2.3

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
68,711 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2013 BMW 550 engine problems

engine problem

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2013 BMW 550 Owner Comments

problem #9

May 302020

550 8-cyl

  • 72,343 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After having my BMW at the dealership for two weeks I had the low battery discharging message come on when I took the car home. The dealer also performed an oil change less than 1K miles prior to this problem. My battery died, luckily at exactly the time, I drove onto my driveway. The car just stopped. I'm just glad I wasn't on the highway or going faster speeds. I attempted to jump it and charge it but it wouldn't start. I had the car towed to the dealership and was told my engine had locked up and there were metal shavings in the oil filter and I need a new engine ($13,000). I don't know how this happened and the dealer can't tell me what caused this. I didn't get any warnings, car drove fine other than the battery discharging and your usual drivetrain malfunction message after the car wouldn't start. I'm trying to work with the dealership but I haven't gotten anywhere yet. This is a 2013 550I M sport with 72,343 miles on the car. The car has been kept up and is up to date on maintenance. I've read about issues with the N63 engine but I can't believe a car with 72K miles will just die. A car stalling out and stopping is not a good thing.

- Jessup, MD, USA

problem #8

Oct 182019

550

  • 80,000 miles
After having made several replacements to parts (e.g. all three fuel pumps) to this vehicle over three, the vehicle now requires a new engine due to the failure of a rod ring. The root cause for this failure remains unidentified, however BMW is refusing to identify and/or accept accountability to address this failure which requires an engine replacement (>$13000). Any vehicle of this age (~7 years old) and mileage (~80,000 mi.) should not require an engine replacement. Fortunately this issue occurred while traveling on urban roads at speeds less that 50 mph. Had this occurred at highway speeds, this failure could have been catastrophic for me, my loved ones and others. Additionally each failure (e.g. of fuel pumps and rod ring) has caused me to increasingly question the safety resulting from BMW's vehicles using these components. At this point in the absence of a remedy from BMW I am left with no choice by to file this complaint as I have tried everything possible with BMW.

- Oviedo, FL, USA

problem #7

Dec 132018

550

  • 75,353 miles
Pulled a NHTSA report on this vehicle and saw nothing dangereous about this vehicle until we got it inspected. We took the vehicle to athens BMW in athens, Georgia and the service advisor told us that they do not know how the vehicle made it to their shop. There were over 30 bolts and screws missing from the engine and in their words, "the engine was raising up like a heart beating out of its chest." We got a 2nd opinion from, euro auto pro in lilburn, Georgia and they confirmed the vehicle needed valve seals and the vehicle had been wrecked in the front. Neither was disclosed to us from the NHTSA nor the dealership where we purchased the vehicle. We were told by athens BMW that this vehicle should have never been sold to the general public in that condition. The vehicle is sitting in our driveway. We just purchased it on December 13, 2018. The owner of the dealership is refusing to take the vehicle back.

- Lula, GA, USA

problem #6

Nov 012018

550

  • 65,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

"takata recall" I have a 2013 BMW 550I xdrive M sport. It keeps on misfiring on cylinder number two and I have changed all 8 spark plugs and the injector for that cylinder. I also used octane booster and sea foam to clean the carbon out the fuel system. I don't know what else it could be if it's still misfiring on that cylinder. It starts up good and sometimes it starts up kind of hesitant. When I come to a complete stop after really going fast it starts to shake as I am stopped and when I go to take off it lurches sometimes. I have only had mechanics work on my car and can't find any other explanation as to why it's not functioning right.

- Fayetteville, NC, USA

problem #5

Aug 182018

550

  • 67,500 miles
I was driving my BMW 550 xi on the highway at 70 mph when I had what was termed by the BMW service technician as a "catastrophic engine failure". as I was driving down the highway at I suddenly lost all power to the drive train. I immediately had to take evasive action to avoid an accident as on a busy highway in Chicago and sudden loss of power is dangerous. I was able to get stopped at the side of the road and was unable to restart the engine. I then had the vehicle towed to BMW of orland park where the service technician dismantled my engine to determine the cause of the engine failure. The determination was made that indeed the engine had a "rod bearing failure" which caused the catastrophic failure. As I understand engines very well it is not surprising that an rod bearing could fail. Why I am filing this complaint is that this vehicle only had 67,500 miles on it and as I have now discovered, many other owners of this year make and model of vehicle are having the same "catastrophic failures" putting them in dangerous situations as well. As I continued to investigate this issue I have found that BMW na knows about this situation and has to date done nothing to either warn vehicle owners of this situation nor do anything about it. I do know that multiple rod bearing failures such as mine cannot be coincidence and need to be investigated as engine failures at high speeds are the most dangerous of all failures.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #4

Aug 082018

550

  • 113,665 miles
While drive below 30 mph, the front driveshaft broke and ruptured a hole in the engine's upper oil pan. The flexible joint or universal joint seized and broke the front part of the front driveshaft. Then the vehicle had metal in the engine oil and that has damaged the engine and the turbochargers. The vehicle is going to need a new engine, new turbochargers, and a new front driveshaft. The repair estimates are: New engine - $3800 turbo chargers - $1100 front driveshaft - $1500 auxiliaries parts - $1200 labor/repair cost - $7000 total cost - $14,600

- Dunlap, IL, USA

problem #3

Jun 152018

550

  • 115,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2013 BMW 550xi. While driving at any speed, the vehicle emitted smoke from the exhaust pipe without warning. The failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the BMW of roanoke dealer (2824 franklin rd sw, roanoke, va 24014, 540-274-2475) where it was diagnosed that the valve stem seal in the engine needed to be replaced. The technician also stated that the occurrence was a known failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the warranty was expired. The failure was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000. The VIN was not provided.

- Roanoke, VA, USA

problem #2

Jan 282015

550 8-cyl

  • 28,039 miles
The complaint is not a safety issue. It's a quality issue. BMW's N63 engine is evidently not well engineered. They have a "customer care package"' in place for those customers that complain to the service dept about their engines not running right. BMW is very careful to make sure customers do not view the repair as a recall. That said the amount of work required is extensive (takes more than 1 week to complete). From what I've read online the fix they have in place does not always work. I asked to be let out of my lease and put into a different vehicle with no penalty and was refused any accommodations. I'm writing because you should be aware of this engine issue (google N63 issues) encourage BMW to recall the cars and allow their customers to swap out vehicles if they choose to do so.

- Chesapeake, VA, USA

problem #1

Jan 232013

550 8-cyl

  • 1,500 miles
Engine continues to burn through oil approximately every 1,500 miles, which could leave the vehicle stranded and inoperable. It's unacceptable in a brand new vehicle.

- Calabasas, CA, USA

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