2004 BMW 530I electrical system problems
28 complaints about electrical system have been filed for the 2004 BMW 530I, which is 16% of all its NHTSA complaints. It is the 3rd most reported problem area for this model year.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 28 16% of this year's complaints
- Typical mileage
- 98,000 miles 23 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 7
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
When electrical system problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 5 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 23 electrical system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 98,000 miles, and 13% were reported before 60,000 miles.
These complaints mention 1 crash, 7 fires, 1 injury.
What owners wrote
While driving on highway I noticed a smell of burning matter rapidly increasing in the car, immediately followed by a sharp burning sensation in my right thigh. While half-standing I was able to maneuver my car to the highway shoulder. (which was very difficult to do safely, given the traffic was dense and moving with highway speeds.) after I pulled over, turned off the car, came out of the vehicle and looked at the seat, I noticed a burn mark on the leather, exactly where my thigh was when it got burned.
Passenger seat occupancy sensor failure. This failure has disabled the airbags on the passenger side of the vehicle. In the event of an accident, any passenger in the vehicle would not be protected by the airbags. There was a recall on my2004-2006 BMW 5-series models (along with numerous other models) for the passenger seat occupancy sensor. BMW of north america has advised me that my vehicle (per VIN) is not a part of the recall.