Electrical Failure Problems of BMW 530

On Tuesday may 29th we had a rain storm, the next day I got into my vehicle with my husband and two children to go to a soccer game. Five minutes before entering the massachusetts turnpike my vehicle went into total electrical failure and my steering locked. Luckily I was only traveling at 25mph and was able to pull my vehicle over. I had it towed to our local BMW dealer which found that the cassette on the panoramic sunroof to be defective. . . . That caused a great deal of water to get into the vehicle and go under the spare tire in the rear where all the electrical is. I put a complaint into BMW of north America because a. The electrical should not be put under the spare tire where water could get in and b. I was about to get on the turnpike where the speed limit is 65 mph, I am extremely lucky because if I was on the mass pike there could have been a terrible accident. It was 2498 to fix the issue, BMW was willing to pay half and relocate all the electrical to a safer more dryer place. I am writing this letter because I feel there should be a recall on this issue, BMW needs to relocate the electrical components to a safer area than underneath the spare tire. BMW of north America was extremely rude when I told them about this issue, it was basically "nothing happened to you and your family, so we know it"s a problem, so we will pay for half of it". I hope something can be done about this issue to safeguard other BMW drivers who have similar vehicles.

See all problems of the 2006 BMW 530 🔎.

Vehicle sent error message about passenger side airbag failure in the am, complete electrical system failure in the evening when I went to return home. Dealer found water in trunk, below spare tire. Trunk above spare tire was dry, no signs of moisture. We experienced heavy rainfall on 3/17. Electrical system is fried - vehicle is inoperable. Appears to be failed sunroof water seals per BMW service bulletin si b 61 13 06. In my professional opinion as a mechanical engineer, this is a design flaw. Multiple owners' forums concur.

See all problems of the 2007 BMW 530 🔎.

The BMW vehicles with panoramic moonroofs have a known failure (see bimmerfest. Com) in the water seals and drain channels associated with the sunroof. The issue is that clogged lines produce flooding in the electrical compartment. This flooding causes total electrical failure. In my case, the car was stopped and did not start again. However, a read of the message boards associated with Bmws shows that many people have total failure while driving and that the steering column locks up completely. There is no ability to manually steer a BMW once the electrical goes off.

Water collects in spare tire well, battery well, and passenger front headlight, causing massive electrical failure. First occurrence was 2009 after ownership of this used BMW 2006 530xi wagon from the BMW dealership. The second occurence was 23 may 2011.