The 2018 BMW 5 Series has 6 recalls, the most serious involving fire and stall risks: on 540d xDrive models, the exhaust gas recirculation cooler can crack and leak, potentially igniting an engine fire, and on M5 models, both a fuel pump software fault and an inaccurate fuel gauge can cause the engine to stall without warning.
The EGR cooler issue may show up as a coolant warning light, reduced power, unusual engine noise, or smoke from the engine compartment. Note that a prior repair attempt for this defect did not fully resolve the issue in some cases, requiring a second fix. The fuel gauge problem on M5 models is separate: the fuel level sensor can contact an in-tank fuel line and report more fuel than is actually present, so the engine may cut out before the gauge shows empty. On diesel-equipped models more broadly, a crankshaft sensor fault can also cause the engine to stall and cut drive power unexpectedly. The least severe recall covers the rearview camera, which can retain manually adjusted settings between uses and display a low-brightness, high-contrast image that makes it hard to see what is behind the vehicle.