This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW 5 series. The contact stated that he smelled smoke while driving approximately 25-35 mph. The vehicle was driven to an independent mechanic where they advised him that the driver's side heated seat warmer burned a hole through the seat. The manufacturer was later contacted and they offered no assistance. The mechanic advised the contact that the seat warmer was defective and needed to be replaced. The contact did not receive any injuries. The heated seat warmer was disengaged as a temporary repair. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW 530I. The contact stated that the passenger side heated seat temperatures were inoperable. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer and they advised the contact that the heating mat on the front passenger seat would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they advised him that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA campaign id number: 04V575000 (seats:front assembly:seat heater/cooler) and no further assistance was offered. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000.
Seat heater on 2004 BMW 530I (E60) overheated and became very hot. Smell of burning. Resulted in black charring to the leather seat. No actual flames from overheating. Seat had previously caught on fire resulting in call to fire department to extinguish smoldering seat material. Entire seat was replaced in August, 2005, after prior recall remedy (NHTSA id number 04V575000) was supposedly completed.
While driving, the seat heater burned a hole in the leather seat, resulting in ignition of drivers clothing (leather jacket and suit coat), which caught fire. Attempts to extinguish the flames resulted in heat blisters and burns to drivers hands, damage to car, smoke damage, and damage to personal attire, loss of work hours, etc. The car was purchased certified pre-owned, however, the recall of the front seat heater was, obviously, not completed by the dealership prior to vehicle purchase.
We just purchased our BMW 545I in mid October. On November 13th while driving home from our son's home we smelled something burning. My husband soon realized that the driver's seat and his pants were on fire. We immediately turned off the seat heaters and was able to put the fire out. We were fortunate that no one was injured, and while a pair of pants were ruined, my husband did not sustain any burns. Our dealer immediately took the car back to the dealership and furnished me with another car to drive. I am now being told that the seat heaters are on national back order and do not know when my car will be fixed. I do not blame the dealer, but have to question if BMW is aware of a problem.
- Parker City, IN, USA
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The drivers side seat warmer caused a fire in my 2003 BMW 545. I was real lucky that I smelled a strange odor and was able to put the fire out after shutting off the seat warmer.
In may of this year I leased a brand new 530I BMW. While driving to work this morning using the heated seat, the seat along with my jacket and sweater caught fire. Thankfully I was not hurt but shaken up. The car has been towed to the dealer and they have been notified. I am concerned for the safety of others especially for those people how would not know what to do or how to react. My wife could have been driving the car with kids and who knows what could have happened. Any assistance on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Narberth, PA, USA