2006 BMW M5 owner complaints

Well documented (on the internet) problem with the passenger side active restraint system failing, typically due to the passenger side occupancy mat. This problem has been documented in almost every model manufactured since 2000, but has only been addressed in a few, select, vehicles. This is the most common complaint for this model on carsafety.gov and has not been acknowledged by BMW of north america. This problem, in itself, can lead to a variety of malfunctions in the event of an accident causing serious injury or death. The problem has also LED to a large market of "dummy sensors" being sold on ebay and similar sites, which trick the computer into thinking the airbag sensor is correctly functioning. These dummy sensors do not remedy the problem and can lead to an increased risk o

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 BMW m5. The contact stated that the air bag light remained illuminated while a passenger occupied the seat. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the base of the seat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000.

Seat sensor mat for the passenger seat air bag disengages when passenger is seated. The disengaging of the passenger air bag poses a great danger for the passenger due to the passenger air bag will not deploy in a accident causing injury or death. BMW is aware of this ongoing problems with the m5 e60 series, but will not address this issue of safety. BMW charges the owner up to 5000.00 dollars to fix this safety issue. I have a car that's unsafe for my family or any passenger. *tr

Error code pass. Restraint system. Description from dealer is that the oc3 under the passenger seat is worn from use. This disables the airbag in the event of a crash. *tr

Passenger occupancy sensor is bad. This causes a warning message to occur that states that the restraint system is malfunctioning. After further research, if this message is displayed, the airbags will not deploy in the event of a crash. *tr

The car has an issue with passenger airbag occupancy sensor, when someone sits on the passanger seat the airbag turns on, these bmws has many recalls for this issue, for some reason mine does not fall into the recall. I have scanned the computer and confirmed that the sensor is the issue, I would like this issue to be recalled on my car because this a common issue for these, I have read many other people with this issue, on forums, but a recall has not been issued, I think its important to do this recall because it is not safe for my passanger, in case some sort of accident happens and the airbag does not deploy.

Upon starting my car, I received an error message " fault in passenger restraint system affecting air bags, belt tensioner or belt force limiter" the message continues to show up every day.. This is the same issue that has a recall in all other 5 series models for this year, 2006 and has a recall for those vehicles. This model should be added since its the same issue. See attached.

The vehicle warning system displayed a passenger restraint fault which disables the passenger air bag deployment. The problem was initially intermittent, but within one week is now permanently displayed. A diagnostic scan by my dealer indicates a fault with the passenger seat occupancy sensor(s). This same problem resulted in a recall for other models/years, but apparently not this one for some reason. The dealer quoted $2500 for the required repair/replacement. Meanwhile, any person in the front passenger seat is not protected by the air bag. *tr

This vehicle make/model/year has a known problem with the front passenger seat occupancy sensor failing. This sensor fails shortly after the warranty period expires and prevents the passenger front seat airbag from deploying in the event of a collision, thereby increasing the likelihood of serious bodily injury to, or death of, the front seat passenger. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 bmn m5. The contact stated that the air bag and seatbelt warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The dealer stated that the air bag senor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and current mileage was 38,000...updated 08-10-12 *bf updated 08/16/2012 *js

The airbag sensor mat under the occupants seat malfunctions making the airbag light illuminate. According to what I have read regarding this, the airbag will not deploy in an accident even if somebody is occupying that seat. There was a recall issued by BMW for this issue in march of 2009, but my VIN was not listed. My manufacture date on the car says dec/2005, but when I enter the VIN on BMW's website it states nov/2005. According to the service bulletins from BMW they state that the 5 series 2006 with a build date of november 2005 and prior are affected with the defective sensor mat. This is an expensive repair. If you google this issue for BMW, you will find that many BMW owners have this exact same safety issue and have been omitted from the recall. This recall needs to be reopened as

My vehicle is reporting a passenger restraint system malfunction as reported in the NHTSA campaign id number: 08v384000. I have contacted BMW na multiple times and the state my VIN is not listed in the recall. I find this very alarming and unsafe. My vehicle fits all parameters as stated by the recall documentation but I am still left in this possibly unsafe situation when a problem has been documented and recalled. Please assist if possible. Thank you in advance for your time. *tr

