BMW 5 Series loss of power problems

Filed Feb 12, 2019 · Engine · 40,000 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 bmw 5-series. The contact stated that the vehicle excessively overheated without warning. The contact constantly had to exercise caution in the event that the vehicle may have reduced engine power and was uncertain if the failure would result in a fire. Bmw gallery of norwood (918 boston providence hwy, norwood, ma 02062, (888) 441-2338) was notified of the failure, but had not specified if the failure was related to any recall campaigns or technical service bulletins. The dealer stated that further diagnostic testing was required. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.

Filed Oct 15, 2014 · Electrical, Fuel system · 76,000 miles · NJ

All 6 fuel injectors failed. Car lost power while driving on 3 separate occasions.

Filed Mar 12, 2014 · Brakes, Engine · 100,000 miles · CT

I was driving appx 40mph while on a local road slightly uphill, engine shut off without warning, lost power steering and brake assist. Luckily no cars around me so I was able to barely roll over to the roadside. Car would not start again, was towed to dealership. Replaced ecu for a total cost of $2k.

Filed Feb 6, 2012 · Electrical · 107,000 miles · CA

While driving, the car suddenly shut down and lost all power. Had to pull over to the side of the road quickly to avoid an accident; had this been at high speed, the situation might have been worse. Subsequently when trying to start, the car shows a myriad of warning lights and faults. A fuse for the main computer (dme) had blown, due to a wiring short between the electronic thermostat and the main computer. Replacing the fuse is not a permanent fix, as it blows shortly after each time the car is started, rendering the car undriveable. This fix to replace shorted wiring is in the thousands of dollars. The car had been meticulously maintained and had never suffered any related issue before. There is a poor connection, faulty wiring, design flaw, or the like in this system.

Filed Jul 27, 2011 · Engine · 85,047 miles · CA

I had a recent problem with our 525i. I was driving it and it lost power/died. When the vehicle died, I lost power steering and power brakes. The car would not restart and no error lights or messages were displayed on the idrive. I had the car towed home. After the initial check of the vehicle, it showed the crank sensor fault. I noticed a bunch of metal throw off in the oil filter and the vehicle did not have compression in cylinder 2 and 6. I was thinking catastrophic engine failure. Since I am very familiar with american/japanese vehicles, I decided to look into the problem myself after getting no response from bmwna. The car is out of warranty with 85k miles. The metal throw off was due to the timing chain jumping off of the exhaust cam gear and grinding against the back of it. The cause of the problem was the two aluminum screws under the cam shaft gears. Both heads were broken off and one made its way up the chain getting caught in the chain and gear. These screws are aluminum. I don't know if this is a common problem but for the bolts to break it would be due over torqued/tighten bolts or extreme pressure from expanding/contracting of the magnesium vs aluminum. The other broken bolt head is still some where in the bottom of the oil pan. The exhaust cam gear was chewed up, but still serviceable. I re-timed the car and checked the compression. I got lucky and compression is good so no bent valves. I disassemble everything and now I patiently waiting for several parts. However, I'm still dealing with the broken head that is some where in the oil pan. This is a serious manufactures defect and I have retained all of the parts and including the oil.

Filed May 23, 2011 · Electrical · 28,000 miles · VA

Currently have a 2009 bmw 550i. Vehicle has had an ongoing and unidentifiable electrical issue causing the vehicle to often and without initial notice "loose power" and go into a "safety mode" operating at a reduced power by not going above 30mph and/or 3000rpm's. Vehicle with often start "bogging" and "shuttering(shaking)" and will often attempt to "surge" forward while sitting in traffic often trying to cause a rear end accident with the vehicle infront. The driver of the bmw often has to "stand" on the brakes in order to prevent the vehicle surges from allowing the vehicle to shot forward at stops. Issues started in january of 2011, took it to fairfax bmw where they determined the vehicle had some sort of electrical issue with the battery. No fix was provided in the shop for 3 days. Issues persisted through january and took it to bmw of alexandria where they replaced a transmission solenoid and a intake sensor, in the shop for roughly 7 days. Electrical issue reappeared in march in with the same problems. Vehicle was in the shop for over 7 days and had the entire vehicle wiring harness replaced. Vehicle issue resurfaced several weeks later and a engineer from nj came down and determined a faulty oil sensor was causing the vehicle to often ?think? It was out of oil vehicle was in the shop for 7 days. Vehicle potentially was flooded with oil from service tech's adding more oil each time the vehicle "thought" it was out of oil. Vehicle as of 5-21-2011 suffered again from the same issue and was dropped back off at bmw of alexandria with vehicle engine light identifying ?engine malfunction?. Sent several emails to bmw corporate with little response.

