X5 vs. MDX 2001 MY recalls....

BMW and its X5

... and thank you for your link MDXLuvr - it was very revealing.

Since 1989, shortly after I purchased my 735 iL new, I realized that BMW was an abbreviation for Bring a Mechanic With you. Now with the X5 fires, you also have to bring a fireman with you. Or maybe X5 owners need to live next door to a fire station... hmmm. BMW should sell a fire extinguisher and an asbestos suit as options for the X-5.

The sad thing is that many people who purchase a BMW vehicle do so with the mistaken belief that these vehicles are safer because they have additional air bags and traction control which the MDX doesn't have, when in fact the X5 is much less safe than the MDX.

Not only does BMW make very unreliable vehicles, but the service that I received from both dealerships that are located in Alberta (the only 2 in the province) was horrible. People complain about Acura service - and I've read the posts - but the service that I got from BMW was very much worse. Here's just one example (a mere teaser for you). I came in for an oil and filter change at the BMW dealership in Edmonton. The dealer in Calgary was so bad that I didn't want to return so I got the oil changed in Edmonton. A few days later, I went on a drive to Spokane. Once I got to Spokane, the car ( 1989 BMW 735 iL) indicated an oil pressure problem so I pulled over and checked the oil level only to discover that the oil was about 4-5 inches over the "full" level. I went to a nearby Ford dealership since the BMW dealership was closed on Saturday. They got me in right away and drained out an estimated 4 quarts of oil! Those guys at the BMW dealership in Edmonton changed my oil then forgot about it and put in another 4 quarts, and sent me on my way without so much as checking the oil level! How's that for service? And that was just a sample of the poor service that I received on that $83,500 Canadian (list price) BMW vehicle. I wrote a 3 page-long letter to BMW about the mechanical and electrical problems that I had with the vehicle, but they didn't even bother to respond! Crappy service and an expensive unreliable vehicle is not a winning combination.

I have a late 99 BMW 328I with 55,000 miles on it and it has had zero recalls or problems to date.

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I'm happy to hear that you have enjoyed your 328I Mogur. However, if you check out the NHTSA's web site (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/), you will see that there are 25 records to be found under "consumer complaints" - including several injuries, 9 "technical service bulletins", and 2 safety "recalls" associated with your model-year BMW.

These modifications may already have been done to your vehicle without your knowledge. In fact, they did that to my 735 iL without my knowledge (or permission). I would take the car into the dealer for an oil change (or whatever), and only when I asked why they were taking so long, was I told that there were several "modifications" that BMW wanted them to do on my vehicle. One time, they changed steering components even though I never complained about any steering problem. The technician explained that others had experienced steering control problems so this was an "update" to correct the issue. This happened many times over the years. BMW didn't like to advertise the fact that their vehicles had defects, and refused to use the word "recall".

One of the 2 safety "recalls" listed for your vehicle is particularly worrisome Mogur, it states: "Defect Summary: IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE RETAINING CLIP THAT SECURES THE BRAKE BOOSTER PUSHROD TO THE BRAKE PEDAL ARM WAS NOT PROPERLY INSTALLED DURING PRODUCTION. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE CLIP TO DETACH FROM THE PIN ON THE BRAKE PEDAL ARM ALLOWING THE PUSHROD TO DISCONNECT FROM THE ARM.
Consequence Summary:
IF THIS OCCURS, BRAKING IS NOT POSSIBLE. "

The other safety "recall" states: Defect Summary:
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. THESE VEHICLES ARE BUILT WITH A SIDE AIR BAG SYSTEM CONSISTING OF DOOR-MOUNTED THORAX AIR BAGS (REAR DOOR AIR BAGS ARE OPTIONAL), A HEAD PROTECTION SYSTEM (HPS) FOR FRONT OCCUPANTS, A CENTRAL ELECTRONIC SENSOR AND DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM, LEFT AND RIGHT SATELLITE IMPACT SENSORS, AND ASSOCIATED WIRING. THIS SYSTEM IS UNDULY SENSITIVE TO CERTAIN NON-CRASH IMPACTS, SUCH AS CONTACTING LARGE POTHOLES OR CURBS AT SUBSTANTIAL SPEED.

Consequence Summary:
THIS COULD CAUSE THE SIDE AIR BAG AND HPS TO DEPLOY WITHOUT AN ACTUAL SIDE CRASH. IN ADDITION, THE BATTERY SAFETY TERMINAL (BST) WOULD ALSO ACTIVATE, DISCONNECTING THE STARTER CABLE FROM THE BATTERY. IN THIS CASE, VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WOULD CONTINUE TO OPERATE AND THE ENGINE WOULD CONTINUE TO RUB, BUT AFTER STOPPING, COULD NOT BE RESTARTED. "

Many injuries have been caused by the air bags deploying at an inappropriate time on your model-year BMW Mogur. I strongly suggest that you call your dealer immediately about both these safety "recalls" (and all the TSBs) involving your BMW for an explanation. After you do so, please let us know what their (BMW) excuse was for not informing you about these safety recalls (and TSBs). Meanwhile, may you find solace in the fact that no safety "recalls" have been issued on your Acura MDX.

If you look up the TSBs (NHTSA's web site) for the 1989 735 iL (the model I owned), you will find too many TSBs to count. There must be over 100! .

In general (averaging tens of thousands of vehicles), Honda (Acura) makes vehicles that are far more reliable than BMW does (source: Consumer Reports 2002 Annual Auto Issue); and the odd lemon that Honda (Acura) puts out doesn't change that fact.

I rest my case.

BMW

...what does BMW stand for?

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Okay, here goes:

- on a trip: Bring Mechanic With you

- my BMW was a: Broken Monster Widget

- it: Brings Mechanics Work

- it had: Broken Metal Welds

- it almost: Broke My Wallet

- it never: Brought Me Wealth

- nor even: Brought Me Women

- even though I had: Been Months Waiting

- but it: Beats Me Why

- it was such a: Bondo Mud Wagon

- all in all, it was a: Brutal Money Waster




At any rate, my BMW was so unreliable that I hope it wasn't recycled because the disease it had (BMWosis) could have spread to the new vehicles. Hey, maybe that's why the X-5 has such poor reliability.

Now back to the X5 and its problems...

This missive was posted on the bimmer.org web site:

"Merrily driving on the exit ramp from FDR Drive to the UN Garage (49th Street Exit), when suddenly... all air bags on the driver's side began to pop. Front, Rear, 5 in all. No accident. Did not hit anything. No apparent/obvious reason. Car ground to a halt; will not move - right in the middle of the road. Luckily, I was already close enough to the UN Garage entrance to summon the UN Security Personnel on the radio. Car was pushed aside to allow others to pass. Got on the emergency link and got in contact with BMW Road Assistance. Car was towed to BMW of Manhattan. They are looking it over, and will tell me their findings. Cursory inspections suggests nothing could have caused it. No scratches, no bumps, no nicks, no nothing! Arrrrrgh! "

Another poster replied with:
“I have been reading about this on several other BMW sites as well. Seems to occur occasionally, and is very serious, IMO. If it happened to me, I think I would wreck or have a heart attack. I hope they find the cause and recall all BMWs to fix this. I have never heard of other car manufacturers having multiple spontaneous deployment of airbags. Seems to be a BMW-electronic-glitch-kinda thing, and very serious.
Reporting to NHTSA will allow them to correlate similar reports.”


Apparently, this problem has also occurred on other X5s and this particular incident has just been reported to the NHTSA.