Engine And Engine Cooling Problems of BMW 530 - part 2

Vehicle was parked at walmart. Less then 5 minutes after walking into the store the vehicle burst into flames. The fire started in the front of the engine.

See all problems of the 2001 BMW 530 🔎.

Manufactures recall vehicle was relocated and now unknown.

See all problems of the 2006 BMW 530 🔎.

The car caught on fire on 9/4/18, and caused extensive damage inside the engine bay. Car was driven several miles to a store. The passengers were exiting the car when they smelled something burning. Then they noticed smoke and flames extending from the front of the car. The fire started in the passenger side and was extinguished before the drivers side also caught on fire. The insulation on passenger side wiring harness is completely burnt, and numerous other items including the fiberglass body. The vehicle had approximately 215000 miles on it, and was well maintained. No recent repairs had been made to the engine. No smells of gasoline, oil, or plastic burning were evident before the moment the fire started. The cause of the fire is unknown to us at this time.

See all problems of the 2003 BMW 530 🔎.

The contact owns a 2007 BMW 530i. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, he smelled an abnormal burning smell coming from the ac vents. The contact stated that he could also smell the burning odor when opening the hood of the vehicle. The message "service engine soon" was displayed. The contact later received recall notification of NHTSA campaign number: 22v119000 (engine and engine cooling). However, the parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated while driving at 65-70 mph, he noticed smoke coming out from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The contact veered to the side of the road for a moment, and he opened the hood. The contact was able to continue driving. The contact stated that the failure had reoccurred at two different occasions. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time to complete the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 175,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

See all problems of the 2007 BMW 530 🔎.

Vehicle was travelling 25-30 mph on a city street and hit a pothole. Immediately driver heard a noise from the engine area and car began shaking and vibrating while at low speed/idle. Service technician discovered that all 4 bolts for the engine mount had sheared as a result of the impact and the engine was now hanging free and resting on the frame of the car. Driveshaft was knocked out of alignment as well.

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 🔎.

Broken head bolts at 85k miles in normal use.

This seems to happen when the weather is hot and in major traffic or when I am out on the open hwy driving for about 1 to 2hrs on a hot day. The car will automatically cut off without warning. No alarm or idiot light indicator. The problem is you can be driving 60 to 75 miles per hour on the interstate and loose control of your power steering and ability to maneuver the car to a safe stopping point. It will not start back up until 15 to 20 minute later as if the car needs to cool down. Once time period has elapse the car will run as normal. This has happen several times. Driving home from work in traffic and we only going 45 mph but its hot outside and the car will cut off without warning. I notice on the BMW forum this is problem that is across the board with other vehicles. The car will cut off at a light after driving for long period of time in hot weather in the city limits but also on the hwy after long period of driving.

Reverse trnsmission not working went out while driving. Almost caused an accient.

After driving about 5 minutes from home, I parked the car in the parking lot in front of my office. About 5 minutes later, bystanders noticed a fire in engine compartment of the car and called 911. The car was in flames in a short time. The fire department arrived, put out the fire.

During a BMW sponsored vehicle inspection I was informed that one of my valve cover bolts was broken and oil was leading on the engine (fire hazard). The BMW mechanic stated this was a common problem with the 530 series as the manufactured used aluminum bolts to reduce weight on the vehicle. The aluminum bolts snap/break due to heat. This is a possible fire hazard and the aluminum valve cover bolts should be recalled and replaced by BMW.

Battery cable/terminal melted. Car would not start on several occasions. After sitting . . . Then car would start. Random start. Also, radio would come on all by itself. Call has just over 100k miles (101,200). Also codes received for cam shaft and air pump which had to be replaced.

See all problems of the 2004 BMW 530 🔎.

Head bolts to the engine are made of aluminum. These bolt the upper portion of the head gasket. This is a known problem. At least 1 aluminum cylinder head bolt is broken and there may be 3 more broken in my car. It is a known issue with this e61 touring vehicle. BMW has designed an aluminum head bolt that is known to break at the tensions they specify in their manuals when they created the car. Currently, unless the broken bolt pieces are recovered the engine may have complete failure while driving and cause an accident. In order to replace the broken bolt, the dealer must check the 3 additional bolts and recover the broken bolt piece somewhere in the engine and this requires a minimum of 7 hours of labor plus there needs to be a new head gasket because the valve cover must be removed to retrieve/view the head bolts. $3800 at an independent dealer for a known defect by BMW.

At 96,000 miles the check light illuminated. Diagnosis was p0741 (BMW code 48) which is a fault with the torque converter clutch (tcc). This failure until corrected results in lower fuel mileage, and a guaranteed failure to pass the emissions test during state mandated vehicle inspections. Add to this that continued use of the vehicle will likely result in transmission damage since the tcc lockup clutch is slipping resulting in debris building up in the fluid. This fault is due to a defective torque converter clutch seal that BMW has a hidden service bulletin on. See si 24 03 06 dated February 2008. Replacement of the torque converter is expensive. BMW dealer quoted a bit more than $3000 for the replacement. I've since determined though a BMW forum that this issue is widespread with a large number of failures taking place. I was told by the dealer that the seal in question has not been updated and that failure of the seal will likely take place again in the future.

My 7 year old BMW will not start due to timing and valve issues - it's a part that's been recalled in 2010 cars, and is also occurring in 2007 cars (but that year does not fall under the recall). If I had been driving the car when the timing went out, then I could have been in a major accident - with the car stopping suddenly. Now I am dealing with my car never starting again.

