Valve cover gasket leak, timing chain cover gasket leak, valve stem leak.
2004 BMW 545I engine problems
12 complaints (27% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 97,000.
- owner complaints
- 12
- of this car's complaints
- 27%
- typical mileage
- 97,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
Owners did not name a specific part.
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
BMW 545I engine problems in other years
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
What 2004 BMW 545I owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
I came back from my summer holiday, and restarted my car. A lot of warnings appears on the odometer. About engine, airbags, steering, tire pressure, and seat belt. (I have checked the tire pressure, it is normal. And I always lock the seat belt before driving). In addition, the navigation screen and radio died. Furthermore, the car lose electricity after it shuts down. After more than 3 hours of shut down, it won't have enough power to re-ignite. I check on the federal safety agency website that there are three recall issues that my car was included, and related to the issues I am reporting right now. About air bags (08v384000), engine (12e029000), and electrical system (12v126000). But I cannot find out any information by my VIN number on the federal safety agency. It is a used car, I am not sure whether the former user responded the recall before. Even if this car was recalled before, I don't know whether it was fixed properly, and the similar issues would not happen again.
Drive moderately keeps popping up an service engine after getting bmw to check it an fix it also it won't crank sometimes but the battery an alternator is brand new but after it sit for hours it finally crank up, maybe it's an security issue but it's unnecessary
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw 545i. While driving 65 MPH, the vehicle overheated. The contact stated stated that the pump cool pipe was making the vehicle overheat. The contact stated that the vehicle was diagnosed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000.
Custom ordered 545i in 2004 as still original/existing owner. Have had repeated electrical errors on I drive "dynamic drive failure proceed with caution as the steering has been effected and see your bmw authorized rep," "electrical failure see your bmw authorized rep. Immediately proceed with caution, "passenger restraint fault proceed with caution effecting belt and belt force limiter, stalling at very low and as high rates of speed as high as 70 MPH without any warning." sometimes the car logs the errors and many times it doesn't fully that it takes bmw na's computer to access the extended ram in the car to retrieve per bmw na that the dealerships can't. I even have pictures of the errors the car doesn't log so they claim they can't do anything. Bmw engineers in germany have been involved as the car refused to reprogram twice for the dealership. This car is compliant w/all recalls per the dealer and has been in the shop over 16 times w/only 70k miles. The dealer and bmw na can't determine the root cause of the problems except to say they think they're being triggered by low voltage and its had 3 batteries at less than 70k miles, isn't driven much, and bmw na nor the dealership can permanently resolve the errors and stalling and/or stop them. Bmw na and the dealership have replaced the entire wiring harness at 13k miles, have refused to take the car back after several attempts after qualifying as a lemon under the lemon law since before 10k miles and been given multiple excuses for all of the errors they can't resolve. They keep telling us to bring it back every time, buy an extended warranty at $6k to continually service electrical and stalling/running rough issues they can't fix under original factory warranty. They're not reporting service trips to carfax and refuse to release documentation on the car regarding the problems to us or our attorneys.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw 545i. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, he attempted to accelerate and a large cloud of smoke emitted from the exhaust. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was found that the valve stem seals had failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 94,000.
When I got up out the seat the airbag and seat belt indicator came on and is still on. It says passenger restraint system malfunction. And it will not deploy airbags. Also there have been a few oil leaks in the engine.
Vehicle slips in an out of 5th and 6th gear when traveling at constant 35 to 40 MPH in auto mode and around 60 MPH in ds mode. Noticeable oil leaks as well as occasional smoke from tailpipe and vehicle bangs into gear ( while downshifting on occasion) also noticed that the electrical system seems to cut out for a split second while driving. Heads up display and radio illustrates this finding as they shut off for a second. The clock is also behind a few minutes / week because of this.
Transmission jerks and slips. When coming to a stop, the car slams into gear. This could cause a major accident if this occurred during wet or icy road conditions due to breaking traction from wheels and road surface. This is a major concern and after doing some research, thousands of 5 series bmw's have this problem. The result is a defective mechatronics which costs between $5000-$8000 to fix and not covered by bmw or under warranty.
When beginning to drive, the vehicle would slam to the point where I thought I was rear ended. I took the car to my mechanic and he said it was the transmission and the fix was costly. Continues to do this at times and will also do a smaller scale slam when slowing to a stop light or stop sign.
Questions about the 2004 BMW 545I engine
Does the 2004 BMW 545I have engine problems?
Owners have filed 12 complaints about the engine of the 2004 BMW 545I, 27% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2004 BMW 545I engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 97,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2004 BMW 545I engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
Other 2004 BMW 545I problems
Airbags 18Electrical 12Transmission 8Seat belts 5Brakes 4Driver assistance 4Steering 4Lights 3Seats 3Acceleration 1
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