Bmw 540i 1999
Model 540i made in 1999 by Bmw got 26 consumer complains as well as 1 recall. Consumer complaints with reference, among others things, to air bags and electrical system. There was one recall concerning electrical system . The car has 2 modeles with engines 4.4 and 4.4, guzzler.
Model 1999
| Engine [L] | Cylinders | Transmission | Drive | Estimate MPG (city/highway/combined) | Unadjusted MPG (city/highway/combined) | Fuel | Fuel cost | Class | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.4 | 8 | Lockup/automatic, 5 gears | R | 18/24/20 | 19.9885/30.8908/23.7624 | Regular | 862 | COMPACT CARS | |
| 4.4, Guzzler | 8 | Lockup/automatic, 5 gears | R | 15/21/18 | 17.2/26.8967/20.5308 | Regular | 959 | COMPACT CARS | |
| 4.4, Guzzler | 8 | Manual, 6 gears | R | 15/23/18 | 17.1994/29.1499/21.0902 | Regular | 959 | COMPACT CARS |
Recalls
| Campaign | Manufacturer | Manufacturing date | Type | # of units affected | Date Owner notified Mfg | Recall Initiated by | Manufacturers of recalled vehicles/products | Report Recieved Date | Record Creation Date | Regulation Part Number | FMVSS Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - BATTERY - CABLES | ||||||||||||||||
| 99V004000 | BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE | from 08/28/1998 to 09/22/1998 | V (Vehicle) | 1615 | 02/26/1999 | MFR | BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE | 01/04/1999 | 01/21/1999 | |||||||
| Defect Summary | Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. the thickness of the main positive electrical cable (generator to starter) insulation is less than specified, making it susceptible to being abraded or cut by the clip that secures the cable to the generator. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | The cable insulation can be worn away, exposing the wire. the wire could contact the clip or a short circuit could occur. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Dealers will apply a thickness of insulating tape to the cable in the area of the clip, and install a revised clip. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Owner notification began february 26, 1999.owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact bmw at 1-800-831-0117. also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-dash-2-dot (1-888-327-4236). | |||||||||||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIR BAGS - SIDE/WINDOW | |||
| 03/01/2001 | |||
| While consumer was driving at about 25 mph and passenger's air bag deployed. there was no accident. contacted dealer, and dealer was willing to replace air bag.*ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 04/02/2004 | 54000 | 25 | 08/01/2003 |
| During a down shift, my car sometimes jump forward a foot or so and makes a thump down shifting noise. this forces me to apply the break quickly. just a week ago, i hit a curve because of this defect and the bottom bumper cover of the car got hit and became cracked! luckily this problem is rare. this is about 4th failure in a span of 10 months. for about 10 months, my car also stalls (engine loses power) during a slowdown. usually this happens when i slow to make a right turn. i nearly got into an accident few times this month because my car stalled in an intersection during a turn. this occurs about 0-2 times per month and each time i take the car to the dealer, im informed that they see no problems or the problem is fixed. ive reported this complaint to bmw customer service and asked if they are aware of this problem. theyve told me no. | |||
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL | |||
| 05/01/2006 | 1 | ||
| At approximately 75k miles the bosch abs/traction control unit failed on my 1999 bmw 540i. a diagnosis from the dealer confirmed this to be true. a new unit was installed at the approx cost of $600. what is troubling is that every owner of a bmw 5-series from 1999-2000 seems to have had this part fail on them. actually, i have yet to meet owner who still has their original part. bmw of north america was less than helpful and denied a warranty claim (car was out of warranty) and did not feel that this integral control unit should be recalled despite statistics that show otherwise. this appears to be a safety concern since this failure leaves the traction control and abs suddenly inoperative. *tr | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM | |||
| 12/13/2005 | 60590 | 1 | |
| My son was driving home in rush hour traffic on connecticut ave. it was raining rather hard and visibility was low. my son all of the sudden smelled smoke coming through the vents and the engine shut down. it would not restart. he had to push it off the road into a service station due to the high volume of traffic. the car was towed that evening to my repair shop where it was diagnosed that the thermostat housing sensor failed which melted the wiring harness and damaged other electrical sensors on the engine. *tr | |||
| 11/07/2002 | 1 | 08/01/2002 | |
| This is a very common occurence. on the roadfly bulletin board of fellow owners, failure rate is almost 40% of respondents! typically after only 40 - 50k miles! dt | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - COOLING SYSTEM - RADIATOR ASSEMBLY | |||
| 04/07/2004 | 45000 | 2 | |
| Without warning a crack appeared in the radiator housing causing a loss of antifreeze. car was out of warranty. had to replace the part. same thing just happened again. *jb | |||
| 07/07/2004 | 58000 | 1 | 09/01/2003 |
| (1) normal driving conditions; noticed steam coming from under hood. 2) radiator's upper hose inlet cracked (plastic); car disabled (3) car out of warranty; no remedy from manufacturer. *ak | |||
| 08/23/2003 | 54000 | 1 | 01/28/2002 |
| Radiator failure at 54,000 miles. *ak | |||
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING - EXHAUST SYSTEM - EMISSION CONTROL | |||
| 12/13/2005 | 60590 | 1 | |
| My son was driving home in rush hour traffic on connecticut ave. it was raining rather hard and visibility was low. my son all of the sudden smelled smoke coming through the vents and the engine shut down. it would not restart. he had to push it off the road into a service station due to the high volume of traffic. the car was towed that evening to my repair shop where it was diagnosed that the thermostat housing sensor failed which melted the wiring harness and damaged other electrical sensors on the engine. *tr | |||
| LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | |||
| 08/15/2009 | 154000 | 1 | |
| My 1999 bmw 540i has had intermittent door unlocking failures for several years. the any of the four doors may suddenly become double locked so that neither the electronic buttons or any manual efforts will unlock/open the doors. fortunately not all of the door locks have failed at the same time, so occupants have been able to climb over and between seats to egress the car. mechanics say that the problem is relays in the general module (gm iii) which controls all of the door locks. in the past the problem would self-correct in a few hours or days. two weeks ago, one back door followed by the other a couple of days later locked and won't unlock. apparently, the crash sensor which tells the gm to unlock the doors in the event of a crash will not work. this failure traps occupants in the car. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 04/01/2002 | 03/01/2002 | ||
| On occasions when slowing, transmision downshifts hard maybe 2-1or 3-2-1 and even a thumb??and difficult to control at that time??*ak | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - ANTILOCK | |||
| 05/04/2007 | 72000 | 10 | |
| The driver owns a 1999 bmw 540i with 72,579 miles. over the past two months the disc bmw electronic stability control system icon and the amber abs and brake lights illuminated in one of two scenarios: (1) just after a new ignition cycle, (2) during normal driving. once these warnings illuminated the dsc, abs, and traction control systems become non-functional. until recently, the warnings would go out after 5-10 ignition cycles. now they were on continuously.*ak next to seatbelts, i strongly believe esc is the most significant development in automotive safety. as such, i find it very disconcerting the system on my vehicle has malfunctioned. researching the topic on the various bmw forums has lead me to believe my situation is not an isolated one; that many model year 1999-2000 5-series bmws have also been affected. esc malfunctions can have very negative impact on vehicle safety. in justifying the rationale for its recent mandate of esc, nhtsa estimates esc will reduce single vehicle crashes and rollovers by 34 and 71 percent, respectively. the agency estimates this technology will safe up to 9600 lives per year. please feel free to contact me if you require additional information. thank you. | |||
| 11/10/2005 | 66896 | 1 | 05/31/1999 |
| Abs warning and dsc light is on indicating failure of abs electronic module. abs and dsc is no longer operable. this is a safety issue since the car will no longer have abs and dynamic stability control system in operable condition. it is unknown if brake could be randomly activated by the failed abs module while driving. common failure on 1999 or plus 5-series bmw based on user discussion on internet. the failure is temperture related. the higher the temperture, the quicker the warning light will come on. *nm | |||
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC - ANTILOCK - CONTROL UNIT/MODULE | |||
| 01/14/2005 | 109000 | 365 | 03/25/2004 |
| I think this is ridiculous that the 60,000 dollar bmw 5 series with dsc and abs continually have abs control module failures. the part is obviously a design flaw and the company should be forced to repair or replace units free of charge. this is obviously a safety issue since the module failure causes the traction control and abs to fail. this is common in model years 98,99,and 2000. *nm | |||
| STEERING | |||
| 03/25/2011 | 176009 | ||
| Vehicle was driven at highway speed (55-60mph) and a loud metallic 'thunk' noise was heard as if something struck or bounced off the underside of the car. the serpentine drive belt was discovered to have come off the drive pulleys, and upon closer inspection the power steering pump was discovered to be loose. the upper mounting ear was broken, and the lower mounting bolt was missing entirely. it appears the break in the upper mounting ear cause the lower bolt to vibrate loose, and in turn the serpentine drive belt was dislodged. the result was sudden loss of power steering that nearly caused an accident when attempting to turn at low speed due to sudden and unexpected increase in steering effort. | |||
| 08/12/2010 | |||
| Started my car and heard a thumping noise and found out it was my belt being chewed up because the power steering pump brackets broke | |||
| SUSPENSION - AUTOMATIC STABILITY CONTROL (ASC) | |||
| 05/04/2007 | 72000 | 10 | |
| The driver owns a 1999 bmw 540i with 72,579 miles. over the past two months the disc bmw electronic stability control system icon and the amber abs and brake lights illuminated in one of two scenarios: (1) just after a new ignition cycle, (2) during normal driving. once these warnings illuminated the dsc, abs, and traction control systems become non-functional. until recently, the warnings would go out after 5-10 ignition cycles. now they were on continuously.*ak next to seatbelts, i strongly believe esc is the most significant development in automotive safety. as such, i find it very disconcerting the system on my vehicle has malfunctioned. researching the topic on the various bmw forums has lead me to believe my situation is not an isolated one; that many model year 1999-2000 5-series bmws have also been affected. esc malfunctions can have very negative impact on vehicle safety. in justifying the rationale for its recent mandate of esc, nhtsa estimates esc will reduce single vehicle crashes and rollovers by 34 and 71 percent, respectively. the agency estimates this technology will safe up to 9600 lives per year. please feel free to contact me if you require additional information. thank you. | |||
| TIRES - TREAD/BELT | |||
| 06/28/2003 | 40000 | 3 | 05/01/1999 |
| On 3 separate occasions tires experienced tread separation. this occurred on both rear tires. the cause of the tread separation was unknown, but the dealership indicated that this was a common problem with these model tires. *ak *nm | |||
Car dealers selling
| State | City | Zip | Name | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GA | ALBANY | 31705 | HENTSCHEL MOTOR CARS | 912-882-2040 |
| TX | EL PASO | 79928 | MACK MASSEY BMW | 915-774-2260 |