1999 BMW 528I: problems, recalls and reliability

“Tl* the contact owns a 1999 bmw 528i. While making a right turn, the driver's air bag deployed without warning or an impact. The contact sustained eye injuries that required medical attention. The contact was able to coast the vehicle over to the side of the road and called the bmw manufacturer. The vehicle was towed to an unknown bmw dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.”Owner report · Air Bags · Aug 2018

“I had been driving my 528i (bmw 1999) this past winter when I noticed the power brakes were no longer working. I had to depress the peddle with no assist, and while the car di eventually stop, it could have been unfortunate if my wife or daughter were faced with this condition suddenly. Power brake booster apparently went bad, water leaking in and freezing, fortunately no on e injured.”Owner report · Service Brakes · Dec 2015

“I recently used the jack in my 1999 bmw 528i for the first time ever a few days ago. The jack is not compatible with the car. It is labeled for 1997 and 1998 cars - not the 1999 I own. While jacking to remove a tire the jack popped of place with force and the car fell. Luckily I had not removed the tire. I contacted bmw customer relations and they refused to provide the correct jack. Bmw policy if to not address any issue after the 4year/50,000mile warranty is expired....even if it is a safety issue. Hopefully the NHTSA can address this safety issue with bmw usa. *tr”Owner report · Equipment · May 2011

“Tl* the contact owns a 1999 bmw 528i. The contact was attempting to park when the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward. She was unable to brake and crashed into tree. The contact was uninjured. The police were called but a police report was not filed. The vehicle was then towed to an independent mechanic and the manufacturer was contacted where they advised her that an engineer would be out to investigate the vehicle. The engineer removed the black box from the vehicle and came to the conclusion that the failure was not mechanical. The vehicle was not repaired and was deemed as destroyed. The failure mileage was approximately 171,900. The VIN was not available.”Owner report · Vehicle Speed Control · Sep 2010

“Bought a new car in 1999: 1999 bmw 528i at about 75,500 miles, the ABS module (bosch 5.7) failed. *** brake does not respond for a few second then ABS light is on *** - contacted a few other 1999 and 2000 bwm e39 owners, they all had the same issue with the ABS module. - sent the car to a bmw dealer at sterling, va. The dealer confirmed the ABS module needs to be replaced at a cost of $1000+. - dealer confirmed that because of the defective ABS module, ABS brake does not work. - contacted bmw northern america customer service. No recall has been issued for this problem. *tr”Owner report · Service Brakes, Electric · Jan 2008

“My asc and ABS warning lights came on, lost speedometer. Took to bmw mechanic who read codes and it read rear wheel speed sensor. Replaced sensor and speedometer did not work. Continued with mechanic on looking for solution and he concluded after talking to other bmw mechanics and going over the symptoms that it is the ABS controller that failed. So I have no ABS or traction control of speedometer until I can fix this. Major safety issue. *jb”Owner report · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · Jan 2006

“ABS controller failure. Speedometer stops working, odometer frozen, fuel gauge inoperative, no automatic steering control, no ABS protection for emergency stops. Known common problem yet bmw, to date, has issued no recall that I know of, as cars are out of warranty. *jb”Owner report · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · Dec 2005