1989 BMW 5 Series Problems
Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component
Data refreshed
What this page shows
Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 1989 BMW 5 Series, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Reports by component
Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category
- Driver assistance1100.0%
Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.
Each component in detail
What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words
Driver assistance
Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems.
From owner reports, verbatim
MY MOTHER ENTERED A PARKING GARAGE AND WE SUSPECT THAT THE CAR ACCELERATED AS IT HAD DONE IT BEFORE. SHE HIT A WALL AND WAS KILLED. SHE WAS QUITE COHERENT AND AN EXPERIENCED DRIVER. SHE WAS DRIVING A 1989 BMW 500 SERIES. IT WAS NEVER PROVEN BUT THERE WAS A PROGRAM ON 20/20 WHERE THIS SAME THING HAPPENED AND THE DRIVER HIT A TREE AND SOME CHILDREN WERE KILLED.. HAVE THERE BEEN OTHER SIMILAR REPORTS WITH BMW? *TR
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Elsewhere on this vehicle
Data sources
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — owner-reported complaints and the components recorded on them
Data on this page last refreshed .