10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 4
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
46,241 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.

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problem #15

May 082019

550 8-cyl

  • 86,000 miles
I received a card in the mail from BMW of North America informing me that there was a recall on the fuel pump of my 2011 BMW 550I. When we called the dealership in amarillo Texas, autoplex BMW, we were told by the service manager [xxx] that we are welcome to buy new cars from them but they will no longer honer warranty or recall work for anyone with the last name [xxx] or who is related to or affiliated with [xxx] is there any assistance you can give with this matter? [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Amarillo, TX, USA

problem #14

May 192016

550

  • 55,000 miles
This vehicle has had multiple recalls. The latest one was campaign no. 18V-248. BMW has yet to do anything for my vehicle, even after it burnt itself to the ground and a portion of my home. They did not add any explanation or attempt to investigate this situation. It is still undefined how this vehicle lit itself on fire as it was parked and turned off sitting in my garage, after just being driven 5-10 minutes before the fire started.

- Chatham, IL, USA

problem #13

Apr 092018

550

  • 120,000 miles
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 550I. While driving unknown speeds, a fuel odor was detected in the rear of the vehicle as well as smoke in the front of the vehicle. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump failed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to critz BMW savannah (7009 abercorn St, savannah, ga 31406) where it was again diagnosed with a fuel pump failure. The vehicle was repaired again. The manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16V746000 (fuel system, gasoline). The failure mileage was 120,000.

- Savannah, GA, USA

problem #12

Oct 272017

550

  • 98,000 miles
Regarding: N63 fuel pump failure on 2011 BMW 550I GT VIN # [xxx] dear NHTSA recently I had a serious issue relating to the fuel delivery system on my 2011 BMW 550I GT. I was accelerating on a busy freeway ramp with my two young sons aboard, and my car went into limp mode. This put us in a precarious situation when at the moment I needed brisk acceleration, my car was unable to achieve even 40mph. It almost caused me to have an accident. I had no choice but to get this issue serviced at BMW of san francisco since this is my daily driver. When all was said and done the bill came to a little over $2100 which included about $450 in diagnostics. Now that the dust has had a chance to settle, I'd like some recompense on the following issues. 'the high-pressure fuel pump failure is safety related and should be covered under the same warranty as the low-pressure fuel pump which carries an extended 10-year warranty on these cars and, which also has a tendency to fail at inopportune moments 'in closing, this car was always serviced at the dealer, and went through the customer care program a couple of years ago. I feel that BMW should also cover these fuel pumps as part of this program and I'm asking for you to refund the cost of this service. 'please register my complaint, if enough people experience this issue and register each incident, BMW has a customer reimbursement program and I would be able to get my $2086.25 back for this safety related repair. [xxx], montara, ca information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'

- Montara, CA, USA

problem #11

Aug 072017

550

  • 85,000 miles
Our car's electrical panel lit up before the car stalled on two separate occasions. The first time, BMW replace the battery. The second time, BMW replaced the alternator. 12 days after being serviced by BMW, our house burned down due to a fire originating on the front left side of the BMW. That afternoon, my husband had come home from work, parked the car in the garage, and turned it off. The fire started within 30minutes of being shut off and parked. We received a letter in the mail informing us our BMW was under recall for a malfunctioning fuel pump injector.

- Eden Prairie, MN, USA

problem #10

Aug 012017

550

  • miles
In-tank fuel pump, is creating a gas odor inside the car.

- Lakeland, FL, USA

problem #9

Jun 232017

550

  • miles
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 550I. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16V746000 (fuel system, gasoline); however, the parts to do the repair were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not offer any assistance. The VIN was unknown. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

- Fairfax, VA, USA

problem #8

May 192016

550

  • 50,000 miles
The 2011 BMW 550I had just recently been parked and turned off. After no more than 10 minutes after it was parked, it burst into flames coming from the engine compartment on the passenger side. Then very quickly spread throughout the entire car. The car was parked in an attached garage thus not only completely burning the car to the ground but also partially burning the home down as well. Resulting in over $250,000 in damage. This vehicle had one of the N63 engines in it which BMW had three volunteer recalls to "correct" the fuel injector issue. 5 months prior to the fire, a certified BMW dealership executed the third attempt at this recall. This BMW was also under a full coverage maintenance warranty, thus it had only been to certified BMW service centers. During the last recall under campaign 0013480200 sib 11 16 14 in conjunction with sib 11 06 14 and 61 30 14, the oil life mileage was reduced from 15,000 miles to 10,000 miles with the BMW service center explaining that was part of the campaign BMW na requested to service the vehicles more frequently. When I asked the BMW representative about this specifically at the fire investigation he said it was due to "epa requirements". had nothing to do with the known engine issues that BMW has been attempting to address since 2013.

- Temple, TX, USA

problem #7

Oct 132016

550

  • miles
NHTSA recall campaign 16V-746 was issued 13 Oct 2016. To date BMW has yet to to notify us to schedule the repair of the defect - nearly 6 months after the recall was issued. We believe this an unacceptably long wait for which we have not seen any action from NHTSA or other federal authorities to compel BMW to accelerate compliance with the recall order. Are we going to have to wait for people to die in a fiery made for tv news accident before this is taken seriously"?" fix my car!!

- Ashburn, VA, USA

problem #6

Nov 252016

550

  • 0 miles
Car performance greatly decreased, then failed turbo, fuel smell, and drive train malfunction warning intermittentently on and off, either in park or in motion. Took vehicle to dealership. BMW northwest is currently denying any recalls are in place and.

