2002 BMW 530I

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 BMW 530I. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 15 MPH, THE HEATED SEAT WARMER WAS ACTIVATED TO A LOW SETTING WHEN THE SEAT BECAME EXTREMELY HOT. THERE WAS SMOKE AND AN ABNORMAL ODOR PRESENT. AS A RESULT, A HOLE BURNED THROUGH THE FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 76,000. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.

AT 78,600 MILES THE CHECK LIGHT ILLUMINATED. DIAGNOSIS WAS P0741 (BMW CODE 48) WHICH IS A FAULT WITH THE TORQUE CONVERTER CLUTCH (TCC). THIS FAILURE UNTIL CORRECTED RESULTS IN LOWER FUEL MILEAGE, AND A GUARANTEED FAILURE TO PASS THE EMISSIONS TEST DURING STATE MANDATED VEHICLE INSPECTIONS. ADD TO THIS THAT CONTINUED USE OF THE VEHICLE WILL LIKELY RESULT IN TRANSMISSION DAMAGE SINCE THE TCC LOCKUP CLUTCH IS SLIPPING RESULTING IN DEBRIS BUILDING UP IN THE FLUID. THIS FAULT IS DUE TO A DEFECTIVE TORQUE CONVERTER CLUTCH SEAL THAT BMW HAS A HIDDEN SERVICE BULLETIN ON. SEE SI 24 03 06 DATED FEBRUARY 2008. REPLACEMENT OF THE TORQUE CONVERTER IS EXPENSIVE. BMW DEALER QUOTED A BIT MORE THAN $3000 FOR THE REPLACEMENT. I'VE SINCE DETERMINED THROUGH A BMW FORUM THAT THIS ISSUE IS WIDESPREAD WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF FAILURES TAKING PLACE. I WAS TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT THE SEAL IN QUESTION HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED AND THAT FAILURE OF THE SEAL WILL LIKELY TAKE PLACE AGAIN IN THE FUTURE. *TR *KB

I RECENTLY PURCHASED A 2002 BMW 530I ON AUGUST 24, 2011 AND ABOUT THREE WEEKS IN TO OWNING THE VEHICLE THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. IT SEEMS THE CODE READS P0741 I.E. TORQUE CONVERTER SOLENOID CIRCUIT STUCK OFF. THE VEHICLE ONLY HAS 107K ON IT HOWEVER, DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE ANY MISFIRE OR TRANSMISSION ISSUES WHILE DRIVING. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO BMW FOR AN INSPECTION/CHECKUP TO BE SURE THERE WERE NO MAJOR ISSUES AND THEY GAVE IT A THUMBS UP HOWEVER, THIS WAS BEFORE THE CODE/CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ENGAGED ON THE DASHED BOARD OF THE VEHICLE. BASED ON THE SERVICE BULLETIN FOR BMW IT APPEARS THIS SHOULD BE COVERED SINCE IT'S A COMMON OCCURRENCE. I NEED TO FIND OUT HOW TO GET THIS PROBLEM RECTIFIED. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 BMW 530I. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHENEVER THE VEHICLE WAS EXPOSED TO RAINY CONDITIONS, WATER WOULD ENTER AND FLOOD THE VEHICLE THROUGH THE DOORS. THE WATER WAS ABLE TO ENTER THE VEHICLE THROUGH THE DOOR PANELS DUE TO THE MATERIALS THAT THE PANELS WERE MANUFACTURED FROM, AS WELL AS IMPROPER SEALING. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO HAVE THE FAILURE DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE, BUT OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 40,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 BMW 530I. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, A CLOUD OF SMOKE WAS EMITTED FROM THE HOOD AND THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT RESTART SO IT WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHERE THE CONTACT WAS TOLD OIL SEPARATOR FAILED, RESULTING IN A COMPLETE LOSS OF OIL. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE FAILURE OCCURRED THREE TIMES. AFTER EACH FAILURE, THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER TO BE REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 40,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 120,000.

