1994 BMW 5 Series 530i from North America - Comments

Engine block losing compression.

DME blown.

All brakes.

All ignition coils.

Valve cover gaskets.

Intake gaskets.

Thermostat housing.

Power seats.

Heated seats.

This car has way too many things that can go wrong with it.

Everything is ridiculously expensive to fix.

The engine in this car is make of a compound called nikosil. The compound is affected by a high sulfur count in American gasoline, which causes the cylinders to be eaten away. BMW knows about the problem with the engine block and only fixed it (under warranty) if it happened within 5 years or 100,000 miles. This is over a 4000 dollar repair to change the short block if you have to pay it yourself. I bought this car without knowing this and my car had just gone out of the warranty from BMW to fix it. So now I have this to worry about plus the 4000 dollars it cost me to fix the rest of the stuff.

I too had a 530 and was fortunate to have my BMW dealer replace the block while the car was under extended warranty (replaced at 73,00 miles). You may try to call BMW corporate offices and notify them of your problem. There have been cases where they will cover the cost. Once you get the new block in, you will indeed enjoy the smooth and fairly responsive acceleration.

Money pit is right. You would think that for the kind of money these cars command that the quality would be better.. much better. The power steering hoses leaked, the trunk leaked, a wiper rubbed against the rim of the hood, the plastic cover on the driver seat belt cracked off, the hood opening lever snapped off... the up-down mechanism on the headrests froze up, and a water pump failure at about 55K miles...

All this stuff cost a fortune to fix, so I ditched it...

I must say in its defense that it was a blast to drive, fast smooth and handled beautifully. I just wish the other parts were built better. When it was new, it was at the dealer a LOT for warranty fixes... Fun to drive, but a pain in the butt...