- Olymmpia, WA, USA

problem #5

Nov 102016

550

  • 86,212 miles
BMW N63 customer care package: A recall B001314 that BMW refuses to call a recall. Im having problum with the car burning oil every 200 miles had fuel injectors replace twice. Car stills runs bad. My car only has 84K on it and I have had so many problums out of it oil chance has always been on time.

- Shreveport, LA, USA

problem #4

Feb 102014

550 8-cyl

  • 22,500 miles
Since January 2014 the fuel injectors failed and replaced two times and the vehicle is currently at the position of crtiz BMW dealership in savannah, ga since February 12/2015 to replace the fuel injectors for the third time and also to repair the seat belt malfunction on the front passenger side that were failed to work since February of 2014. On February of 2014 I have reached out to critz BMW service department and also contacted BMW of North America in June of 2014 to customer care individuals many times from over six months about the seat belt malfunction safety issue since then to have this issue fixed but I was told that BMW couldn"?T duplicate or repair the seat belt. Three passengers including my wife were at risk and saw the light for seat belt malfunction warning light turned on in this vehicle while setting on the front passenger seat and I also have photos dated since February 2014. The warning indicated that the air bag won??T deploy in case of any accident and I had to stop the vehicle while driving on the highway for the passenger?"S safety and I also contacted BMW emergency assistance and I was told to take the vehicle to the dealership for inspections. The critz BMW mentioned that the service department and BMW of North America are aware of the issue with the seat belt and that they are in contact to replace the seat mat on the passenger side and that there is an issue with the sensor. I was offered by BMW of North America to trade this vehicle and I told BMW that I will not trade this vehicle until its fixed since I don't want to put someones life in danger due to the seat belt issue that BMW couldn't fix and I told them that they can simply repurchase, replace or repair this vehicle. On March 12/2015 the BMW of North America couldn't duplicate or repair the seat belt malfunction on the passenger side seatbelt.

- Savannah, GA, USA

problem #3

Jan 092014

550 8-cyl

  • 22,367 miles
1- seat belt malfunction for passenger side not fixed after many complaints to BMW of North America and the dealership. I can't have a passenger or my wife in my car due to the seat belt safety issues. 2- fuel injectors failed and will be replaced for the third time 3- the car is vibrating at 40mph. BMW found irregular tire wear on the front tires but I have a full warranty on all tiers with BMW that I purchased, the warranty is based on all the road hazards and the cause of the vibration is road hazards. BMW is not replacing the tires. 4- engine makes big noise at the start after parked for 8hrs or more. 5- the backup camera is stop working sometimes and the navigation is loading slowly. I brought these issues to critz BMW dealership and also contacted bmwusa customer care but they simply could not fix the issue after many visits to the dealership. I have approximately 45 days of warranty left on this vehicle so bmwua is giving me a run around and each time supporting and backing the dealership until my warranty expires. Bmwusa and the crizte BMW dealership basically did not honor their original manufacture warranty contract to fix the issues that are still exists on this BMW. I took this vehicle to critze BMW dealership for more than five times and each time they kept it for 4 days and now for 21 days and they might keep it for another 14 days to fix the ongoing issue but the results are failing and the issue is unresolved the vehicle went for repairs this year for more than 40 days. BMW is holding my vehicle until the manufacture warrant expires so they can't have an excuse for not fixing. I have filed a complain with better business bureau but BBB referred me to your office since ga lemon law dose not apply to a used vehicle purchased from BMW even though with original manufacture warranty.

- Savannah, GA, USA

problem #2

Sep 162014

550

  • 39,300 miles
I was driving my car and all of a sudden the entire car started shaking. I get multiple engine malfunction lights and then get a "reduced power" alert on my dashboard. The car goes into "limp-mode", which means it's incapable of going past 40-45 mph and going anything above 25 results in violent shaking of the car. Also at red lights, the entire car vibrates. The fault was determined to be the fuel injectors in the engine, however I already knew that by simply looking up the symptoms. Thousands of BMW 5-series made between 2011-2012 have this issue, yet BMW is not recalling them, but rather fixing them on a one-by-one basis. If someone is out of warranty, like me, they are then charging nearly $6,000 for a fault that affects over 50% of 2011 BMW 550I's made! BMW forums everywhere talk about this problem and as cars made in 2011 start running out of their warranty in late 2014, early 2015, more and more of them will start showing symptoms and consumers will be forced to shell out thousands of dollars for a fix BMW should have addressed in a mandatory recall.

- Omaha, NE, USA

problem #1

Oct 172013

550 8-cyl

  • 29,230 miles
I have prepared a pdf document that I would like to submit as well. I can supply it at any time. Here is the short version. 10/17/13: I have the family come with me for a ride and then the vehicle begins to malfunctions and the check engine light comes back on. The vehicle is struggling to even drive at this point and I am on the freeway trying to make it to an exit. The hesitation becomes worse and worse I start to fear that I may become stranded on a busy roadway. I make it off the exit and home. 10/18/13: (D/O vehicle mileage: 29,375) I take the vehicle to concord BMW for inspection; [xxx] is the service consultant at BMW of concord. 10/19/13: (P/U vehicle mileage: 29,379) [xxx] telephones me to inform me that it was a quick fix and the vehicle was ready to be picked up. I come to sign for the vehicle and release the rental. Not even 10 minutes after I am in possession of the vehicle it malfunctions identically again. I call back to tell them I am dropping it off, once again. Returned the vehicle with (D/O 29,392 miles) 10/20/13: Continued... 10/21/13: Continued... 10/22/13: Continued... 10/23/13: Continued... 10/24/13: Continued.... 10/25/13: Continued... 10/26/13: Continued... 10/27/13: Continued... 10/28/13: Continued... 10/29/13: Continued... 10/30/13: Continued... 10/31/13: Continued... information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Clayton, CA, USA