2008 Bmw 5 SERIES - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2008 BMW 5 Series Wagon w/SAB has not been rated for overall safety by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). However, it received a 3-star rating for the front crash driver side and a 5-star rating for the front crash passenger side. The overall side crash rating is also not rated, but it received a 5-star rating for both the driver and passenger sides in side crash scenarios.

This BMW 5 Series is equipped with standard electronic stability control, which is an important safety feature that helps drivers maintain control of the vehicle during challenging driving conditions. It does not have a forward collision warning system, but it offers an optional lane departure warning feature.

In terms of recalls and complaints, this vehicle has had 7 recalls reported and 424 complaints. It's essential for owners to stay informed about recalls and address them promptly to ensure the safety and performance of their vehicle. The number of complaints should also be considered, although it is important to investigate the nature of these complaints to determine their severity and impact on safety.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

424

Recall Count

7

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2008 BMW 5 Series Wagon w/SAB Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2008 BMW 5 Series Wagon w/SAB

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

Optional

2008 BMW 5 Series Wagon w/SAB Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2008 BMW 5 Series Wagon w/SAB Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2022 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating Not Rated 3 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2022 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated 5 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2022 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 4 Not Rated
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Complaints for the 2008 Bmw 5 SERIES

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2008 bmw.the contact stated that he was getting ready to drive the vehicle, however when he started the vehicle, the abs and check engine lights illuminated.the contact stated that he noticed the vehicle was overheating and turned the vehicle off.the contact heard an unusual sound which came from under the hood.the contact inspected and noticed that the coolant reservoir lid had detached and dented the hood due to the vehicle overheating.the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer.the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided no assistance.the failure mileage was approximately 65,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-09-03
Complaint:
"on march 24, 2022 i bought a 2008 bmw 528xi vehicle from mercedes westwood, ma. unfortunately, this car is not drivable because it needs a new transmission. it hasn't even been a year yet. the check engine light came on after the second day of purchase . now i needed a new engine. mercedes of westwood ma sold me faulty car (lemon)."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2024-02-03
Complaint:
"the contact owned a 2008 bmw 528i. the contact stated that after parking, the vehicle flames were suddenly present coming from under the hood. the contact attempted to extinguish the flames but was unsuccessful and the vehicle was destroyed along with a second vehicle parked nearby. the fire department and police were called to the scene and reports were taken. during the incident the contact suffered smoke inhalation which required medical treatment. the cause of the failure was not determined. the local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure. the contact later received a recall noticed for nhtsa campaign number: 22v119000 (engine and engine cooling). the contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the recall. the failure mileage was 210,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-09-02
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2008 bmw 535i. the contact stated while driving at 30 mph, when warning message of "engine hot and drive moderately" was illuminated on the instructional panel. the contact was able to park on the side of the road and then saw smoke exiting the front passenger side of the hood. the contact was able to extinguish the fire with a bottle of water she had in hand. no fire or police report was filed. the contact was currently waiting to have the vehicle towed to her residence. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired as of yet. a dealer was not contacted. the manufacturer had not been informed of failure. the failure mileage was 138,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2020-04-11
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2008 bmw 528xi. the contact stated while approaching a stop sign, he started hearing an abnormal noise. the contact stated no warning light was illuminated. the contact drove to his destination. the contact stated he was an independent mechanic. while inspecting the vehicle, he became aware that the pvc hose needed to be replaced. the vin was associated with nhtsa campaign number: 17v683000 (engine and engine cooling). the vehicle was taken to local dealer critz bmw located at 7009 abercorn st, savannah, ga 31406, (912) 354-7000, and the dealer was made aware of the failure. the dealer declined to complete the recall repair. the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. the manufacturer was informed of failure. the failure mileage was approximately 150,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2020-01-09
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2008 bmw 5351. the contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle shuddered without warning. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. the contact was informed of a misfire cylinder # 2. the vehicle was not repaired. an unknown dealer was contacted and stated the vehicle was not subjected to a recall. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 200,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2022-05-02
Complaint:
"i was driving in the highway when my bmw started shaking and when i pulled over to the side and opened my hood the engine was on fire."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2021-01-09
Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2008 bmw 528ix. while driving at an unknown speed, smoke appeared under the hood. there was no warning indicator illuminated. the vehicle was not coasted over to the side of the road. the contact called bmw of the hudson valley at (844) 865-8595 (located at 2068 south rd, poughkeepsie, ny 12601) and was informed that an appointment for diagnostic testing would be available sometime in march of 2019. the vehicle was not taken to a dealer. the vehicle was not repaired. the contact received a recall notice for nhtsa campaign number: 17v683000 (engine and engine cooling). the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 198,278."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2018-09-11
Complaint:
"driving if freeway 65 mph, all the sudden car stalled lost power i drove it off the freeway the steering wheel was very hard to turn, try to startup the car did not start called aaa for tow truck after 15 min i start the car, start fined and no problem, to bmw usa made appointment with bmw dealer 4 days later was available for service, the day before my appointment, after dropped my daughter the car stalled in middle of the street cause bad traffic called tow truck again waited after 15 min started everything was fined but i tow it to bmw dealer to check it. idrive should fuel pump once flashed. this is very dangerous ."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2019-04-10
Complaint:
"the electric water pump failed. the system did not show any visible warning on the dashboard at time of failure even though the ecu registered a failure code internally when it detected that the pump had stopped working (as compared to mileage/timestamps from diagnostic codes at the time of failure). some time later suddenly the system displayed an engine overheat warning and lost power in the middle of the road. driving at about 35-40mph on a local highway."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2019-03-09

Recalls for the 2008 Bmw 5 SERIES

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"bmw is recalling certain model year 2004-2010 5-series, model year 2004-2010 6-series, model year 2006-2010 m5, and model year 2007-2010 m6 vehicles. the insulated bulkhead connector for the positive battery cable may have been incorrectly attached to the trunk floor panel, which can lead to a loosening of the bolt connection. as it loosens, an increase in electrical resistance at this cable connection is possible and could cause the cable connection to overheat."
Consequence:
OVERHEATING COULD LEAD TO A FIRE, EVEN WHILE THE VEHICLE IS NOT IN USE. AS A PRECAUTION, OWNERS ARE ADVISED TO PARK OUTSIDE UNTIL THE REMEDY HAS BEEN MADE.
Remedy:

BMW WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND SECURE THE BATTERY BOLT CABLE CONNECTION AS NECESSARY, FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON APRIL 30, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT BMW CUSTOMER RELATIONS AND SERVICES AT 1-800-525-7417.

Component(s) Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM > 12V/24V/48V BATTERY > CABLES
Date of incident: 2012-03-26

BMW Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

BMW ranks 12 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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