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.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW 325I. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle, the doors would not unlock. The contact attempted to unlock the doors manually and by using the key fob but failed to respond. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The failure could not be duplicated or diagnosed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 53,000.
Door locks intermittently will not unlock with switch or remotes. Central locking does not work even when using the key fob. My kids and I have been trapped in the car on several occasions for up to 10 minutes. This is a serious risk to my life and the life of others on the road. BMW refuses to fix this problem. I have video of me trapped in the car. I addressed his problem with BMW before my warranty was up but they state since the technicians could not identity any problem it's not covered. I researched this issue and this is an ongoing problem with other customers.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW 325I. The contact stated that the doors lock failed. The front passenger door and the rear doors could not be unlocked manually with the key. The contact mentioned that the driver door was the only door that could be unlocked manually with the key. The dealer advised that vehicle general electronic control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 65,000 and the current mileage was 97,000.......updated 12/20/12
2004 BMW 325xi electronic door locks fail to unlock intermittently whether I am outside the car or inside the car. The key fob will intermittently not unlock the doors. The internal mechanisms will not unlock the door including the door handles themselves once the lock is engaged. The failure is an electronic issue and is a significant safety issue if I cannot get out of the car.
3 of the 4 car doors have locked up and cannot be opened electrically or mechanically from the inside or the outside. In case of an accident and/or fire, three of the car's occupants would be trapped inside.
Often, the doors will not unlock on our 2004 BMW 325I sedan, although they are consistently lockable. This includes using the remote key fob, the central console unlock button and also manually pulling the door latches from inside the vehicle. This means that only by breaking a window will we be able to exit the car in the event of an emergency. Repeatedly toggling the unlock buttons will eventually unlock the doors, but sometimes only after several minutes. We just found out that this is a well-known problem with the BMW's GM5 module, but the manufacturer refuses to acknowledge the defect. A popular website that explains the problem in more detail is www.bmwgm5.com/. now we are faced with a costly repair if we want to operate the vehicle in a safe manner.
The unlock control button on the center console does not unlock the passenger side door and does not unlock the 2 doors in the back. This failure occurs intermittently. When the failure occurs, only the driver can exit the car by using the manual door latch lever. The other passengers are trapped unless they climb out the window or climb into the front seat and then exit through the front seat door. A proper safety design and operation would allow the manual door unlock latch levers to work at all times and especially when the electrical or electronic systems have failed. As I routinely drive with a 4 year old and a 19 month old in their car seats which are in the back seat of my 2004 BMW, I am very concerned about our safety should there be a situation that I would have to remove them from the car quickly and the door locks had failed. The BMW service believes a module has to be replaced at a parts cost of $1000 and will not cover this cost. The car has only 29,000 miles but is out of warranty. I see that others have complained to NHTSA about this same problem in BMW 3 series and BMW 325xi.
Door un-lock relays in the GM5 module fail over time and eventually result in occupants being unable to get out of the car without extraordinary effort. Problem is worse in warmer months.
E46 BMW 2004 325xi and 2000 323I both have issues unlocking doors when weather is above 50 degrees. Vehicle wont let you unlock doors from inside and manual unlock is only for drivers door and must do so through window. If there were an accident in the car I don't know how I would have escaped in a reasonable amount of time. People in the back seat are forced to crawl into the front of the car and out the driver door. No manual unlock is available to any door but the drivers door.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kansas City, KS, USA