RoadVitals

1990 BMW 525I Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
11
Latest Aug 18, 2006
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
1
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Mar 11, 1997

What this page shows

Our database holds 11 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 1990 BMW 525I. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–11 of 11

Engine
Filed Aug 18, 2006

(1) MY 1990 BMW 525I STARTED TO OVER HEAT ON AUGUST 01,2006. THE TEMP GAUGE GOES UP 50% MARK. THE COOLANT LEVEL WENT DOWN EVERY DAY AND I FILLED IT UP WITH DISTILLED WATER TO CONTROL THE TEMPERATURE, HOPING THAT IT WOULD CORRECT ITSELF SOME TIME. (2) I COULD NOT DRIVE THE CAR ON REGULAR BASIS ANYMORE. WITHIN FEW DAYS, I SAW COOLANT OVERFLOWING AND SPRAY-OUT. FOLLOWING THIS, I NOTICED SLIGHT ROUGH IDLE AND VIBRATION. (3) REALIZING THAT DRIVING THE CAR WAS NO MORE SAFE, I CALLED WESTCHESTER BMW, WHITE PLAINS, NY. ON EMERGENCY BASIS, THE DEALER ACCEPTED THE CAR THE FOLLOWING WEEK FOR DIAGNOSIS. ON AUGUST 14 2006, THE DEALER CONCLUDED IT IS COOLANT LEAKING IN THE ENGINE AND OUTSIDE THE ENGINE. NO PARTS WERE REPAIRED AND REPLACED BECAUSE THE ENGINE WORK SPECIFIED BY THE DEALER WAS EXPENSIVE. I TOOK THE CAR BACK HOME. CAN NOT DRIVE IT ANYMORE. *JB

NHTSA ID
10165963
Incident
Aug 1, 2006
Mileage
140,201 mi
Exterior lighting
Filed Jan 20, 2004

CONSUMER COMPLAINED ABOUT THE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS. LIGHTS WENT OUT WITHOUT WARNING. THIS HAPPENED INTERMITTENTLY. *AK

NHTSA ID
10055439
Mileage
125,000 mi
Airbags
Filed Apr 29, 2003

WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH THE VEHICLES AIR BAGS DEPLOYED WITHOUT WARNING. *NLM

NHTSA ID
10017793
Engine
Filed May 1, 2002

WHILE DRIVING, COOLANT LEVEL WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND CONSUMER NOTICED WHITE SMOKE COMING FROM THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE, CONSUMER FOUND THAT WATER WAS IN THE OIL DUE TO A CRACKED HEAD, CONSUMER LATER RECEIVED RECALL 98V178. *SLC

NHTSA ID
565570
Incident
Jun 1, 2001
Steering
Filed Apr 2, 2002
Crash reported

I REALIZED MY CAR WAS WRECKED SEVERAL TIMES, IT'S A SALVAGED CAR, BUT SOLD AS NORMAL; THEREFORE OVERPRICED. *AK

NHTSA ID
760097
Incident
Mar 20, 2002
Brakes
Filed Feb 28, 2002

BRAKE LIGHT FAILED NO DAMAGE, DEALER WON'T HONOR RECALL #96V111000. *AK

NHTSA ID
758755
Incident
Feb 15, 2002
Engine
Filed Jun 8, 1999

RADIATOR CAP FAILED, CAUSING COMPLETE FAILURE TO RADIATOR. HOWEVER RADIATOR IS NOT COVERED UNDER RECALL NOTICE (98V-178). *YC

NHTSA ID
546010
Incident
Mar 1, 1999
Body & structureBrakesHeating & air conditioning+7 more
Filed Sep 1, 1998

INSIDE DOOR PANEL SEPARATED FROM THE DOOR.

NHTSA ID
539511
Incident
Jun 10, 1991
Airbags
Filed Nov 13, 1997
1 injury reported

CONSUMER WAS DRIVING 30 MPH WITHOUT VEHICLE COLLISION OCCURRING THE DRIVER'S AIR BAG DEPLOYED, CAUSING THE OCCUPANT TO BECOME INJURED. PLEASE GIVE ANY FURTHER DETAILS. *AK

NHTSA ID
818991
Body & structureBrakesHeating & air conditioning+8 more
Filed Jul 23, 1997

REAR DOOR WILL NOT OPEN FROM INSIDE.

NHTSA ID
515007
Incident
Jul 1, 1992
BrakesHeating & air conditioningElectrical+5 more
Filed Mar 11, 1997

BRAKE LIGHTS INOPERATIVE.

NHTSA ID
515859
Incident
Jun 1, 1991

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.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .