This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Faulty dmtl now needs a third component at 49,000. Miles. Just replaced defective wiring harness in trunk that caused some lights to fail and burnt up a relay faulty design. Transmission cable gets stuck when shifting out of drive & N. needs cable re aligned or replaced for the second time in 49,000. Miles very dangerous. Door lock actuator has failed.again. Some happen while driving others affect passengers saftey.
While driving about 70 mph in a straight line on the highway, the dynamic stability control light turned on and the car jerked and stuttered almost as if it was braking on its own or locking up. This occurred twice today and is a significant safety issue as it was unexpected and could have led to a loss of control, while driving at a significant speed on the interstate. BMW should have to do something about whatever is causing this problem.
Wile in motion one brake will operate and cause the vehicle to veer to the side with the momentary locked brake this safety problem is caused by the yaw control. This problem has happened on highway and city streets straight ahead or turning.
Driving down the road, the left front brake grabbed hard. The car veered into the oncoming traffic lane before the stability control failed (traction control and brake light came on) and I was able to recover. I tried restarting the car and it immediately did it again as soon as I was moving. To test, I drove around for 2 days with the stability control turned off (long press on dsc button) with no issues. I then left the stability control on and the issue occurred within 5 miles of careful driving. My diagnosis is the yaw sensor has failed. This is supported by other complaints on this site and similar occurrences listed in the BMW forums.
While traveling down the interstate at approximately 75 mph with the cruise control on, the car suddenly veered left and the ABS engaged and slowed the car suddenly to about 40 mph. My immediate thought was that I had blown a tire, but then recognized the ABS was causing the car to judder. The dsc and ABS lights illuminated and remained on. The mil light did not illuminate. I took the car to a repair shop that diagnosed a faulty rotational rate sensor (yaw). The system recognized that it received erroneous data, but I believe failed in an unsafe manner. I purchased this car for my soon to be 16 year old daughter and cringe to think how she would've reacted to this situation. This failure put the car in the precise situation where you would want the dsc to be working.
- Madison, AL, USA
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Daughter driving car, dynamic stability control(dsc) light came on and individual brakes started applying themselves uncommanded. Drove to a local import shop that verified a bad yaw sensor. Part is $1300 plus $300 labor. Part is only available from BMW who has superseded the part number 3 times. I went to a salvage yard that had 13 cars that had the same part number effectivity and all of the cars had the yaw sensors removed. This is a well known problem and very dangerous unless you disable the dsc system which also disables the anti-lock brake system. Below is just one of many examples of another owner that experienced this part failure. Started the car this morning and drove it for approx 15 miles, no warning light and everything appeared ok. Doing the national speed limit when holy cow, the dsc kicks in and the car pulls violently to one side then the other talk about heart missing a beat, nearly in the central reservation on the A52. I will be getting the fault codes read in the week and will definitely be switching off the dsc in future until fixed.
The "yaw sensor" fails in these cars, frequently causing a sudden braking on one side of the car and pulling the car in that direction. This is a real hazard: The car suddenly brakes by itself without warning. The problem is well described in these discussion forums: www.M3forum.net/M3forum/archive/index.php/T-450191.htmlwww.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1022059-lateral-acceleration-sensor-failure the original sensors for this car were discontinued and the only replacement part available is four to five times the price of the original part -- over $1000. This has led to a market in used sensors that are also in danger of failing. This is a real hazard.
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- Dayton, OH, USA