Electrical System Problems of BMW 530 - part 1

On the night of 9/4/25, I parked my 2019 BMW 530i in my closed garage and believed I had turned off the vehicle. I removed the key fob. Hours later, our household carbon monoxide detector activated. The fire department responded and measured 480 ppm CO throughout the house and 1,500 ppm inside the vehicle. They stated we were seconds from death due to carbon monoxide exposure. The engine bay reached nearly 600°f, and oxygen in the garage dropped to 7%. The fire department incident report is not yet available, but I will provide it once obtained. The keyless ignition system did not shut off the engine when the fob was removed, even though the vehicle usually shuts off automatically during brief stops (via auto start/stop). The engine continued running indefinitely, creating a life-threatening hazard. My family survived only because the CO detector activated in time.

See all problems of the 2019 BMW 530 🔎.

I purchased a used BMW from apolo auto in new jersey around July 2021 the car was in perfect condition and it did not appear to have any mechanical or electrical defects. However, the prior owner had many aftermarket things done to the car and that was a big selling point as it was upgraded with low miles. After purchasing the vehicle some strange things started happening but I didn't pay close attention, and then my son was kidnapped from my home may 2022. It was at the beginning of June 2022 that I noticed we were being tracked, and private conversations inside the vehicle were publicly being communicated. I found evidence of infrared and bluetooth technology as well as gps tracking technology and specific infrared technology is in the ceiling of the vehicle. The devices are close together & many. The vehicle was vandalized several times, broken into and the seatbelts in the back were pushed inwards so that I couldn't place my child into a proper seatbelt. I reported this to the insurance company and BMW in PA failed to repair the vandalism and they also failed to remove the tracking devices which I recently found. The highway violence consists of many vehicle swerving into my lane many times one after another, and I've almost crashed my car several times. Many instances have happened where motorcycles have pulled up next to the car at a stop light to rev up their engines to the point where my son beings to cry and it happens often. The consistently and level of aggressive behaviors have put my life in danger as well as my child's since he's special needs and can't be safely secured into his seatbelt due to vandalism, there are strange vehicles attempting to run us off the road on a regular basis, my vehicle has had significant mechanical vandalism which has yet to be repaired and it is known that the car is vulnerable therefore it is exploited. I fear the vandalism, tracking and consistent assaults on the road will cause our car to crash, injuring others.

My vehicle was vandalized and the vandalism targeted the electrical, mechanical and the seat belts in the back. I reported cyber violence and stalking in 2023 to BMW, and my finance company ally and at the beginning of 2024 my car overnight started leaving puddles oil and the entire electrical system would shut down (and it still does) as I'm driving with my seven year old child with autism. The seat belts are severely destroyed and my seven year old is not strong enough to push them down to the point where a safety belt cannot be latched. I contacted gieco and they told me to take it to caliber collision on cottman Ave as the vandalism did impact some body work but not much and the collision center took the vehicle to BMW of the mainline in PA. First - caliber collision did not communicate the information I provided to them to BMW of the mainline. Second- I contacted BMW of the mainline as I did not receive pictures and photos of the work they completed and did not complete thirst - BMW of mainline stated that all the electrical and. Mechanical issues were all attributed to wear and tear and that is blatant deception I have tried to work with geico, caliber and geico to get this resolved but my car is dangerous to drive, and the people that were paid to do the work paid for by geico failed and gave me back a vandalized car that is dangerous for me and my seven. Year old to be in let alone drive on highways or anywhere we go. I reported BMW of the mainline to bbb and I don't know what to do or where to take it because geico closed the claim, refused to pay for additional days of rental and BMW of the mainline refused to provide a loaner leaving me with a child and no car. There is anti-freeze that burning and another dealership said they can smell it, my son cannot be safely and securely belted in the backseat, I'm loosing a great deal of gas all the time and I have no idea how, and the car right after I got it back from BMW of mainline began to shutter.

