general problems of the 2003 BMW X5

Wiring dash fire. Heavy smoke from dash and vehicle completely in flame in minute. My son sent me a recording while it was happening, he did no know what to do or what was happening.

The contact owns a 2003 BMW X5. The contact stated the vehicle was parked, while entering the vehicle he noticed the dashboard was melted, which was caused by a fire that occurred independently. The contact stated he reviewed a camera that was near the location of the vehicle and saw the fire occur on the video. The contact did not call the fire department to report the incident. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 137,000.

My 2003 BMW X5 was parked outside of my house, turned off and not driven for hours and burst into flames consuming the whole dashboard, fire department said that fire was due to some electrical problem with car, very scary please help could of killed my family the incident was recorded on home surveillance footage, but I cannot upload because of size.

The car started losing power while on the road. It got slower and slower, till it finally came to a complete stop. It had to be towed the rest of the way to the house. The engine would start up, but it would not engage any of the gears.

This morning 03/13/2020 at aprox. 2:30am my BMW X5 2003 was engulfed in flames for no reason and my two german shepherds hey you and my baby diesel were inside,and how one made it out and the baby didnt, I busted windows cause I heard him crying ,,,,I couldnt get him I tried to I tried OH my god my poor baby , I was injured and scared for life with that. My car was off and parked in front of a friends house on a side street, all a loss. No pictures taken ,several police and fire dept. Came.

The pixels on the instrument cluster and the radio display are faded out which makes the visibility on these items extremely difficult. This is a known issue that has been brought to Bmwusa's attention and discussed on many BMW forums, yet the manufacturer and its supplier (siemans vdo) refuse to fix.

I was driving the vehicle in stop and go traffic, the vehicle lost all power forcing me to come to complete stop in the middle of the highway. This occurred 3 other times in the past 4 months , the other incidents were in the parking lot. The car starts up and runs perfectly before and after. I am concerned about my safety. Searching for a solution, I found that BMW has service bulletin to address this issue. I am surprised that there is no recall on this since it is a huge safety concern.

The left rear tail light continues to work intermittently. The 'check brake, check rear light' warning illuminates even after bulbs have been replaced. I have replaced the bulbs numerous times, with the most recent being a few days ago. Yet, the warning message reappeared this evening. The problem is similar to those recently investigated by NHTSA on other BMW models such as the 3 series and is a common complaint in BMW forums and other forums on the internet.

The right rear brake light bulb shorts out. Instrument warning for rear brake / tail lights activates. Problem occurs multiple times due to an apparent flaw in the brake light assembly circuit and plastic that forms the split circuit for positive (+) negative (-) connection points to bulb socket leads. To repair - the metal assembly needs to be bent outward (direction away from tail light lens) to increase tension between bulb socket electrical connections and metal plate of tail light assembly. Problem seems to be caused by weakened plastic that causes the metal plate in tail light assemble to loosen creating inadequate back spring tension between the plate and socket connectors. Recall on BMW 3 series for: no. 11v-438: lamps in rear quarter panel 2002-2005 3 series is described as the exact problem.