3.1

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
45,342 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2006 BMW 550:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

problem #1

Dec 012010

550

  • 45,342 miles
While driving in heavy rain, the vehicle's electronic control system issued a frenzy of alerts, and interrupted function of several subsystems including the windshield wipers. The system issued a message "continued driving not possible" and then further alerts. The BMW center examined the car and stated that water had entered the car through the sunroof drainage system and flooded the compartment housing the control systems, causing the sudden malfunction. Despite the fact that there is no maintenance protocol established by BMW for the drainage system, I had the sunroof drains checked on October 2009 and was assured by the BMW center that it was working to specification at that time. Nevertheless, BMW's center attributed the failure to the drainage system being partially blocked. (N.B. the system had not been checked for the first three years of use, so why would it fail 1 year and 1 month after inspection?) the drain system is concealed within the roof and is not accessible to car owner. The combination of the defective drainage system and the placement of the electronic control systems at the point of water collection presents a safety hazard when driving in inclement weather. Searching on the internet turns up similar complaints on other BMW models equipped with panoramic sunroofs such as the X3, X5, and 535xi and 325.

- Melville, NY, USA