I am unknown of what system has failed but the issue is that while the car is in motion, it will completely shut off. All electrical will disengage and there have been times where a pop up has come on my screen stating that air bags and seat belts are non functioning to get to a service station as soon as possible. It has happened multiple times while driving on a large highway. This is a severe safety issue and I am so thankful I have not suffered serious injuries due to a major accident. The vehicle is unsafe and I do not feel comfortable driving it with myself nor guest in the car.

See all problems of the 2023 BMW 530 🔎.

The front xenon headlight wiring protective plastic coating has degraded and prematurely failed on both headlight assemblies. This caused headlight bulb shorting and poses a potential fire hazard in the front engine compartment of the vehicle. The wiring used in the headlight assemblies was not up to proper standards and failed. The wiring used in other areas of the engine bay seems to be okay. The internal headlight wiring appears to be supplied by the oem headlight manufacturer (hella) and does not seem to be up to proper standards to prevent the plastic protective coating from failing over time. This should not be considered a "wear item" as electrical wiring is used throughout millions of much older vehicles without incident.

See all problems of the 2007 BMW 530 🔎.

Headlight wiring has disintegrated and making headlight short.

The insulation on the internal wiring of the headlight (left and right) have fallen off the wiring leaving sections of conductor exposed creating shorts in the lighting system. This is a known problem in the BMW community (owners and BMW) since at least 2011. This is due to the use of bio-degradable wiring by BMW that breaks down prematurely. Replacement headlight assemblies (high intensity discharge xenon) are over $1,000 each. Both halogen high beam lights are inoperable which reduces driver vision at night on suburban roadways. Re-wiring with correctly specified wiring is possible but requires specific skills and experience. This is a known problem which BMW has hoped would go away as few of their cars of this age are on the road. This risk assessment driven policy should not shield BMW from fully addressing their failures in material selection which impact safe use of their cars.

See all problems of the 2006 BMW 530 🔎.

Unrepaired recalls (1) 12v-126:79 safety: battery cable - insulated bulkhead connector Mar 23, 2012 oem code 12v-126:79 all the dealerships I contacted to fix this recall never replied to me and the battery connection has ruined my electrical components on my vehicle(long beach BMW and cerritos BMW California).

See all problems of the 2004 BMW 530 🔎.

Date of accident: 8/10/2022 location of accident: 2436 krueger dr, concord, CA 94520 accident summary: my wife own’s the above mentioned home and was in the process of getting a new tenant. She reached the krueger home at around 12:15 pm. She drove onto the driveway as she normally does, put the car in park and turned on the hand/parking brake. It is to be noted that driveway is on an upgrade. The prospective tenant did not show up. There was another potential tenant that was going to come around 2 pm. She decided to wait in the car and made herself comfortable by turning her body towards right, feet tucked closer to the seat, back was facing towards the driver side door, and rested her head against the back of the seat and made several phone calls. Around 12:40 pm, our daughter called my wife. She was talking to her for about 40-45 mins. While she was still on the phone talking, she heard a tripped kind of sound and the car experienced sudden acceleration and lurched forward with high speed. It felt like a bullet came out of a pistol. While she was in complete shock of what happened, she turned herself immediately in reaction to brake but before she could react to stop the car, she found her car hitting the closed garage door, and went inside and hit the front wall. All the air bags deployed and windshield was completely shattered. She felt a sharp pain on her right foot near her ankle and felt tightness due to swelling. Our daughter called 911 and she was taken to the er. She was in a complete state of shock and tried to reason. The only possibility that comes to mind is that the car experienced a malfunction that cause sudden unintended acceleration.

The vehicle had a repair made by dealership. The repair started to malfunction as it would lock the vehicles driving mechanism making the vehicle non opporstional while driving. Issue was reported to the same dealer and explained. The dealer stated that I would receive a call to schedule a mechanical appointment to investigate however the time spent waiting for further instructions from dealer. Days later the system lock while driving I the high way i95 and flew of an exit ramp high up and for deep of field. Loosing not just my conscious but came to fine out I got injured on my back and no one took the responsibility on something that could have been avoid as the vehicle was brought to dealer for inspection prior to the accident but their negligence let me drive off with the vehicle.

See all problems of the 2020 BMW 530 🔎.

Passenger restraint system malfunction. This is what randomly and constantly pops up. The fasten seat alert goes off the whole time I’m riding, although no one is in the passenger seat. I took it to the BMW service center twice and each time they keep my vehicles for hours, just to say they couldn’t duplicate the issue.

See all problems of the 2018 BMW 530 🔎.

Electrical problems and transmission repair issues.

Stalls out, skips, hesitates, etc. , pcv valve recall this occurs when driving the car on streets, highways etc. , when driving the car.

Car shut off middle of highway very dangerous and deadly all because key lost code. . . How if it's in the ignition and I've been driving over several miles.

My car was in my driveway. My complaint is I just bought the car from a friend of our family and everything was. About a month later when I start the car I get this error" fault in passenger restraint system effecting airbag-belt tensioner or belt for delimiter. So I call Bmwusa to see if this was recalled. The man I spoke with said yes it was but I let me have your VIN# OH no I'm sorry not for your VIN " I was shocked to think it would be a recall on one but not another. If it is effecting my air bag u would think. It would be a safety issue for all cars that get that error. Or was that car built knowing it was evenually going to go out and we the customers are going to have to pay for it. I would rather not have that at all. It makes no sense. Especially if your ok to fix some cars and not all of them after all why would we want something in the car if we know one its just going to go out and we have to pay for it. And for the safety part . It even sounds more crazy that something like that could malfunction and I not even sure if anybody should ride in my passenger seat. Well it's nellie sanchez at 323 571 9198 if you have any questions thank you for your tim and have a wonderful day. Good bless.

My airbag light came on for no reason one day and will not go off I initially got a recall paper for it but was unable to take it to the shop I van no longer find the paper but the transmission is trash.

The wire harness for both headlights in this vehicle are completely frayed. Bare copper wires can be seeing and the lights are inoperative. In addition to night driveability being and issue, the potential for a short circuit and fire under the hood exists. A cursory internet research shows that this is common issue with several BMW model years, potentially affecting thousands of drivers.

After a recent heavy rain the vehicle electrical dashboard instruments were erratic, the rear hatch opening/closing mechanism failed, and ultimately the rear air suspension failed with the car sitting on the rear bottoming stops causing difficulty in controlling the vehicle due to the severe bouncing. Further investigation reveled standing water in the spare tire and battery/electrical areas at the rear of the car.

In the trunk in the spare tire well. Water could be there, flooding some electronics. The wiring got wet causing my car to just turn off in the expressway due to the comments getting wet that are harnessed in this area. I tried to get it repaired when the class action lawsuit took place but the dealership I had my car at for 3 months never performed the repair. Then the next dealership refused to perform the repairs due to time constraints. Now every time it rains I am worried my car will short or just shut off. I have had to replace the part 2 times and now I just leave it unattached . The BMW agrees to settle vehicle water damage suit for up to $478 million. Washington (reuters) - german automaker BMW ag has agreed to pay up to $477. 7 million to settle a class-action lawsuit covering about 318,000 u. S. Luxury car owners who may have suffered water damage harming electrical components in vehicle trunks.

My airbag light is on and my transmission has an issue as if it needs to be replaced after research I found out that mechatronics and other components to be an issue for instance if your trying to pass your car stalls and says transmission failure after shutoff message disappears car will go in limp mode and car starts out in 2nd gear instead of 1st and 1st gear will also lock itself. . . . . This is dangerous for a supposed high end well built performance vehicle. Tranny has no issues computer does that causes shutter and stall limp mode nearly could have died.

I was driving in town with my newborn baby in the back seat when the ac/heat system caught on fire and smoke came billowing into the cabin through the air vents. It immediately smelled like burning plastic/electrical fire. I pulled the car over because I was worried about a fire and got my child out of the vehicle. After doing some research, I have since noticed that this is a known problem by BMW and that they have an active recall for this precise issue, but it does not cover my specific model. The recall currently out for this issue is # 17v-676, which covers a number of 3-series models, but not my 530xi. I just got word from my mechanic that it will cost $1800 to replace the fried system, and he also warned me that it could have caught the entire car on fire. I had him put this in writing for me so I can have record of it. Please help me with this! BMW needs to widen the scope of this recall to cover other affected vehicles! thank you.

