Owner-reported complaints naming the engine system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2006 BMW 530XI submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 10 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
The contact owns a 2006 BMW 530XI. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer had not been made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2006 BMW 530XI. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
STALLS OUT, SKIPS, HESITATES, ETC., PCV VALVE RECALL THIS OCCURS WHEN DRIVING THE CAR ON STREETS, HIGHWAYS ETC., WHEN DRIVING THE CAR. *TR
TAKATA SEAT BELTS ISSUE WITH FRONT PASSENGER SIDE.
BROKEN HEAD BOLTS AT 85K MILES IN NORMAL USE
HEAD BOLTS TO THE ENGINE ARE MADE OF ALUMINUM. THESE BOLT THE UPPER PORTION OF THE HEAD GASKET. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM. AT LEAST 1 ALUMINUM CYLINDER HEAD BOLT IS BROKEN AND THERE MAY BE 3 MORE BROKEN IN MY CAR. IT IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THIS E61 TOURING VEHICLE. BMW HAS DESIGNED AN ALUMINUM HEAD BOLT THAT IS KNOWN TO BREAK AT THE TENSIONS THEY SPECIFY IN THEIR MANUALS WHEN THEY CREATED THE CAR. CURRENTLY, UNLESS THE BROKEN BOLT PIECES ARE RECOVERED THE ENGINE MAY HAVE COMPLETE FAILURE WHILE DRIVING AND CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. IN ORDER TO REPLACE THE BROKEN BOLT, THE DEALER MUST CHECK THE 3 ADDITIONAL BOLTS AND RECOVER THE BROKEN BOLT PIECE SOMEWHERE IN THE ENGINE AND THIS REQUIRES A MINIMUM OF 7 HOURS OF LABOR PLUS THERE NEEDS TO BE A NEW HEAD GASKET BECAUSE THE VALVE COVER MUST BE REMOVED TO RETRIEVE/VIEW THE HEAD BOLTS. $3800 AT AN INDEPENDENT DEALER FOR A KNOWN DEFECT BY BMW. *TR
THE ALUMINUM HEAD BOLT NEAR THE OIL FILTER HAS SHEARED OFF CAUSING A SUBSTANTIAL OIL LEAK IN THE SAME AREA AS THE SHEARED OFF BOLT. I HAVE CONTACTED THE BMW DEALERSHIP ABOUT THE ISSUE AND THEY ADMITTED THAT THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE WITH THE N52 ENGINES. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IN 3 YEARS THAT THE ALUMINUM BOLTS HAVE FAILED. THE FIRST TIME RESULTED IN A NEW VALVE COVER AND GASKETS. THE RECENT CHINA BMW BOLT DEFECT RECALL (HTTP://WWW.BLOOMBERG.COM/NEWS/2014-04-02/BMW-TO-RECALL-232-098-VEHICLES-IN-CHINA-FOR-BOLT-DEFECT.HTML) SEEMS TO HAVE THE SAME BOLT DEFECT AS THE N52 ENGINES. I EXPECT THERE SHALL BE A RECALL FOR THIS DEFECT. *TR
WHEN I DRIVE MY CAR BACK TO HOME, SUDDEN NOISE FROM THE FRONT OF THE ENGINE AND FOUND OUT THE POWER STEERING PUMP AND BELTS WERE OFF AND SHEARED OFF SOME BOLTS AROUND THE HOLDING. AFTER THE REPAIR AT THE TIME ON 5/1/2012, ENGINE STARTS DISCOVERING OIL LEAK AROUND THE FRONT CYLINDER HEAD HOUSING. KEEPING THE OIL LEVEL UP TO THE REQUIRE LEVEL FOR THE PAST YEAR. AS OF TODAY 11/21/2013, I DISCOVERED THE REASON WHY THE CYLINDER HEAD HOUSING IS LEAKING OIL IS 2 SHEARED OFF BOLTS ON TOP OF THE HEAD HOUSING. I DRIVE NORMALLY AND ALUMINUM SCREWS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR A HIGH PERFORMANCE CAR AND IT BROKE OFF THAT EASY WITH NORMAL DRIVING CONDITION. *TR
BMW OVER-TORQUED THE FOUR CYLINDER HEAD BOLTS ON ALL N52 ENGINES DURING MANUFACTURE, INCLUDING MY CAR. THE BOLT HEADS ARE POPPING OFF ON ALL THE CARS, RESULTING IN POTENTIAL CATASTROPHIC ENGINE DAMAGE AT SPEED AND MINIMALLY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN REPAIR COSTS. THE ISSUE IS A WELL KNOWN DEFECT IN HOW BMW BUILT THESE ENGINES (AFFECTING MANY, MANY 5 SERIES CARS) BUT IS TAKING ABSOLUTELY NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS. THIS IS NOT A MAINTENANCE ISSUE OR ANYTHING OWNER-RELATED -- IT'S PURELY A MISTAKE BY BMW THAT THEY REFUSE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR AND TO COVER REPAIR COSTS. THEY CORRECTED THE SPECS THE FOLLOWING YEAR AND DON'T TORQUE THE BOLTS AS MUCH, BUT ARE LEAVING PREVIOUS OWNERS OUT TO DRY FOR SOME $3000-5000 IN REPAIR COSTS. PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO MAKE BMW TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND TO RETRO-ACTIVELY REIMBURSE PEOPLE FOR THIS MISTAKE OF THEIRS. THANKS. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 BMW 530XI WAGON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT A PRIVATE MECHANIC ADVISED THAT FOUR BOLTS WERE DETACHED FROM THE ENGINE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED BUT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 101,000.
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.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .