FaultScore report
Owners have filed 12 complaints about the 1994 BMW 530I with NHTSA between 1997 and 2009. The largest single group is the engine & cooling. Across this model's run it ranks 15 of 15 worst.
FaultScore 7/100
Higher is worse. Measured against the other years of the BMW 530I.
How this is worked out12
Complaints
0
Crashes reported
0
Fires reported
0
Injuries reported
The letter says how bad. This says what kind — whether this year drew an unusual number of complaints, unusually dangerous ones, or failures that arrived unusually early.
Click any bar to open that year's report.
Every complaint is filed against a part. Follow any row for the complaints about that part alone.
Median failure at 12,000 miles
A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single owner can see from inside their own car.
In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM:FAN
1994 BMW 530I ENGINE'S FAN CLUTCH SEIZED CAUSING THE FAN TO SHATTER VIOLENTLY. *NJ THE FAILURE OF THE FAN CLUTCH CAUSED EXTENSIVE AMOUNTS OF DAMAGE TO MANY COMPONENTS IN THE ENGINE BAY.
NHTSA complaint #10269249 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
DT: THE CONTACT BOUGHT A BMW. SHE COMPLAINED ABOUT ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. ON 4-26-05 SHE GOT INTO THE CAR AND CLOSED THE DOOR AND IT STARTED SMOKING. SHE COULD NOT GET OUT OF THE CAR. SOMEONE GOT IT STARTED. WHEN SHE ARRIVED HOME SHE TURNED IT OFF. WHEN SHE TURNED IT BACK ON VEHICLE STARTED TO SMOKE AGAIN. SHE CALLED THE DEALER, AND HE PROMISED FIX I, BUT IT NEVER WAS FIXED. SHE TOOK VEHICLE TO BMW. IT TOOK BMW 4 WEEKS TO CHECK THE CAR. SHE WAS TOLD BY BMW THE CAR WAS ONLY WORTH $1,500 AND THERE WAS $8,000 IN MINOR DAMAGES , AND OVER $10,000 IN MAJOR DAMAGES. SHE EVENTUALLY HAD TO GIVE THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER. SHE CLAIMED THE DEALER WAS TRYING TO SELL THE CAR TO SOMEONE ELSE.
NHTSA complaint #10133043 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
ENGINE BLOCK FAILS ON ALL M60 BMW V8'S FROM 1993-1995 CONTACT ME FOR DETAILS.
NHTSA complaint #742309 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEATS
SEAT ROCKS ON RAILS NOTICEABLY.
NHTSA complaint #718962 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM:RADIATOR ASSEMBLY
WATER PUMP WAS REPLACED. ALSO, THERMOSTAT WAS CAUSING THE RADIATOR TO OVERHEAT. ALSO NEEDED A RADIATOR CAP.
NHTSA complaint #856080 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM
WATER PUMP WAS REPLACED. ALSO, THERMOSTAT WAS CAUSING THE RADIATOR TO OVERHEAT. ALSO NEEDED A RADIATOR CAP.
NHTSA complaint #856080 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:CRUISE CONTROL
BMW WAS AWARE OF A PROBLEM WHERE SULPHER FROM US FUELS WAS CAUSING THE CYLINDER WALLS OF THE M60 V8 MOTOR TO DETERIORATE. APPARENTLY THEY USED A NEW METAL CALLED NIKASIL (ALUMINUM IMPREGNATED WITH NICKEL AND SILICONE). ONCE THE CYLINDER WALLS BECOME DAMAGED, THE PISTON RINGS CAN NO LONGER SEAL PROPERLY, CAUSING "LEAKDOWN" OR AIR TO ESCAPE PAST THE PISTON AS IT ATTEMPTS TO COMPRESS AIR INTO THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER. ALTHOUGH BMW KNEW OF THE DEFECT, THERE WAS NO RECALL ISSUED. THROUGH REASEARCH, AND TALKS WITH BMW MECHANICS, I FOUND THAT BMW HAS REPLACED THOUSANDS OF THE EFFECTED MOTORS. BMW EVEN EXTENDED THE WARRANTY PERIOD ON THE ENGINE TO 100K MILES. I OWN A BMW 530I WITH THE 3.0 LITRE M60 NIKASIL MOTOR. IT BEGAN HAVING PROBLEMS AT AROUND 96K MILES. I NOW HAVE 109K MILES. THE CAR RAN FINE, BUT HAD A ROUGH IDLE. APPARENTLY THIS IS A SYPTOM OF THE "LEAKDOWN" PROBLEM. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO GIRARD BMW TO HAVE IT TESTED. THEY CONFIRMED THE ENGINE HAD THE PROBLEM ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEFECTIVE ENGINE BLOCK. HOWEVER, WHEN I GOT MY CAR BACK, IT RAN VERY POORLY. BEFORE LEAVING THE DEALER, I TOLD THEM THAT IT WAS RUNNING WORST THEN WHEN I BROUGHT IT TO THEM. THEY INDICATED IT WAS DUE TO THE ENGINE BLOCK PROBLEM. I INFORMED THEM I WAS CONCERNED TAKING THE CAR FOR FEAR I WOULD GET STUCK SOMEWHERE. THEY ASSURED ME I WOULD NOT. TWO DAYS LATER, MY CAR WOULD NOT START. GIRARD HAD A TOW TRUCK PICK UP MY CAR. I HAVE RECEIPTS FROM A LOCAL GARAGE SHOWING THAT THE CAR WAS EXPERIENCING THE PROBLEM WHILE IT WAS STILL COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. AT THE TIME, I WAS UNAWARE THAT BMW HAD EXTENDED THE WARRANTY, OR THAT THERE WAS ANY KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH THE MOTOR, AS I RECEIVED NOTHING FROM BMW INDICATING SUCH. I DID RECEIVE OTHER RECALL INFORMATION ON THE CAR HOWEVER NOTHING REGARDING POTENTIAL ENGINE PROBLEMS. MY CAR IS NOW BARELY OVER THE WARRANTY PERIOD (9K MILES) AND BMW WILL NOT FIX IT.