My car automatically shut off and I smelled a burning plastic odor coming from the engine. I took my car to the BMW licensed mechanic that I normally see who repaired the issue that was deemed to be the pcv valve heater. This happened at the end of may. Then at the end of June, I received a lower from BMW announcing recall # 17v-683: pcv valve heater. BMW told me today that they can not refund me for the repairs that I had done because these repairs had to be performed at a BMW dealership. I have all my receipts. Total repairs cost $2626. 91 + rental car expenses of $204. 16 and $76. 71.

About three years ago, we filed a complaint with BMW north America. A problem with the front passenger seat. There was smoke as a result, a hole burned through. After that an error message about the airbag came on. We also didn't know that there was a recall about this problem. We made several calls to the dealership and at the end, they offered to help with only 50% quote to repair the seat was $2300. 00. The car only had 142,000 miles. All the seats were in mint condition. Thank you.

I was driving on the highway to work at 9am, it was a beautiful morning traffic was moving very smooth I was going 50mph approximately when all of a sudden my car jerks forward and backward then a beeping sound and stop suddenly on the van wyck expressway I saw my life flash in front of my eyes. Luckily the person behind me was like two cars aw1 car away so no one collided in me , however when I look through my rear view mirror I saw all the trucks and cars coming down I don't know how I was able to move the car over into the service lane, the craziness is that even though the car stop it was still in drive I was unable to put the car in neutral. It's been a week since this happen and I'm still having anxiety. I am having a hard time changing the car because BMW insisted. They said some collision avoidance was on very sensitive and it's fix now. But the why would a car stop suddenly on a highway when nothing was in front on me and no other vechicle was close by I thank god that I'm able to write this I need some serious help because if I get back in that same car I'm going to be driving in fear for the next 3 years who do I speak to regarding this issue. I didn't expect to get this type of treatment from BMW is like they don't care how it's affected me it's only 1 month all they have to do is change the car I did not pull slot of mileage on the car I just got the car I was I love with the car but after this incident I don't know if I'll ever feel a 100% safe driving a BMW. I never had any issue with my 528i it was perfect but it's sad to say that not this time around. Why am I going through so much stress and headache to change the vechicle it's jot my fault. I'm so disappointed in BMW.

Spontaneous fire that began under the hood while sitting in the drive-thru line at a fast food restaurant. Vehicle was running, but was stopped at the "pay" window. Began smelling burning odor and then noticed light smoke coming from gap between hood and front quarter panels. While awaiting fire department arrival, flames became visible from the engine area and reached a height approximately 3 feet above the hood. Vehicle had been driven several times that day and showed no signs of malfunction. In addition, there had been no recent work done on the vehicle. Last repair to the vehicle was 6 months prior that consisted of body repair done on the opposite side of the vehicle.

See all problems of the 2002 BMW 530 🔎.

The driver's side door freezes during cold weather. BMW has replaced the door actuator once already, and now is malfunctioning again. The door opens, then will not shut. I have to hold the door shut while driving to work. Attached is an image of the door not shutting.

See all problems of the 2017 BMW 530 🔎.

Driver tail light lamp assembly electrical connector overheated, melted and destroyed #1 contact pin and wire. Driver side tail light assembly no longer operate. Brake and signal lighting system degraded exposing vehicle occupants to increased risk of rear-impact, possible electrical fire and death. No part or the light assembly was not subject to any extreme use conditions. No excessive moisture was introduced to the trunk area where the light assembly is located.

The vehicle airbag system is malfunctioning. There were recalls related to the BMW but my vehicle doesnt appear to be included in this recall when I search by VIN number. I contacted the dealer and they said my vehicle isnt covered. The airbag light and restraint light is on and my head unit says there is a fault in my passenger restraint system.

