The 1993 BMW 525ia has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 340,000 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 1 complaint with NHTSA, most often about the power train. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING98V1780001998-08-04340,000 affected
Defect
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. A MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE OF A COOLANT SYSTEM COMPONENT, SUCH AS A THERMOSTAT, WATER PUMP, OR FAN BELT, CAN RESULT IN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED COOLANT TEMPERATURE AND SYSTEM PRESSURE. IF THE INDICATIONS OF A CRITICAL OVERHEATING CONDITION IS NOT NOTICED BY THE DRIVER, IT IS…
Consequence
IF A CRACK WERE TO FORM OR A SEAM WERE TO SEPARATE IN THE HEATER CORE END PIECE, HOT COOLANT COULD SUDDENLY BE EXPELLED, INCREASING THE RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY TO A VEHICLE OCCUPANT.
Remedy
DEALERS WILL INSTALL A NEW DESIGN RADIATOR CAP TO CONTROL PRESSURE AND PROVIDE GREATER COOLANT OVERFLOW IN THE EVENT OF OVERHEATING.
Complaints by component
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
1
Total complaints1
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“"trans program" will light up on dashboard and when it does, transmission will slip. This was intermittent before but now constant when first starting in am. If I let car sit for about 15 minutes, "trans program" will dissappear and car will shift normally (automatic trans). Afraid transmission…”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1993 BMW 525ia as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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