also knows about brake issues that affect the safe operation and stopping of these models and has yet to repair any of these issues.

After parking the car for extended time (>7hours), hot weather, starting the car and put in reverse, back out slowly the engine stalls, transmission flips by itself to neutral (n) and a message on screen stating that transmission is not in park, . . . . , this happened 3 times in the last 2 weeks. Happening earlier but was only shaking when reversing and engine stays on. Now got worse and engine stalls. Took to BMW dealers (two of them) both claimed they couldn't recreate the issue but saw it before and no solution from BMW but to wait 15 seconds after starting the car to put in reverse.

When driving the car on the highway, a drive train malfunction warning would appear frequently on the display panel. I took the car to valley BMW in modesto, CA, on November 2018. After on extensive diagnostic evaluation, they found nothing wrong with the vehicle. The only suggestion was to replace the car's battery. I took the car to batteries plus bulbs for a second opinion. They determined that the battery was still in good condition and did not need to be replaced. The drive train malfunction continued to appear when driving on highway. In a subsequent visit to the dealer, I again mentioned the issue with the drivetrain malfunction warning still apearing on the display panel. Our customer service agents, said they couldn't find anything wrong with the car,therefor, there was nothing they could do. On a trip to san francisco, we experienced a major engine break down. The car had completely shut down. Fortunatly,we had just exited the highway. We then had the car towed to petter pan BMW dealership and they concluded that indeed the engine had experienced a major breakdown, in their evaluation, they also noted the battery was in good condition. This completely contradicts the claim by valley BMW that the battery was the issue. Since then, I have found out that there is a class action lawsuit against BMW for a defective n20 engine which is the engine in my car. I also went as far as contacting the ceo of BMW northamerica reganding this deffective motor. As expect BMW refused to accept any responsability for the deffective engine. Once I brought up the class action lawsuit, BMW cut off all communications with me. My family and I are asking for your support in investigating BMW on this deffective motor and holding then accountable for such poor and negligent behavior, please help all affected customers with this terrible and devestating situation.

Tl- the contact owns a 2012 BMW 528i. The contact states that fuel supply warning light illuminates while driving at various speeds, after the warning, the vehicle stalls then abruptly stop. The vehicle was able to restart. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer ( BMW of tulsa 9702 s memorial dr, tulsa, ok 74133 (918) 663-4444) where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump needed to to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified with no resolve. The failure mileage was 124,038. Jo.

Had 100,000m warranty. Around 110k notice "engine oil pressure" light for first time. Added a bit of oil and light went away. Came on again, took it into dealer. They replaced an oil gasket and another gasket. Light came back on within 5 blocks of dealer. They kept my car for 3 weeks, said engineers at headquarters said I need a new engine. Now, I drive cars until 260k miles and then someone else drives them after me. Needing a new engine at 110k miles is awful. They want to put in a new 'short engine", cam shaft position sensor, cam follower,and turbocharger. I've had my oil changed as often as I should, now tell me, how is this needing all of that my fault?? I still owe 2. 5 years on car. This is a landfill problem right here and needs to be corrected by BMW.

Engine immediately lost power on highway at approximately 70 mph with no warning. The car went into neutral stating to get to a safe area, which I was able to drift to. Once the car stopped it switched to park. I tried to restart the engine but it would not turn. Because the engine was not running you can not put the car into neutral. This caused difficulty in getting the car towed from the highway shoulder. The BMW n20 engine has a known flaw with the oil and timing chain. The vehicle was towed to a BMW service center where it was confirmed that the engine is damaged from the chain and the engine will need to be replaced at a value of $18,000. The vehicle has 102,000 miles on it. BMW na states that the can not assist in cost since it is outside of the warranty period, although they have already extended the warranty for this fault once. All maintenance had been completed based on the service intervals. The chain service check is not until 150,000 miles. It is hard to believe that a once reputable car manufacturer would let their customers stranded on the road and then again in the service center with a repair bill worth more than the vehicle itself. I look forward to the resolution of the current class action lawsuit in this matter as my car sits unusable.

Defective drive train - on March 11, 2019 my drive train malfunction and which damage my engine. This is an safety concern because my car stop on the freeway while I was driving. BMW mfg knew about the defective drive train prior to me purchasing car from fields BMW on July 2013. BMW north America offer to pay 21,000 for the engine replacement and they want me to pay 6,000. 00 and I feel BMW know about the faulty design in 2012 and did not inform the consumer. When I purchase the car, it had 18,000 miles on it and I put 62,000. 00.

When at a stoplight or stop sign, the car will shut off and the transmission goes into neutral.

See all problems of the 2008 BMW 528 🔎.

I was driving down the highway and my �low oil pressure� light came on so I pulled over to the side of the road immediately and shut the car off. I had the car towed to a certified BMW repair shop global imports. The BMW service center confirmed the failure was the drive chain causing the engine to seize and needing to be replaced. As I researched the issue I found thousands of similar internet stories elaborating on the design flaws in the engine that uses plastic flywheels for the drive chain/oil pump chain. BMW extended the warranty for this issue beyond their normal 4 year 48,000 miles to 7 years and 70,000 miles. I am at 76,000 miles just out of warranty. It is odd they extended the warranty years by 3 but only extended the warranty miles an additional 22,000 miles or an average of 7,333 miles per year. Who only drives 7,333 miles a year. BMW's other extended warranties usually offer an average of 12,000 miles per year on the additional years it is extended. The other extended warranties for this engine were extended 10 years and 120,000 miles. I was diligent in changing the oil long before the recommended change intervals issued by BMW. There is no reason an engine would seize at 76,000 miles when the regular maintenance was followed unless there was a major engine design flaw. BMW has already acknowledged the engine design issues by extending the warranty on the �timing chain and oil pump drive chain�, �engine oil feedline� to the turbo charger and the �fuel tank leak diagnostic module (nvld)�. With this being a known design flaw and the number of issues there should be a recall on this engine so the fly wheels can be replaced with a better part or at very least BMW should be forced to extend the warranty and miles as they do with other warranty extensions. This design flaw caused the engine to stop in the middle of the highway which is very dangerous.

The contact owns a 2008 BMW 528xi. The contact stated that the vehicle independently shifted into neutral at any rate of speed while the gear was in drive or reverse. In addition, the vehicle lost power. The failures occurred without warning. The dealer (BMW of towson, 700 kenilworth dr, towson, MD 21204, (410) 317-2237) was notified, but could not determine the cause of the failure. The contact also noticed excessive smoke entering the vehicle through the air vents and thick, white smoke coming from the tailpipe. In addition, the vehicle stalled several times without warning. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was unsafe to drive due to the failures. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was not available.

In my 2008 528i I was experiencing the same as many others where if you are at a complete stop and you go to accelerate the car doesn't respond right away and you naturally apply more gas and then the car jumps ahead of you. If you were to move to the d/s position, the car was perfect and you didn't experience any lag in acceleration, seems pedal has to be pressed more than it should before getting an immediate throttle response. Like a small dead spot, I suppose. Only in normal mode. No lag in sport mode. Response is immediate. It has scared me a few times when pulling out from a stop sign into traffic, thinking you have plenty of time and ease onto the accelerator only to find yourself moving like a snail, then having to stomp on it to get moving as traffic nears.