Wiring Problems of BMW 550

Vehicle parked for days, noticed smoke from passenger side engine bay, inspection found possible faulty electrical wiring or oil leak onto electrical wiring causing small fire on engine floor. Disconnected negative terminal to battery.

See all problems of the 2008 BMW 550 🔎.

Was replacing h7 headlamps and discovered all of the insulation on the wiring inside both headlight assemblies had disintegrated and both assemblies contained multiple bare wires. This could result in a short or blowing a fuse when driving making headlamps stop working. Could easily cause an accident. Or car could catch on fire due to short circuit. I have googled this and found many many similar complaints. A recall should have already been voluntary on BMW USA or forced by the ntsb. Extremely dangerous situation.

See all problems of the 2007 BMW 550 🔎.

I have been in contact with BMW of north America for 8 weeks. My 2008 BMW 550i caught fire while stationary at a gas station at the gas pump. The fire department was called out to contain the fire. The fire inspector and the fire chief both stated that it was a wiring issue. I have the fire report. I was finally able to get BMW of north America to inspect the vehicle on Feb. 5, 2018 and was told there �looks like there could have been�work done to the wiring of the car. I have owned the vehicle since April 2017 (7 months) and have not done any work to the wiring. I also pulled a carfax report before purchasing the vehicle. It showed 0 accidents and 0 major mechanical working. I asked BMW for a copy of the inspector's report and was denied. That really made me suspect something foul from BMW.

I recently started experiencing fuses blowing on my right front head light units. Errors would indicate it was the 'right daylight parking unit' and then would clear or stay constant. When it was constant, it was due to a blown fuse. It turns out when I had a BMW certified technician look at the issue he said that the problem was related to the wiring inside the front head light. The wiring had insulation that was starting to flake off allowing contact of the two wires going to the bulb and was even apparent on other wires within the head light assembly. If I hit a bump or went over rumble strips these wires could touch and short causing the fuse to blow and/or error message. After 3 fuses and buying an unnecessary set of h8 bulbs, the technician fixed the wiring with some electrical tape but suggested that a file a complaint here since there is no open recall for this common issue. He also told me this problem with wire insulation falling off was very common on BMW's that were 5-7 years old. I could see burn marks on the wire an installation from where the short occurred and was shocked that all the wiring within the head lamp on both the right and left front showed these flaking and cracking. After researching online at several BMW forums I found many similar issues and images almost identical to the ones my technician took. I would like a recall to be issued by BMW to replace the head light assemblies or internal wiring with wires that have a better/proper insulator that doesn't flake off. I've not had the back lights checked, but found that this is common on most if not all BMW light assemblies front/back for a few online research queries. Also where can I send the digital pictures my technician took of the wiring?.