Bmw E36 2003

• Recall 50916 [USA]: Lack of amber side reflectors in the lamps will decrease lighting visibility to other drivers and may possibly result in a vehicle crash
  Certain aai motorsports combination lamps sold as replacement lamps for use on the above list passenger vehicles. Combination lamps not equipped with amber side reflectors fail to conform with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment."
  aai motorsports will notify owners and replace the lamps free of charge. The recall began on august 1, 2006. Owners may contact aai motorsports at 909-923-9188.
  this recall only pertains to aai motorsports aftermarket lamps and has no relation to any original equipment installed on the listed passenger vehicles.For more information on the lamp model numbers, click on document search and view document titled "lamp model numbers."customers may contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty: 1-800-424-9153); or go to http://www.Safercar.Gov.

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To ensure accuracy and for your safety, it is recommended to do a free VIN recall check here or here [USA] - UK - Canada.

Bulletins are notices put out by manufacturers in conjunction with the NHTSA to notify the public of manufacturing issues or changes.

2003 bmw 525i with 56k miles. Driver seat heater was turned on while the engine was warming up and few seconds later, one spot on the seat started smoking and burning a whole. The engine and heater was turned off immediately which prevented the fire from spreading. Notified bmw north america and dealer agreed with full seat replacement. *tr

Double vanos system on several models of bmw from 1999 to 2006, have defective vanos systems. The e39 double vanos (variable valve timing unit) has a malfunction problem. This double vanos can be found on 6-cyl engines m52tu, m54, and m56, found in several model cars, e39, e46, etc, years 99-03. The malfunction symptoms are almost all subtle and mostly go unnoticed. They include lower gas mileage, lower performance, degraded emissions control, and possibly others. The m52tu engine (99-00) has one further malfunction symptom which is far from subtle. It occurs on cold weather cold engine starts and takes the form of repeated engine attempted stalls and possibly a complete engine stall. The engine rpms drop dramatically and then recover. This then repeats after a few seconds of steady idle. The problem can be more definitively diagnosed by disconnecting the vanos intake or exhaust solenoid electrical connector. *tr

There is a serious electrical problem on many bmw e46 models (newer cars). The tail light harness on both sides has what seems to be a faulty, incomplete, or insecure grounding wire and the result is that the wire overheats and corrodes, and in some cases arcs, which can ignite a fire. The problem is often identified by intermittent or persistent failure of the rear lights on the car and/or unnecessary rear light warnings on the dash. I have photographs to support this case and have done further research to find countless similar cases. The damage is most often characterized by charred discoloration of the brown (ground) insulator and melting of the surrounding plastics which results in the metal connectors becoming loose. The repair of the problem would most likely consist of an upgraded replacement of the wiring harness. Further work into the electrical distribution system may be necessary depending on the cause of the faulty ground. *tr

My 2003 bmw 330i has 85k miles and is in very good condition. Recently, however, a "service engine soon" light came on. The dealer diagnosed a problem and informed me that i needed a new torque converter because the gasket was leaking, however, the car was driving just fine. They told me that if i didn't replace it now then down the road the whole transmission might fail and need replacement. I feel ripped off having paid $3,000 for a torque converter on a car that drove fine. An independent mechanic told me that it's a common problem that bmw is aware of, but the company refused to help out with the cost, stating that there were too many miles on my car. The life of the transmission is supposed to be way longer than 85k miles. Too bad, bmw said. *jb

The bmw x5 has a defect. The tailgate stoppers routinely failed on both the electro-mechanical soft close and the normal mechanical. These stoppers failed, causing erroneous tailgate open warnings to appear on the instrument panel. Also, because the stoppers failed there was a constant rattle. Bmw knew about this problem...At least the local agentwas quite aware of this routine failure.*ak also, bmw websites list many other owners complaining about this problem. Http://www.Bimmerfest.Com/forums/showthread.Php?T=85610&highlight=tailgate

On hot, humid days, the steering gets "sticky". By that i mean that turning the steering wheel becomes difficult because it "sticks" in one spot. It can happen at any time. Small corrections of the steering become difficult. Many times, because it sticks, you have to push harder on the wheel to make it turn, which, when it finally "unsticks", ends up causing too sharp of a turn. I did a search of the web using "z4 sticky steering" and found that others have experienced this same problem. *jb

Please refer to fr doc 04-10644. My problem concerns this exact issue with my 2003 bmw x5, ie, delayed park to drive engagement on cold start. On 11-11-06 i backed out of my drive (i live on a corner lot) and immediately am at a stop sign. I pulled out, but the transmission would not fully engage in drive and as a result i came within inches of being smashed by a truck that was coming down the road i was entering. In the document mentioned above it was determined that the defect was not a safety hazard. You were wrong. In this document bmw argued that they had a technical service bulletin sib 24 07 03 to correct this situation by installing a new transmission. Unfortunately, in july '04 they revised this tsb to reprogram the egs module (increasing the pressure in the transmission so it takes longer to leak down) and not to put in new transmissions. I have had my x5 reprogrammed by bmw and it did no good. I had a bmw customer service advisor tell me that the reprogramming was a partial fix but did not solve the problem. He said it was a matter of money for bmw. My car is still under factory warranty. I bought it used. The bmw representative, jeff fitz, then had the nerve to tell me if i had bought the car new i would have a better chance of getting a new transmission. He said i should think about learning to live with the problem since his experience is that the new transmissions are not satisfactory either. I ask that you review your findings on the basis that bmw is not correcting the safety problem as indicated in fr doc 04-10644. *jb

Delay in transmission engagement (20-30 seconds) when cold. Hazard on hill and entering traffic. *tr