Filed Apr 12, 2011 · Fuel system · 21,088 miles · TN

Engine malfunction! Reduced power was the message I received on my dash display. I took photos of the displayed message. Car went from 65 MPH down to 18 MPH in a matter of seconds in the far left lane of the interstate highway. Could have been killed. Had to chug and lurch over three lanes of speeding traffic to get to the right shoulder of the road. I've already had the fuel pump replaced by bmw recall (a recall that I was never notified by bmw that the recall existed). Apparently the fuel pump recall was not all of the problem as this same engine malfunction still occurs and the car still behaves the same as before the fuel pump recall. Took the car to the dealer the very next day. He cleared a code in my onboard computer and did nothing to fix this problem. This problem with my bmw 535xi wagon is going to get someone in my family killed or seriously injured. I've read multiple complaints online from bloggers regarding this same problem. Why is bmw not fixing the problem. At the time the fuel pump was replaced the dealer also reprogrammed my car's onboard computer and checked the fuel in the tank which, according to the dealer appeared to be fine.

Filed Jan 24, 2011 · Engine · 22,000 miles · FL

Car check engine light came on, reduced power on dash, and sluggish. Towed car to dealer, replaced spark plugs and high pressure fuel pump. Check engine light came on again, took to dealer, needed pressure sensor. This has occurred 4 times now, dealer states this is ongoing problem with this engine, and have I would have to bring the vehicle in whenever this occurred, no loaner car available. I do not feel safe in the vehicle when this occurs.

Filed Jan 21, 2011 · Fuel system · 12,925 miles · NJ

My bmw 535xi started having fuel pump issues starting around 14 months after purchase, at 12,000 miles. The first time it went into safety mode, casing it to slow down to a snails pace. A new fuel pump was installed. The second time it would not start in a parking lot after turning it off for 10 minutes after a 20 minute drive. I called road side assist and they sent a technician who was able to get it started. He told me to take to the dealer but it should be fine to drive home. I left the lot and within 3 minutes it completely seized and lost all power while accelerating in the left lane. My 11 year old daughter and I were in the car. I am thankful we survived. I called the technician back and he convinced me to drive the car with him following to the dealer (approx 3 miles). When I complained to bmw they did not showed no concern that we were put in harms way. In this instance the fuel temperature sensor/pressure sensor had a permanent failure. At 19,000 miles, the check engine light went on and I took it in to the service department. They suspected the fuel pump but could not replicate the check engine light, so corporate would not allow replacement. Again at 20,370 mile, check engine plus "cold start not running on all cylinders" no action because not tripping corporate specifications. At, 21,092, high pressure pump permanent malfunction. Engine was flooded with fuel. Five days and 100 miles later, the engine flooded again. This time the fuel injector was leaking and all the spark plugs were soaked with gas and half were not working. At that time (nov. 2010) I asked bmw to take the car back. Bmw agreed to a "trade assist" that will cost us an additional $33,000 to be get a new car. We do no understand how after almost killing us we cannot get out of this car without spending more money. We refuse to sell our problem to someone else.

Filed Dec 10, 2010 · Engine · 10,000 miles · NJ

This is the second time this particular problem happened. The first time the car lost power when revs went up above 3.5k RPM and recovered as soon as revs fell below this range. This almost resulted in an accident since the driver behind me was taken by surprise with the abrupt reduction in speed. I took the car to bmw for service and they reported it had been fixed. The second incident occurred while driving at 60mph on the leftmost lane of a three lane highway. The car completely lost power and a warning was displayed indicating: "engine malfunction, you may be able to continue at reduced power". There was no power at all. The engine was completely off, car switched to neutral. I turned the hazard lights on since there was a lot of commuting traffic and the quick reduction in speed could have again resulted in a serious accident. I managed to coast to the shoulder on the right and called roadside assistance. Car was towed and is being serviced by bmw. Searching the web I found numerous references to this exact problem reported as early as 2008. Some of the reports indicate that this issue happened a few times to the same car even after the issue was declared resolved. I am dumbfounded by the fact that a recall hasn't been issued. Does it take someone dying for anyone to pay attention and do the right thing?