ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CRANKCASE (PCV)
An electrical short can cause the PCV valve heater to overheat, increasing the risk of a fire while driving or, soon after driving when parked.
3 safety recall campaigns, 12 owner complaints filed with NHTSA.
Complaints are reports from owners of this model year, not findings about any particular vehicle, and a model that sold in large numbers will collect more of them. They are counted here as filed; nothing is inferred from them.
An electrical short can cause the PCV valve heater to overheat, increasing the risk of a fire while driving or, soon after driving when parked.
OVERHEATING COULD LEAD TO A FIRE, EVEN WHILE THE VEHICLE IS NOT IN USE. AS A PRECAUTION, OWNERS ARE ADVISED TO PARK OUTSIDE UNTIL THE REMEDY HAS BEEN MADE.
POWER ASSIST BRAKING PERFORMANCE COULD BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED. IN EXTREME CASES THERE COULD BE A COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER ASSIST BRAKING. AN UNEXPECTED REDUCTION OR LOSS IN POWER BRAKING ASSIST MAY INCREASE THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Two 2009 BMW 5 SERIESs can have entirely different histories, and a recall campaign usually covers a build-date window rather than a whole model year — which a VIN does not encode, so only the door-jamb label settles it. Scanning the VIN adds the decode, the crash tests, the fuel economy and the complaints matched to that exact engine, trim and assembly plant.