NHTSA complaint #717162 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
BMW WAS AWARE OF A PROBLEM WHERE SULPHER FROM US FUELS WAS CAUSING THE CYLINDER WALLS OF THE M60 V8 MOTOR TO DETERIORATE. APPARENTLY THEY USED A NEW METAL CALLED NIKASIL (ALUMINUM IMPREGNATED WITH NICKEL AND SILICONE). ONCE THE CYLINDER WALLS BECOME DAMAGED, THE PISTON RINGS CAN NO LONGER SEAL PROPERLY, CAUSING "LEAKDOWN" OR AIR TO ESCAPE PAST THE PISTON AS IT ATTEMPTS TO COMPRESS AIR INTO THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER. ALTHOUGH BMW KNEW OF THE DEFECT, THERE WAS NO RECALL ISSUED. THROUGH REASEARCH, AND TALKS WITH BMW MECHANICS, I FOUND THAT BMW HAS REPLACED THOUSANDS OF THE EFFECTED MOTORS. BMW EVEN EXTENDED THE WARRANTY PERIOD ON THE ENGINE TO 100K MILES. I OWN A BMW 530I WITH THE 3.0 LITRE M60 NIKASIL MOTOR. IT BEGAN HAVING PROBLEMS AT AROUND 96K MILES. I NOW HAVE 109K MILES. THE CAR RAN FINE, BUT HAD A ROUGH IDLE. APPARENTLY THIS IS A SYPTOM OF THE "LEAKDOWN" PROBLEM. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO GIRARD BMW TO HAVE IT TESTED. THEY CONFIRMED THE ENGINE HAD THE PROBLEM ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEFECTIVE ENGINE BLOCK. HOWEVER, WHEN I GOT MY CAR BACK, IT RAN VERY POORLY. BEFORE LEAVING THE DEALER, I TOLD THEM THAT IT WAS RUNNING WORST THEN WHEN I BROUGHT IT TO THEM. THEY INDICATED IT WAS DUE TO THE ENGINE BLOCK PROBLEM. I INFORMED THEM I WAS CONCERNED TAKING THE CAR FOR FEAR I WOULD GET STUCK SOMEWHERE. THEY ASSURED ME I WOULD NOT. TWO DAYS LATER, MY CAR WOULD NOT START. GIRARD HAD A TOW TRUCK PICK UP MY CAR. I HAVE RECEIPTS FROM A LOCAL GARAGE SHOWING THAT THE CAR WAS EXPERIENCING THE PROBLEM WHILE IT WAS STILL COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. AT THE TIME, I WAS UNAWARE THAT BMW HAD EXTENDED THE WARRANTY, OR THAT THERE WAS ANY KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH THE MOTOR, AS I RECEIVED NOTHING FROM BMW INDICATING SUCH. I DID RECEIVE OTHER RECALL INFORMATION ON THE CAR HOWEVER NOTHING REGARDING POTENTIAL ENGINE PROBLEMS. MY CAR IS NOW BARELY OVER THE WARRANTY PERIOD (9K MILES) AND BMW WILL NOT FIX IT.
NHTSA complaint #717162 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS
WHEN TURNING STEERING WHEEL, THE FUSE WOULD BLOW. NO INTERIOR LIGHTING OR WINDSHIELD WIPERS, IF RAINING. THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS WOULD BE OUT. TAKEN TO DEALER & MECHANIC FOUND NOTHING WRONG THE FIRST 2 TIMES. FINALLY, THE 3RD TIME, THE PROBLEM (ELECTRICAL) WAS FOUND & REPAIRED.
NHTSA complaint #836336 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
TRANSMISSION FAILED RESULTING IN SLIPPING.
NHTSA complaint #604560 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE
ENGINE FAILED.
NHTSA complaint #604560 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:RECLINER
WHEN TRANSPORTING CARGO BEHIND REAR SEATS, IF CARGO HITS BACK OF SEATS, SEATS FLY FORWARD, HAPPENS WHEN SUDDENLY APPLYING BRAKES, DEALER READJUSTED LATCHES, SNAPPED LATCHES DO NOT HOLD, REFERRED BY GA STATE ATTORNEY, LEMON LAW..
NHTSA complaint #807109 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.