Word of Caution – Potential E53 X5 Fire Hazard

[ChitownX]

I recently sold my 2005 X5 4.4i that had only 44k miles. Two weeks after the sale I was contacted by the purchaser that my X5 had an electrical fire caused by the cooling fan. Apparently the wiring to the fan shorted out causing the fire which spread to the fan shroud. The new owner of my X5 had just pulled into their attached garage containing other vehicles and a boat when the short occurred. Luckily the driver smelled smoke and was able to put the fire out. This could have been much worse.

This doesn’t appear to be a one-off incident, as 2001 X5’s were recalled for this problem (see link). A 2005 X5 caused a fire at a Winnipeg auto dealer apparently due to the same fan issue (see link to story).

I suggest that owners of the E53 X5 have their fan and supporting electrical circuits checked out to prevent this from happening again.

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2001/...lls/index.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manito...hwood-bmw.html

[badboyt]

Thanks for the info.

[kyleluken]

Thanks for the heads up.