1999 BMW 540I Complaints

MY 1999 BMW 540I SPORT CAUGHT FIRE 12/19/08 WHILE IT WAS SITTING IN THE DRIVEWAY OF MY HOME. I NOTICED FLAMES ABOUT 1:30 AM COMING FROM THE SIDES OF THE HOOD. I HAD DRIVEN THE CAR TO DINNER THAT NIGHT AND IT WAS PARKED AND LOCKED IN MY DRIVEWAY. I JUST HAPPENED TO NOTICE THE FLAMES THROUGH THE WINDOW OF MY HOUSE. CALLED FIRE DEPARTMENT AND CAR WAS TOTALLY BURNED AND MELTED. ONLY THE REAR TRUNK AREA WAS LEFT. I COULD FIND NO MENTION OF THIS TYPE OF FIRE OCCURRING ON THE WEBSITES OF CONSUMER COMPLAINTS. NO RECALLS THAT I COULD FIND. MY CAR WAS WELL MAINTAINED WHILE I HAD IT. THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD GOOD RECORDS ALSO. I HAD ONLY OWNED IT ABOUT 6 MONTHS. IT WAS BOUGHT FROM THE PREVIOUS OWNER. *TR

AT APPROXIMATELY 75K MILES THE BOSCH ABS/TRACTION CONTROL UNIT FAILED ON MY 1999 BMW 540I. A DIAGNOSIS FROM THE DEALER CONFIRMED THIS TO BE TRUE. A NEW UNIT WAS INSTALLED AT THE APPROX COST OF $600. WHAT IS TROUBLING IS THAT EVERY OWNER OF A BMW 5-SERIES FROM 1999-2000 SEEMS TO HAVE HAD THIS PART FAIL ON THEM. ACTUALLY, I HAVE YET TO MEET OWNER WHO STILL HAS THEIR ORIGINAL PART. BMW OF NORTH AMERICA WAS LESS THAN HELPFUL AND DENIED A WARRANTY CLAIM (CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY) AND DID NOT FEEL THAT THIS INTEGRAL CONTROL UNIT SHOULD BE RECALLED DESPITE STATISTICS THAT SHOW OTHERWISE. THIS APPEARS TO BE A SAFETY CONCERN SINCE THIS FAILURE LEAVES THE TRACTION CONTROL AND ABS SUDDENLY INOPERATIVE. *TR

MY SON WAS DRIVING HOME IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC ON CONNECTICUT AVE. IT WAS RAINING RATHER HARD AND VISIBILITY WAS LOW. MY SON ALL OF THE SUDDEN SMELLED SMOKE COMING THROUGH THE VENTS AND THE ENGINE SHUT DOWN. IT WOULD NOT RESTART. HE HAD TO PUSH IT OFF THE ROAD INTO A SERVICE STATION DUE TO THE HIGH VOLUME OF TRAFFIC. THE CAR WAS TOWED THAT EVENING TO MY REPAIR SHOP WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING SENSOR FAILED WHICH MELTED THE WIRING HARNESS AND DAMAGED OTHER ELECTRICAL SENSORS ON THE ENGINE. *TR

THE DRIVER OWNS A 1999 BMW 540I WITH 72,579 MILES. OVER THE PAST TWO MONTHS THE DISC BMW ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL SYSTEM ICON AND THE AMBER ABS AND BRAKE LIGHTS ILLUMINATED IN ONE OF TWO SCENARIOS: (1) JUST AFTER A NEW IGNITION CYCLE, (2) DURING NORMAL DRIVING. ONCE THESE WARNINGS ILLUMINATED THE DSC, ABS, AND TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEMS BECOME NON-FUNCTIONAL. UNTIL RECENTLY, THE WARNINGS WOULD GO OUT AFTER 5-10 IGNITION CYCLES. NOW THEY WERE ON CONTINUOUSLY.*AK NEXT TO SEATBELTS, I STRONGLY BELIEVE ESC IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT IN AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY. AS SUCH, I FIND IT VERY DISCONCERTING THE SYSTEM ON MY VEHICLE HAS MALFUNCTIONED. RESEARCHING THE TOPIC ON THE VARIOUS BMW FORUMS HAS LEAD ME TO BELIEVE MY SITUATION IS NOT AN ISOLATED ONE; THAT MANY MODEL YEAR 1999-2000 5-SERIES BMWS HAVE ALSO BEEN AFFECTED. ESC MALFUNCTIONS CAN HAVE VERY NEGATIVE IMPACT ON VEHICLE SAFETY. IN JUSTIFYING THE RATIONALE FOR ITS RECENT MANDATE OF ESC, NHTSA ESTIMATES ESC WILL REDUCE SINGLE VEHICLE CRASHES AND ROLLOVERS BY 34 AND 71 PERCENT, RESPECTIVELY. THE AGENCY ESTIMATES THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL SAFE UP TO 9600 LIVES PER YEAR. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME IF YOU REQUIRE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. THANK YOU.

