Three problems related to radiator have been reported for the 2008 BMW X5. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
My wife was driving to pick up my son from school and she noticed a loud humming noise after about 15 minutes into the drive. The radiator fan kicked in because the engine coolant got above a certain temperature. After 10 minutes the warning label popped up to stop as soon as possible due to coolant temperature high. Also no hot air was coming from the heater. My suspicion that the electric water pump was failed was also confirmed by my dealer billjacobs of naperville which did the repair on the 31. March 2015.
I was driving home from store when the coolant fan came on and would not go off. Display stated that the engine was over heating and if it continues take it in for service. The next morning I turned on the car and the same thing happened and was told not to drive the car because could damage the engine. Had the car towed and was told that it was the radiator. Was told that BMW resigned the radiator there for the hoses had to be done over. There was never any other indication prior to this. Was on my way driving out of town. Looked online and it appears that this is a common problem. This should not be happening with only 46,000 miles on the car. I have been the original owner.
I had already submitted a complaint under 10586821 due to the radiator but did not include that the mechanic said that the reason that radiator went out was because of the malfunction of the water pump which I also had to replace. I was told to amend the complaint once received but I never received anything in the mail. BMW knows that there is a problem and refuses to fix it. Also the passenger airbag indicator has been on for over a year. I was told that I would have to remove and have the airbags and sensors replace. What is the purpose of having something that is suppose to be for safety but it's malfunctioning. Therefore I have airbags that are not going to protect anyone in the course of an accident. This is also a common problem with BMW. This is not an age of car item because I had less than 40,000 miles when the indicator came on.