5.2

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
18,292 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 2011 BMW 550:

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

problem #4

Mar 172023

550

  • 67,000 miles
The contact owns a?2011 BMW 5 Series. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed as a camshaft failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number- 14V176000 ( Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 67,000. The VIN was not available.

- Huston, TX, USA

problem #3

Sep 302010

550

  • 200 miles
The car has acceleration issues when not only adding additional speed while driving but when beginning to accelerate from a stop sign or traffic light, as well. The car hesitates when accelerating and there is often a lag in accelerating while the car is stopped or at a low speed, creating a safety concern. Not only is there a safety issue, but it is not how a $51,000 luxury sedan should drive -- it is rather rough and annoying to drive the car. The car also idles at an extremely low speed or no speed when the car is started after sitting for a longer period of time. In this case, I have to apply a decent amount of pressure on the accelerator even to back out of my garage.

- Paradise Valley, AZ, USA

problem #2

Dec 042010

550

  • 4,000 miles
I bought a 2011 BMW 535I on November 30, 2010. On December 4, 2010, I experienced car trouble. The engine malfunction, and reduce power warning lights came on. The car shutdown completely, but not before shaking very sharply. This all occurred in about 15 seconds, while I was driving. BMW response was "safe mode". on December 9, 2010 the vehicle was being repaired again for the same issues, they replaced a fuel sensor. On December 30, 2010, the car was being serviced again, they replaced the high and low fuel pumps. After being driven home by the service manger of BMW just to insure that the car was fixed, it broke down again on him on December 31, 2010. They replaced the low pressure fuel pump again, the second time in two days. They returned the vehicle to me on January 13, 2011. On March 17, 2010 the vehicle was being serviced again for long crank time, and for not start sometimes at all. I am also a previous owner of recalled 335, which I traded for this vehicle. Out of the five times that this vehicle has been service, two of those times it broke down while in traffic coming to a complete stop, once while on a freeway. This vehicle is dangerous. I would ask that the NHTSA take this matter seriously. There are many more complaints like this on bimmerfest.com, and also the internet. BMW will not resolve this issue. They are playing with my family's life, other BMW owners, and other motorist that occupy the roads with BMW customers. This vehicle is a hazard. This problem has been occurring for almost five years now. My opinion as a multiple BMW owner is that BMW is operating with malice at this point. Please you all are our only hope!

- Maumelle, AR, USA

problem #1

Sep 052010

550

  • 1,969 miles
I took delivery of a new 2011 535I on 7/11/10. The car was built on 6/1/10. On 9/5/10 (odometer reading less than 2000 miles), I was driving on local streets at approximately 30 mph when the car reported an engine malfunction error and the car shutdown. I pushed the gas pedal and there was no response and steering locked up. The car was pushed to the side of the road and then towed to the BMW dealership. Initial analysis from the BMW dealership was that the error recorded (fault stored for valvetronic system. Deviation too great. Frequency 1 logistics 38.) did not point to a specific component failure. The error did indicate that a certain software level should be loaded in the car, but the BMW dealership said I already had the correct software level loaded. They reloaded the software level anyway. The BMW dealership kept the car for a few days of testing and driving, but could not recreate the problem. After 3 days, the BMW dealership said that they noticed that I actually did not originally have the latest software patch level installed in my car. So, the only fix provided by BMW for my engine malfunction and shutdown was loading a new software patch level (program I level new F010-10-06-512), the previous software level loaded in my car at the plant was program I level plant F010-10-06-511. It should be noted, while the car was at the BMW dealership, they did install the fix for the fuel tank sensor recall (bulletin 121410). But, the fuel tank sensor problem was not related to the engine malfunction problem I experienced, because I had an actual half tank of fuel in the car at the time of my engine failure.

- Pasadena, CA, USA