TL*- THE CONTACT OWNS A 1999 BMW 540IA WITH FAILURE MILEAGE OF 100,000 MILES. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT 40 MPH HE BEGAN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH THE TRANSMISSION. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE GEARS BEGAN TO FUNCTION IMPROPERLY, AND COULD NOT BE OPERATED IN 1ST THROUGH REVERSE GEARS. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE BMW DEALER, WHERE THEY STATED THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THAT THEY WOULD DO TO FIX THE RECALL. THEY REFUSED TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE WITHOUT COST BECAUSE THE RECALL WAS ISSUED BY NHTSA AND NOT BY THEM. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AS OF 4-13-07 THE DEALER HAS HAD THE VEHICLE FOR OVER A MONTH, AND WANTED TO CHARGE HIM $5,000, EVEN THOUGH THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO THE RECALL. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 140,000.*AK

WITHOUT WARNING A CRACK APPEARED IN THE RADIATOR HOUSING CAUSING A LOSS OF ANTIFREEZE. CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY. HAD TO REPLACE THE PART. SAME THING JUST HAPPENED AGAIN. *JB

I HAD TROUBLES WITH MY ABS MODULE UNIT THAT IS ATTACHED TO MY BMW 1999 540IA. I HAVE BECOME AWARE THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM THAT DISABLES THE ABS CONTROL OF MY CAR AND MANY OTHER SAME MODEL CARS AS MINE. I HAD TO REPLACE THE PART MYSELF DUE TO NO RECALL OR ACCEPTANCE FROM BMW THAT THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM WITH A SAFETY FEATURE ON MY AND MANY OTHER BMW'S SIMILAR TO MINE. THE FAILURE OCCURED OUT OF THE NOWHERE AND THE RESULTING PROBLEM IS THAT THE UNIT WOULD GO OFF AFTER CAR WOULD WARM UP THEN EVENTUALLY OVER TIME THE UNIT COMPLETELY FAILS AND DISABLES THE CARS ANTI BRAKING SYSTEM. THE UNIT WAS REPLACED BY ME AFTER NUMEROUS TIMES TO GET BMWNA OR ANYONE FROM BMW TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THE PROBLEM WITH MY UNIT. THE NEW PART COST ME ABOUT $700 AND THE LABOR WAS ABOUT $60 TO GET IT INSTALLED AND PROGRAMMED FROM TEH BMW DEALER AROUND HERE. I HAVE MY OLD PART IF THAT HELPS BUT IT IS OF NO USE. THX MICHAEL D. KARR. *NM

I THINK THIS IS RIDICULOUS THAT THE 60,000 DOLLAR BMW 5 SERIES WITH DSC AND ABS CONTINUALLY HAVE ABS CONTROL MODULE FAILURES. THE PART IS OBVIOUSLY A DESIGN FLAW AND THE COMPANY SHOULD BE FORCED TO REPAIR OR REPLACE UNITS FREE OF CHARGE. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A SAFETY ISSUE SINCE THE MODULE FAILURE CAUSES THE TRACTION CONTROL AND ABS TO FAIL. THIS IS COMMON IN MODEL YEARS 98,99,AND 2000. *NM

ABS WARNING AND DSC LIGHT IS ON INDICATING FAILURE OF ABS ELECTRONIC MODULE. ABS AND DSC IS NO LONGER OPERABLE. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE SINCE THE CAR WILL NO LONGER HAVE ABS AND DYNAMIC STABILITY CONTROL SYSTEM IN OPERABLE CONDITION. IT IS UNKNOWN IF BRAKE COULD BE RANDOMLY ACTIVATED BY THE FAILED ABS MODULE WHILE DRIVING. COMMON FAILURE ON 1999 OR PLUS 5-SERIES BMW BASED ON USER DISCUSSION ON INTERNET. THE FAILURE IS TEMPERTURE RELATED. THE HIGHER THE TEMPERTURE, THE QUICKER THE WARNING LIGHT WILL COME ON. *NM

1) CHECK COOLANT LEVEL WARNING LIGHT CAME ON TWICE IN 1 WEEK. KUNI BMW CONDUCTED MY FACTORY INSPECTION II SERVICE ONLY 2 MONTHS BEFORE THIS OCCURED. ) RADIATOR CRACKED WHERE THE UPPER HOSE ENTERS THE RADIATOR, LEAKING FLUID INTO THE ENGINE BAY AND GROUND. 3) REPLACE THE RADIATOR. THIS IS A WELL KNOW DEFECT ON THIS VEHICLE - WHY DOESN'T BMW DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS?*AK