I have had my 2004 BMW 530i (sport + premium package) for a couple months now. Here's what gone wrong so far...
1) Car was delivered to me with 6 (yes.. SIX) faults in the computer. The day after I bought it I had to return it to reprogram the computer, which took the better part of two days. On my drive home with my "new" car, I started noticing things on the display that should not have been there. Including warnings. Dealer's fault for not checking out the software revision before they delivered it to me.
2) A week later, on a coastal drive the computer informs me I have a flat tire. I pull over to a local gas station to check the air pressure. No problems. I limp it home (just in case my "run flat" tires are some how confusing me.) It turns out when they did #1 above, they did not bother to resetup the computer to my car's settings. Nice work! I resolved this tire pressure problem myself through the computer. Dealer's fault for not doing the setup. Although I was puzzled by the timing of this warning. It took a week for the computer to figure out something was wrong. My long drive would have raised the tire pressure.
3) Flat tire replacement, which due to circumstances outside of my control I had to purchase from my BMW dealer. Too bad they charge $500 for a $250 tire. I am not worried so much about the money, but 200% is silly. Dealer's fault for gouging people.
4) Air bags in doors have begun to rattle. I guess that is a German engineering solution to let you know that someone has not stolen them out of your door.
5) Radio/CD player has begun to intermittently fail, producing a steady stream of white noise mixed in with regular signal. Yes, it fails on CDs too. Fix this by shutting off the car.
6) Remote keys ocassionaly seem to lose settings.
7) Paint chips to bare metal very easily on edge of door. (very surprised about this one.) One very slight tap and *boom* a nice 2mm chip. I guess I need those hideous "grandma door guards". My fault..
8) Steering wheel as it lowers into position makes a lovely grumbling/knocking noise occasionaly. A future repair, I'm sure.
9) Now.. TODAY.. right rear wheel is "clunking". Tire actually looks VERY flat. It's on a flat bed back to BMW to fix. If it is flat, I'd guess that the Dunlop tires are a bad choice for city driving. You might consider that when you make a future purchase. Two flats in 4 months. Interesting. We'll see once it gets to the dealer.
I have owned 4 other cars of various initial value. GASP! And two of them were American cars. I have had less problems on those 4 cars in total than this single BMW in the first 4 months.
I guess I consider myself lucky considering it COULD get worse. Some form of serious mechanical failure could be more bothersome, which is what I fear today.
O'well. I'll keep my fingers cross and hope for the best. I'm just starting to get the feeling that this BMW 530i is cursed.
John
1) Car was delivered to me with 6 (yes.. SIX) faults in the computer. The day after I bought it I had to return it to reprogram the computer, which took the better part of two days. On my drive home with my "new" car, I started noticing things on the display that should not have been there. Including warnings. Dealer's fault for not checking out the software revision before they delivered it to me.
2) A week later, on a coastal drive the computer informs me I have a flat tire. I pull over to a local gas station to check the air pressure. No problems. I limp it home (just in case my "run flat" tires are some how confusing me.) It turns out when they did #1 above, they did not bother to resetup the computer to my car's settings. Nice work! I resolved this tire pressure problem myself through the computer. Dealer's fault for not doing the setup. Although I was puzzled by the timing of this warning. It took a week for the computer to figure out something was wrong. My long drive would have raised the tire pressure.
3) Flat tire replacement, which due to circumstances outside of my control I had to purchase from my BMW dealer. Too bad they charge $500 for a $250 tire. I am not worried so much about the money, but 200% is silly. Dealer's fault for gouging people.
4) Air bags in doors have begun to rattle. I guess that is a German engineering solution to let you know that someone has not stolen them out of your door.
5) Radio/CD player has begun to intermittently fail, producing a steady stream of white noise mixed in with regular signal. Yes, it fails on CDs too. Fix this by shutting off the car.
6) Remote keys ocassionaly seem to lose settings.
7) Paint chips to bare metal very easily on edge of door. (very surprised about this one.) One very slight tap and *boom* a nice 2mm chip. I guess I need those hideous "grandma door guards". My fault..
8) Steering wheel as it lowers into position makes a lovely grumbling/knocking noise occasionaly. A future repair, I'm sure.
9) Now.. TODAY.. right rear wheel is "clunking". Tire actually looks VERY flat. It's on a flat bed back to BMW to fix. If it is flat, I'd guess that the Dunlop tires are a bad choice for city driving. You might consider that when you make a future purchase. Two flats in 4 months. Interesting. We'll see once it gets to the dealer.
I have owned 4 other cars of various initial value. GASP! And two of them were American cars. I have had less problems on those 4 cars in total than this single BMW in the first 4 months.
I guess I consider myself lucky considering it COULD get worse. Some form of serious mechanical failure could be more bothersome, which is what I fear today.
O'well. I'll keep my fingers cross and hope for the best. I'm just starting to get the feeling that this BMW 530i is cursed.
John