I OWN A 2002 BMW 530I ,I HAVE REPLACED THE KEY 3 TIMES SINCE PURCHASING THE CAR AND NOW THE DEALER SAID ITS TIME TO GET A NEW ONE. TURNS OUT THAT THIS WILL NOT FIX THE PROBLEM WHICH HAS SLOWLY BEEN GETTING WORSE. THAT PROBLEM IS THE CENTRAL LOCKING SYSTEM IS BROKEN. YOU HAVE TO OPEN DOORS MANUALLY WITH EITHER THE KEY IN THE DOOR OR REACH OVER AND UNLOCK IT BY HAND. THE DOME LIGHT IS NO LONGER WORKING AS IS THE TRUNK UNLOCK FEATURE WHICH YOU HAVE TO DO BY PHYSICALLY INSERTING THE KEY IN THE LOCK THE DEALERS SAY THE COST TO REPAIR THIS IS IN EXCESS OF 900US$ ,AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE FOR THIS COMPONENT WITH NO GUARANTEE . *TR

I HAVE A 2002 BMW 530I WITH AUTO TRANSMISSION. TRANNY MODEL 5HP19. AT AROUND 85,000, SOMETIME IN MID-JULY 2006, I BEGAN TO HAVE AN INTERMITTENT (ON FOR MAYBE 300-500 MILES, THEN OFF FOR AROUND 7000 TO 10000 MILES) CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THE CEL CODE WAS ALWAYS DIAGNOSED AS P0741 - "TORQUE CONVERTER CLUTCH CIRCUIT PERFORMANCE OR STUCK OFF." SINCE 120,000 MILES, THE SAME CODE IS MUCH MORE FREQUENT, MAYBE 600-800 MILES BETWEEN TURNING ON-OFF. I HAVE CONTACTED MY BMW DEALERSHIP ABOUT THIS SINCE THE FIRST TIME IT OCCURRED AT AROUND 85,000 MILES, AND A FEW TIMES AFTER SINCE. THEY SAID THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NEED TO BE REBUILT AY MY COST, ALTHOUGH THIS IS A VERY COMMON OCCURRENCE AND THERE IS A SERVICE BULLETIN ON THIS. AFTER TALKING TO OTHER BMW OWNERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM, AND GETTING A COPY OF THE SERVICE BULLETIN, IT WOULD SEEM THAT THIS IS A COMMONLY KNOWN AND RECURRING PROBLEM THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIXED. I BELIEVE THAT BMW SHOULD FIX THIS PROBLEM AT THEIR COST, EVEN IF THE VEHICLE IS OF HIGH MILEAGE (AS MINE HAS 160,000 MILES NOW.) THE SERVICE BULLETIN SAYS THE PROBLEM IS A BAD TORQUE CONVERTER SEAL. HERE IS PARTIAL TEXT OF THE BMW SERVICE BULLETIN: THIS SERVICE INFORMATION BULLETIN SUPERSEDES SI 24 03 06 DATED FEBRUARY 2008. DESIGNATES CHANGES TO THIS REVISION SUBJECT ZF 5HP19 TRANSMISSION - DIAGNOSIS OF EGS FC 048 (30 HEX) MODEL E46: 323I, 325I, 330I WITH M52TU, M54, M56 AND ZF 5HP19 E39: 525I, 530I WITH M54 AND ZF 5HP19 E85: Z4 ROADSTER 2.5, 3.0 WITH M54 AND ZF 5HP19 SITUATION "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" IS ILLUMINATED AND FAULT CODE 048 "CONVERTER LOCK-UP EXCESSIVE SLIP" (30 HEX OR P0741) IS STORED IN THE EGS TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE. CAUSE POSSIBLE CAUSE: DETERIORATION OF THE TORQUE CONVERTER TURBINE SHAFT SEAL *END SERVICE BULLETIN TEXT* ALL I SIMPLY WANT IS BMW TO REPAIR THE PROBLEM AT THEIR COST. THE PROBLEM CAUSES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, WHICH PREVENTS ME FROM OBTAINING A CLEAR SMOG TEST ON MY CAR TO REGISTER IT. *TR