The dashboard air bag and seat belt warning lights would activate whenever anyone would sit in the front passenger seat. They eventually would go out, but now are permanently on. The central computer display also puts out a similar text warning message whenever I start up the car. It claims that the seat belt and airbag are malfunctioning for the front passenger and I presume are now disabled. Looking into this, it is a faulty sensor mat within the front passenger seat. This particular make and model (e60) is plagued with this issue, and BMW offered a recall on early (2005 build?) cars, but has refused coverage for anyone else although it is the exact same issue. My car is a 04/2006 build. The job has been quoted for some at the dealership up to $3,500 in parts and labor and requires a

After taking my car to the dealership several time complaining about idling and engine knocking. I was told it was the gas, and the change of weather causing the problem. They finally supposedly replaced the parts in the engine, but I still had the problem later, and my neighbor notice it as well. While driving my car started smoking and the oil spill to the highway. After having the car examined, I was told that the bearing on the rod was loosed and had caused the rod to break and tore the engine apart. I contacted the costumer relation of BMW headquarter and they gave me every excuse why they couldn't do anything. I was advised by the shop this was a manufacturer defect and it could've been avoided by the dealership, etc. I need advice and I am considering getting legal advice. I refuse

I was pulling out of my driveway when my car had a smell of burning oil so I stopped, as I stopped my car began smoking from the hood. I lost oil all down the street and my driveway, after,I stopped my car and pushed it into my garage and I saw were it was dripping from underneath the car so I took off the under panel and saw a hole in the pressure hose(vanos pressure hose assembly). There had been a recall when the car first came out on the lines but my car was a month out of the recall range. My car is an 06 with just at 40k miles...the car is used by the way. *tr

Clearance failure on s85 engine to rod bearings causes oil starvation. This in turn causes engine catastrophic failure. If driving this will effect power breaking, power steering and all components requiring the engine to be running. This is a very common issue, I now have symptoms requiring a change of rod bearings. *tr

For about a 1.5 months, I have been having major issues with smg. In the morning on startup. I put the car in reverse, it shows (r). I step on the gas and it revs and doesn't do anything. You then hear a loud clunk and it pops back to neutral. Same thing with drive in which there is a huge delay even when it shows 1. Extremely scary when you have traffic coming up behind you and you can't get into gear. I have opened dialogues with bmwna, my local dealer, the gm of my local dealer donna tafoya and at this moment, the only error they got was a szl failure. (replaced 2x already) other than that, no faults whatsoever so to them, it's a "ghost" issue. Puma case has also been created and the field rep will be out here on the 15th. In the meantime, I still do not have a car I can trust and this

Enroute from palo alto to mountain view and was at a complete stop waiting at a stop light on a major thoroughfare (central expressway) when the car stopped running. Cars behind me proceeded to pass me to make the left turn while my car was shut down. I was able to re-start the car after ~5 - 10 minutes and drive another 1000 feet when the car stopped running again. Prior to both incidents the panel indicated an alert "transmission fail" and a "check engine" alert. The car would not start back up and had to be pushed through the intersection to a street where it could be parked safely. Initial autobody electronic diagnosis and repairs related to battery replacement, however, transmission related fault codes still showed up. Fortes brothers autobody discovered "safety" related noti

Tl-the contact owns a 2006 BMW m5. The contact stated that the he could smell strong fuel odor after filling the fuel. The independent mechanic diagnosed the fuel tank had a crack inside the plastic. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 21,000. Ne

Headlight went off while driving, when I went to replace the bulb discovered that all the wiring inside the headlights have the insulation crumbling off causing exposed bare wires to short together. This is unacceptable on a car that is only 7 years old. I researched on the internet and found that is a common problem on bmws. If your warranty expired BMW will not fix it. This is especially dangerous at night went the headlight start to flicker on and off. *tr