BMW headlight wiring on the 530 series is defective. Wire insulation throughout the headlight assembly crumbles. The design and wire specification were not fit for use. Heat may be an issue but has nothing to do with climate. The vehicle has spent most of its life in michigan where the problem was first noted when the age of the vehicle was approximately 8 years. High heat within the headlight assembly also caused deterioration of the covering on fiber optic cable. This problem is well known to BMW owners. The bare wires within the headlight housing pose a risk of electrical shorts and potentially fires.

Tl-the contact owns a 2006 BMW 530xi. The contact stated that smoke emitted into the vehicle from the rear with no warning. The contact was able to pull over and noticed that the fire was coming from the trunk of the vehicle. The contact was able to extinguish the flames. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 12v126000 (electrical system). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was not available. Parts distribution disconnect.

I own a 2004 BMW 530 I my daghter just came back fro work she parked the car in my drive way and she came inside she had diinner and we got ready for bed at approxmently 11pm we get a nock on the side window were from the police dept say to evecuate and to come out now when we came out the car was in a fire and the saint cloud FL marshal said the fire start cause due to the battery or the wire in the trunk I called BMW coppert office to let them know and they said they will need to pick up the car to hav enginer to look at the car was tottled BMW after they tool 40 day for evaluation they called me today and only offered to pay $5000. 00 toward a certif used or new BMW I told them that this was not acceptable and I told them I will call your copany and they seem not to care I want to make sure every owner out there need to know this can happen to them and that recall that BMW had by replacing the only only a ruber part on the red wire in the trunk does not help please let me know if you can help me recover my money on the car. I did not have full coverge I only had liblty insurance so this did not help I have been doing my homework and found out that there have been 1. 2 million BMW recall and only 1 fire my car is the 2nd as I read more about the issue and also found some news company such nbc had a article on this issue .

Speedometer, other electronic and sound indicators, and radio randomly turn off and on while driving. After taking it to several auto repair shops, a corroded computer component under the spare tire was found to be corroded due to water intrusion. Replacing the part made the problem mostly go away, but occasionally get engine and coolant problem indicators.

The micro power module in the trunk burned up, crashing the screen/audio/service screen. The car is drivable but I cannot access any features from the dash computer screen, none of it works. There is a distinct plastic burned smell in the trunk. I have since learned this is a common problem. . . When I called my BMW certified mechanic, I barely explained my issue and his response was "let me guess, you have an '05 or '06 BMW 5 series, correct? the microprocessors in the trunk are burning up. . . They've since moved them from under the tire". My car could have burned down. Clearly BMW knows they have a problem as they have since moved the processor. I shouldn't have to pay for this costly repair.

Recently there was a class action lawsuit settlement (. . Read more...

The micro power module in the trunk was burnt on my 2005 530i, now my idrive / audio / nav and pdc has shut down. Car starts and drives normal, except the previously mentioned accessories that no longer work, who know what other damages (if any) resulted from a mpm meltdown. I've read some horror posts of similiar events that caused everything on the vehicle to short out, which meant that basically everything ccc / m-ask / tv module / cd etc. When this happened on my vehicle, the car was actually switched off. It was only when I got back to the car the next morning when I got this strong electrical burn smell from the trunk area. The mpm probably shorted out during the course of the night. Luckilly the car did not caught on fire, cause it could have then burned down my apartments as well, as the car was parked next to my apartment. From what I could visually access, only the mpm unit burned out completely and melted. I just hope that I knocked the mpm out before it could cause any more damage to the car's other electronics. My car is unfortunately no longer under warrantee. The car has already been taken into my local dealership to access the damage and to give me a quote to repair, but they did inform me that it is going to be a costly affair. I find it very interesting that BMW decided to move these modules newer models from the trunk area to the body gateway module which is a much safer environment. Makes you think that they realized that there was a defect with the vehicle in placing them there in the first place. Don't know if it's safe to drive on the road do to the danger of electrical fire. I also have pictures available.

See all problems of the 2005 BMW 530 🔎.