2002 BMW 530I Complaints

I OWN A 2002 BMW 530I ,I HAVE REPLACED THE KEY 3 TIMES SINCE PURCHASING THE CAR AND NOW THE DEALER SAID ITS TIME TO GET A NEW ONE. TURNS OUT THAT THIS WILL NOT FIX THE PROBLEM WHICH HAS SLOWLY BEEN GETTING WORSE. THAT PROBLEM IS THE CENTRAL LOCKING SYSTEM IS BROKEN. YOU HAVE TO OPEN DOORS MANUALLY WITH EITHER THE KEY IN THE DOOR OR REACH OVER AND UNLOCK IT BY HAND. THE DOME LIGHT IS NO LONGER WORKING AS IS THE TRUNK UNLOCK FEATURE WHICH YOU HAVE TO DO BY PHYSICALLY INSERTING THE KEY IN THE LOCK THE DEALERS SAY THE COST TO REPAIR THIS IS IN EXCESS OF 900US$ ,AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE FOR THIS COMPONENT WITH NO GUARANTEE . *TR

AT 104,700 MILES THE SERVICE ENGINE SOON 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 AN EMISSIONS TEST DURING STATE MANDATED VEHICLE INSPECTIONS. 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. NUMEROUS POSTINGS ON BMW FORUMS INDICATE THAT THIS ISSUE IS WIDESPREAD WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF FAILURES TAKING PLACE. THERE IS NO DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE THAT THE SEAL IN QUESTION HAS BEEN UPDATED, MEANING FAILURE OF THE SEAL WILL LIKELY HAPPEN AGAIN DURING THE (EXPECTED) LIFE OF THE CAR. *TR

I HAVE A 2002 BMW 530I WITH AUTO TRANSMISSION. TRANNY MODEL 5HP19. AT AROUND 85,000, SOMETIME IN MID-JULY 2006, I BEGAN TO HAVE AN INTERMITTENT (ON FOR MAYBE 300-500 MILES, THEN OFF FOR AROUND 7000 TO 10000 MILES) CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THE CEL CODE WAS ALWAYS DIAGNOSED AS P0741 - "TORQUE CONVERTER CLUTCH CIRCUIT PERFORMANCE OR STUCK OFF." SINCE 120,000 MILES, THE SAME CODE IS MUCH MORE FREQUENT, MAYBE 600-800 MILES BETWEEN TURNING ON-OFF. I HAVE CONTACTED MY BMW DEALERSHIP ABOUT THIS SINCE THE FIRST TIME IT OCCURRED AT AROUND 85,000 MILES, AND A FEW TIMES AFTER SINCE. THEY SAID THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NEED TO BE REBUILT AY MY COST, ALTHOUGH THIS IS A VERY COMMON OCCURRENCE AND THERE IS A SERVICE BULLETIN ON THIS. AFTER TALKING TO OTHER BMW OWNERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM, AND GETTING A COPY OF THE SERVICE BULLETIN, IT WOULD SEEM THAT THIS IS A COMMONLY KNOWN AND RECURRING PROBLEM THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIXED. I BELIEVE THAT BMW SHOULD FIX THIS PROBLEM AT THEIR COST, EVEN IF THE VEHICLE IS OF HIGH MILEAGE (AS MINE HAS 160,000 MILES NOW.) THE SERVICE BULLETIN SAYS THE PROBLEM IS A BAD TORQUE CONVERTER SEAL. HERE IS PARTIAL TEXT OF THE BMW SERVICE BULLETIN: THIS SERVICE INFORMATION BULLETIN SUPERSEDES SI 24 03 06 DATED FEBRUARY 2008. DESIGNATES CHANGES TO THIS REVISION SUBJECT ZF 5HP19 TRANSMISSION - DIAGNOSIS OF EGS FC 048 (30 HEX) MODEL E46: 323I, 325I, 330I WITH M52TU, M54, M56 AND ZF 5HP19 E39: 525I, 530I WITH M54 AND ZF 5HP19 E85: Z4 ROADSTER 2.5, 3.0 WITH M54 AND ZF 5HP19 SITUATION "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" IS ILLUMINATED AND FAULT CODE 048 "CONVERTER LOCK-UP EXCESSIVE SLIP" (30 HEX OR P0741) IS STORED IN THE EGS TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE. CAUSE POSSIBLE CAUSE: DETERIORATION OF THE TORQUE CONVERTER TURBINE SHAFT SEAL *END SERVICE BULLETIN TEXT* ALL I SIMPLY WANT IS BMW TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM AT THEIR COST. THE PROBLEM CAUSES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, WHICH PREVENTS ME FROM OBTAINING A CLEAR SMOG TEST ON MY CAR TO REGISTER IT. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 BMW 530I. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE REVERSING OUT OF A PARKING SPACE AT 5 MPH, THE VEHICLE RAPIDLY ACCELERATED CRASHING INTO ANOTHER VEHICLE CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE REAR AND FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. NO ONE WAS INJURED DURING THE CRASH. AFTER THE CRASH THE CONTACT RETURNED THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 93,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 BMW 530I. WHILE DRIVING 25 MPH, THE ENGINE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THERE WAS A LOSS OF POWER BRAKES AND STEERING. THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT RESTART AND WAS TOWED. THE DEALER STATED THAT MOISTURE ACCUMULATED IN THE ENGINE AND FROZE. ALSO, THE INTERNAL VALVE BECAME STUCK, WHICH CAUSED THE ENGINE FAILURE. THE OIL SEPARATOR REPAIR KIT WAS REPLACED. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 60,142 .UPDATED 04/25/08 *BF

