my530i

After 13 mos (20Kmiles) owning my first BMW, I found the followings:
1. Restraint system fault (Opened)
2. Air bag sensor fault (Opened)
3. Slow throttle respond (Opened)
5. Transmission to shift to highest gear at low speed (6th gear at 40mph, for example) (Opened)
6. Headlight brackets cracked. Fixed
7. Static noise once in a while. Gone after CIP 13.2 updated
8. Rainsensor responses slowly
9. Trunk opened warning once in a while
10. Steering column never get back to where it was

This is a real BMW which has reputation of having electrical problems. I want BMW to buy my car back.

juan2mini

15 months, 14,000 miles and I don't have any problems or complaints. Just went on a nine hundred mile snowboard trip, the car was perfect. Granted the roads were clear of snow. The 545i engine, 6-speed manual transmission. Logic 7 sound system, sports package are all I could ever want in an automobile. This is my 8th BMW and it is the best one yet.
My .02.

ISUK

15 months in and just over 20k miles. Engine replaced under warranty at 16600 miles following throttle butterfly assembly collapsing and being sucked into a cylinder. I've had two software upgrades to rectify a fault with navigation system and to initiate TMC functionality.

What would I change?

The dealers knowledge of this car - we (on this board) know more about it than they do.

Interior quality - the interior plastics seem very susceptible to temperature fluctuations. My dash and doors squeak every time the temperature drops below 5 deg C : the plastic appears to contract leaving tiny gaps where it flexes against the body when on the move causing the squeaks.

The run flat tyre monitor system is poor. On such an expensive car not having proper tyre pressure monitors or even a system which lets you know WHICH wheel is flat is poor IMHO. Renaults which cost a third the price of this car have such a system.

Headliner colour - BMW get your act together and offer anthracite from launch please. You failed to do this with the E60 and now you've done it to me with the E90. When I ordered the Auburn interior I wanted a two tone look, not three tone with the grey headliner. How difficult could this be for you to do??

More colour choices for the interior and exterior - why offer buyers such a limited colour choice and why can't I have the two tone look interior I have with the auburn with either beige or grey instead? It's a more modern look so why can't you offer the choice - you do on the Mini??

Cupholder - driver's side cupholder broke. I couldn't be bothered taking it back to the dealer so I took it apart and repaired it myself. The design of the spring on this item is laughable. I wish we had the choice to delete cupholders in the UK that some of our European neighbours have. The dash looks much better IMHO without the horrid ridgline and poorly matched colour and surface texture of the cupholder doors relative the area of the dash they sit in.

Other than than that it has been a good car but not a great one. Full marks for the diesel engine though (apart from the throttle failure that is). Superb performance and good economy.

DXXXi

I got my car one year ago last Sunday. Here is my list. I am very happy with my car and don't really have anything that I find unacceptable in day-to-day driving. I don't think I will be an early adopter of BMW products again unless the Bluetooth fiasco for pre-March 04 E60s is resolved however.

Open issues
1. Air Conditioner emits foul odour since new (Chronic)
2. Some squeeking noise from seal on Passenger Door (Frequent)
3. Some rust on wheel bearing housings (Chronic)
4. Bluetooth module does not appear to be coming (Chronic)
5. Significant Radio Static AM and FM (Replaced radio, New AM antenna to be installed Tuesday)
6. Acceleration response delay (Frequent)

Resolved issues
1. Rear shelf speakers barely audible (Chronic) - working normally (I think)
2. Passenger Cup holder sticking (Chronic) - replaced
3. Driver window does not close (Sporadic) - replaced winder
4. Key does not remember settings sometimes (Sporadic) - S/W
5. Recall for emissions - S/W
6. Steering wheel not moving out of way automatically (Frequent) - replaced module
7. Steering wheel position control not working properly (Sporadic) - replaced module
8. Prog. St. Wheel button (Recirc) doesn't work after other key used (Sporadic) - replaced module
9. I-drive displays "Car Phone" instead of RDS (Chronic) - S/W
10. CD does not pause when mute button used (Chronic) - S/W
11. Rest feature in heating system not working (Sporadic) - S/W
12. i-drive screen takes several seconds to come on (Sporadic) - S/W
13. General recall for seat heaters - Installed fix
14. Restraint system fault - replaced module

soc_fans

I had this car for 8 months already. It's 11000 miles, i think it has a pretty high mileage already. Well, just one complaint for my car... the engine!

alohalc

have mine almost 8 months.

major complaint: my dealer !
other issues: throttle lag. (hope kscarrol is right about the latest software update will improve it.)
driver's side wiper rattles

Guest

Not enough women doing a double take at my car.

Mark-Yorkshire

My 520 is 1 year old ( build date - reg. date 01.03.04 ) and 7,050 miles. I have owned many new BMW's previously and have been pleased with my current E60. Initially I had creaks from seat recliner mechanism which dissapeared after a few weeks never to return. I also found throttle lag at low revs disconcerting at first but seem to have adjusted my driving style to avoid this occuring. Other than those items I have been very pleased with build quality ( hope my new one is going to be as good ). The ride quality on 17" 116 alloys with Dunlop Run flats has been very good - no noise ( so far ), very smooth and better ride quality than my previous Audi A4 2.4 Sports Cabrio (2003 ). I cannot understand why run flats receive so much criticism ( I'm sure a blow out at 80 mph on the motorway would make detractors think again ).
Mark-Yorkshire

Iceman

Hey, you know what?
After I have seen this on your car I took a look at mine. And guess what... It does it too.
But not as much as yours, it's barely noticeable and it works perfect and doesn't make noise. And even now that I know it, I still don't look at it, so it doesn't annoy me.
Yours is worse, but it's funny mine is also doing it, just not as much as yours, thank God.

alohalc

mine works fine and no noise but just rattles .