1999 BMW 5 Series 540i review from Australia and New Zealand

Month 1:

- EGR breather valve failed - caused awful engine noise and plumes of oil smoke from the exhaust AU$373

- Radiator / Fan - radiator exploded, fan damaged AU$1,370.50.

Month 2:

- Ignition switch - engine and all electrics died while driving at night on a busy road with no stopping lane, no brake booster, no power steering, no lights, no hazard lights. scary stuff. AU$212.10

- Radiator hose blew, coolant poured from the driver side of hood showering the car in hot coolant AU$270.45.

Month 4:

- Air flow meter failed, causing backfires and rough running and "engine failsafe program" message AU$747.00.

Month 6:

- Alternator failed. bizarre water cooled type, part alone AU$2300 from BMW. AU$2,568.35.

Month 8:

- Main battery harness, battery connectors, some other wiring problem: caused a host of gremlins in the cars electrics - error messages, radio behaving strangely, unusual beeping sounds, engine cutting out without warning, cd stacker changing discs spontaneously, dashboard behaving erratically $1531.00.

Month 9:

- ABS relay, dry joints in ABS relay caused ABS/traction control to malfunction. AU$380.00.

10 months and AU$7,452.40 in failures, with more to come. Transmission requires a rebuild (apparently AU$1-2k or more).

Performance and handling is amazing. Goes like a rocket in a straight line and handles superbly for a full sized sedan.

The constant need for non-maintenance repairs is tiresome, and repairs are rarely anything short of expensive. Part availability can be a problem, I had to wait 2.5 weeks for a radiator.