WE WERE DRIVING ON DRY TARMAC ON A MAIN STREET IN NEW ROCHELLE. WE WERE TRAVELING AT A REASONABLE/SLOW RATE OF SPEED, ABOUT 25-30 MPH AND APPROACHED A STOP LIGHT. AS WE SLOWED TO STOP AT THE LIGHT THE BREAKS PULSED VIOLENTLY. IT FELT AS IF WE HAD RUN OVER SOMETHING, BUT I LOOKED AND THERE WAS NOTHING THERE. WE LOOKED TO SEE IF ANY WARNING LIGHTS ACTIVATED TO INDICATE A FAILURE - BUT WE DIDN'T SEE ANY. WE PROCEED TO NEXT LIGHT, AND STOPPED AGAIN. THIS TIME THERE WAS NO PROBLEM AND NO PULSING. MY FIANCE WAS DRIVING, AND WE BOTH WERE CAREFULLY MONITORING THE CAR. AS WE PULLED AWAY FROM THE LIGHT TO MAKE A LEFT TURN THE CAR ACCELERATED DRAMATICALLY. MY FIANCEE PUSHED HARD ON THE BRAKES BUT THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE AND FISH TAIL. THEN, AFTER A COUPLE SECONDS IT STOP AND SHE REGAINED CONTROL OF THE CAR. *NM

WHILE DRIVING 40 MPH DRIVER'S SIDE AIRBAG DEPLOYED INADVERTENTLY. NO INJURIES REPORTED. *AK

I OWN A 2002 BMW 530I. RECENTLY, THE CAR ACCELERATED TO FULL THROTTLE BY ITSELF. I REPORTED INCIDENT TO BMW. TO SUMMARIZE, THEY SAID THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR AND IT WAS PROBABLY THE FLOOR MAT THAT CAUSED THE ACCELERATION (THAT'S RIGHT, THE FLOOR MAT). *NM

WHEN THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED FORWARD AND COLLIDED INTO A WALL. DEALER NOTIFIED. *AK *TS *JB

CONSUMER CALLED COMPLAINING ABOUT HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE AIR BAGS. CONSUMER'S VEHICLE WAS INVOLVED IN A COLLISION, AND AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. DEALER WAS CONTACTED, AND STATED THAT THEY WILL GET BACK WITH THE CONSUMER, BUT HE HAS NOT YET HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT THEM.*AK