2011 Bmw 5 Series: Reliability Data

96
Total Complaints
2,000mi
Median Mileage
TIRES
Top Issue
6
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

200 25th Percentile
2,000 Median Mileage
8,450 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

TIRES
30
STEERING
20
POWER TRAIN
8
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
6
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
4
ENGINE
3
WHEELS
3
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
3
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
3
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
2

Severity Assessment

6
Crashes
3
Fires
3
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"I BOUGHT A 2011 BMW 535I 3 WEEKS AGO. UPON DRIVING ON LOCAL STREETS, THE CAR STOPPED ABRUPTLY FROM 30MPH TO 0MPH. MY CAR HAS UNDER 2000 MILES ON IT. STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION, WITH "FUEL PUMP MALFUNCTION", AND "ENGINE MALFUNCTION" ON THE ONBOARD DASH. I HIT MY HEAD ON THE STEERING W..."
"EVER SINCE I'VE OWNED THIS VEHICLE, I NOTICED IT PULLS TO THE RIGHT. IT CONSTANTLY PULLS TO THE RIGHT AND THE DEALER HAS NO FIX YET. *TR"
"I PURCHASED MY 2011 BMW 535I ON 06/23/10. THE CAR HAD LESS THAN 1 MILE ON THE ODOMETER. AS I PULLED OFF THE DEALER?S LOT, I NOTICED THAT THE CAR HAD A HARD PULL TO THE RIGHT. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT TOOK IT IN THE NEXT DAY TO FIX IT. THEIR EQUIPMENT SHOWED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS WITHIN ALIGNMENT SPECIF..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

TIRES 30 complaints
25th: 1,550 mi Median: 3,350 mi 75th: 7,090 mi
STEERING 20 complaints
25th: 12 mi Median: 72 mi 75th: 468 mi
POWER TRAIN 8 complaints
25th: 47 mi Median: 132 mi 75th: 1,994 mi
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6 complaints
25th: 3,000 mi Median: 37,846 mi 75th: 40,000 mi
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 4 complaints
25th: 1,526 mi Median: 2,984 mi 75th: 19,750 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 13 NY: 13 IL: 9 NJ: 7 TX: 6 FL: 5 00: 4 CT: 4 MA: 3 VA: 3

Who Files Complaints?

1%
Original Owners
99%
Second+ Owners

Bmw 5 Series — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
2004891
2005264
20061258
2007220
20081311

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28