Yesterday Wednesday August 27th 2014 my son came home after school (5 min drive) there was no signs of anything different during driving. He went inside our house less then 1 minute after turning off car and parking car and was in the house his car alarm went off. He went outside to see what was wrong with his car and noticed smoke coming from under hood of car. Then fire engulfed the engine department. Called 911 and fire department came out to stop the fire. They broke wind shield to get to engine and cut up hood to open hood. Fire inspector came out and is filing report.

BMW over-torqued the four cylinder head bolts on all n52 engines during manufacture, including my car. The bolt heads are popping off on all the cars, resulting in potential catastrophic engine damage at speed and minimally thousands of dollars in repair costs. The issue is a well known defect in how BMW built these engines (affecting many, many 5 series cars) but is taking absolutely no responsibility for this. This is not a maintenance issue or anything owner-related -- it's purely a mistake by BMW that they refuse to take responsibility for and to cover repair costs. They corrected the specs the following year and don't torque the bolts as much, but are leaving previous owners out to dry for some $3000-5000 in repair costs. Please do something to make BMW take responsibility and to retro-actively reimburse people for this mistake of theirs. Thanks.

My 530i BMW has at least one broken cylinder head bolt. This is a very common problem with the BMW n52 engines. I was quoted $4500 for the repair. As I mentioned this is a very common problem, a known problem by BMW, but BMW isn't willing to offer me any assistance. I feel a need to report this expensive and common problem, and BMW's unwillingness to resolve this problem. I have spent hours with Bmwusa and my local BMW stevens creek dealership and so far all I have done is wasted many hours of my time. BMW needs to assume responsibility for something that is obviously a detect in their design.

We have a 2006 BMW 530i in January of 2013 we had a ignition coil go out with around 75000 miles which was about a 275. 00$ to get fixed. Then on 6/26/13 we had 2 more ignition coils go out at 78000 miles, that time it was 507. 00 $ to fix, this must be a faulty part because now 12/16/13 with 82000 miles it has happened again! I am going to pay for the remaining 3 to be changed. When I called BMW there was a recall apparently from 2002-2004 for this. By way of my VIN. # I found out my car was made 9/2005 I feel this problem never got fixed or simply just changing the brand of the coil was not the answer to the problem! because its not fixed. I have never owned a car with issues like this. When I spoke to a independent certified BMW mechanic I was told it has been a problem!.

Regular day going to work, notice smoke coming from outside of passenger side of car, pulled over check under hood, didn't see any smoke, got back in car and smoke start coming from glove department area, within a minute car start getting filled with smoke, I got out to call 911 and got about 100 feet from car and I heard a pop and the car went into flames and continue until it burned all up inside and out.

Subject: 2004 BMW 535i on October 30,2012 just after hurricane sandy hit the east coast of new jersey, I had occasion to use my 535i. While driving I noticed various warning and fault lights flashing on the control panel, loss of power and the cabin began filling with smoke. With great difficulty, I managed to pull across several lanes to the side of the multi-lane highway I was on (route 42n). Upon inspection I found 6-8 inches of water in the trunk wheel well. Under the spare tire I observed a burning and smoking msm power module. I subsequently brought the car to my local BMW dealer in turnersville, NJ. The dealer refused any liability or fault for the $3000 repair which included replacing and relocating the msm power module, replacing the radio system, cleaning water stains from the hood liner and trying to alleviate the smoke odor. I came to find out there was a service bulletin to relocate the msm power module higher in the trunk from its original position at the bottom of the wheel well. The dealer lied and told me water has leaked into the trunk via loose trunk rivets. I later determined the water entered the trunk following clogged sunroof drains. The dealer did not deny that could have happened but refused to cover the damages. BMW should be sued as I've determined this issue is not atypical and could lead to a disaster. Alan gofberg 609 221-4122.

The contact owns a 2006 BMW 530xi wagon. The contact stated that a private mechanic advised that four bolts were detached from the engine. The manufacturer was contacted but the vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 101,000. Kmj.

The contact owns a 2004 BMW 530i. The contact noticed that the air bag warning light was illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostics where the technician stated that the seat mat would have to be replaced. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign id number: 08v384000 (air bags:frontal) but was advised by the manufacturer that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000. Updated 08-16-12 updated 08/16/2012.

BMW x5 accelerator failed to respond after stop at traffic lights. It moved forward slowly for about 20 yds. Before deciding to engage. . . This happened three times, consecutively, at the end of drive home. Around noon on Tuesday October 14, 2008. The day before the internal door lock button failed to function. Called BMW dealership and had it towed. BMW continue to test but was informed last evening that there appeared to be nothing wrong with vehicle according to the computer! this is a major safety issue and BMW [central] have not been supportive so far. I have asked that the car be fixed and that I be supplied with a loaner until then.

The contact owns a 2001 BMW 530i. The contact stated the she heard an explosion coming from the engine compartment after the she cranked the vehicle. As a result, the vehicle sustained major damage. As of January 7, 2008, the dealer had not inspected he vehicle. The current and failure mileages were 150,000.

The contact owns a 2006 BMW 530i. The contact stated that while driving, the engine temperature was extremely hot. While the vehicle was parked inside the garage, the cooling fan continued to run. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the heat pump and thermostat were placed. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 22v119000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. VIN tool confirms parts not available. The failure mileage was approximately 43,000.

2007 BMW 530 evaporative cooler leak in dashboard, causing freon in passenger cabinet. In addition to leaky freon in the air. Very common problem according to dealer in tucson, az for BMW they replace them all the time even on couple year old cars, usually they charge customer for it. All the freon leaking in compartment can't be good for us.