1996 BMW 5 Series 528i Automatic review from Spain

With 82000 km and excellent care, but without prior problem, the temperature needle went a little above the middle marking. When I reached my destination, about 8 km from home, the needle was at ¾. I turned off the motor and at that precise moment the needle jumped to the red level, steam started pouring out of the radiator and the radiator exploded, all at the same time.

I had to change the radiator, its deposit and cap, the thermostat, water pump and the motor (cylinder) head was damaged.

Official Dealer needed one month waiting time to take care of repair.

Knowing that I was attentive to the indications of the temperature needle and I did not drive the car at any time with the needle even slightly above the 3/4 mark (and the ¾ mark was reached only at the very end of two very short trips), I must ask the following questions:

1) How many things went wrong at the same time to cause such a massive problem?

2) Is it normal for a BMW to have so many things go wrong with it without any warning?

3) Why did it overheat so much so quickly?

4) Why did the temperature indicator needle only jump to red at the last minute?

5) If there was excessive pressure on the circuit, why didn’t the radiator cap fly off or a hose break?

6) Is there or is there not a safety measure in place on this BMW to stop the motor before massive damage can be done? If so, why didn’t it function?

7) Why and at what point was the cylinder head damaged? Why both the radiator and the head?

8) Why such a long wait for an appointment at the official BMW garages?

9) If the mediocre After Sale service at BMW forces me to go to other garages for repairs, what about any BMW warranty? Why should I pay in the future an overprice for the BMW garage? What is the added value for the client both in terms of the BMW brand car and its garages?

10) And, worst of all, since I don’t know how this chain of events happened, and even the BMW mechanic seemed baffled and the mechanic that worked on the car can’t explain it, how can I be sure it won’t happen again?

I believe that what happened to my car may well be attributed to a defect in manufacturing or in design. What is just not acceptable is that the indicators and safety measures that should have been in place on this luxury car did not perform and warn me of the impending damage.