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-??s girlfriend owns a 2004 BMW 325XI. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 20V018000 (Air Bags). The contact-??s girlfriend took the vehicle to the local dealer for the recall repair. After the vehicle was repaired and the vehicle was retrieved, the air bag warning light was illuminated. The driver took the vehicle back to the local dealer for the warning light. The mechanic inspected the vehicle and informed the contact that the battery cable needed to be replaced. The contact was concerned that the failure was related to the recall repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 89,000.
The ground wire on my break light has burned through the 8 pin connector not only is this limiting my ability to warn other drivers it is a major fire hazard this was discovered during a recall service at the local dealership I do not believe. The proper steps have been taken to remedy this problem and if this can not be resolved informally I would like to pursue formal litigation against all parties involved and for discovery purpose all related correspondence, video, and recorded evidence should be preserved. Currently the break light is not working and there are defective and hazardous airbags.
The contact owned a 2004 BMW 325I. The contact stated that while parked at a fueling station and when exiting the store noticed smoke exiting the trunk of the vehicle. The contact used the key fob to open the trunk of the vehicle and saw that trunk was engulfed in flames. The fire department and police department were called for assistance. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. A fire and police report were filed. The fire department stated that the fire was not due to operator involvement and was caused by an electrical failure. The contact was not injured. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed of the failure. The contact received a letter from the manufacturer which stated that the failure was possibly due to rodent intrusion in the vehicle. The vehicle was destroyed. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
NHTSA does not recognize the recalls on my 2004 BMW 325xi 4dr sedan. There were 2 recalls that are related to air bags. The NHTSA campaign numbers are #15V318000 and #14V428000. I would like to receive official confirmation that these recalls are valid so I can get the manufacturer to fix this. Please see the supporting docs attached. Also, I have been having weird electrical issues happening to the point the car wont shut off at times, headlights go out after a day, turn signal goes out, car dies, stereo wont work etc. I was wondering if other recalls were placed on this car as well?
My left reverse/tail light does not work. I have replaced the bulb and assembly and also have found online that there were recalls for this specific issue.
- Bowie, MD, USA
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Car sitting in driveway of primary residence for several days after repeated heavy rains and hurricanes and spontaneously caught fire. Fire was self extinguished but started in dash on left side of steering wheel centered on the head-light control module.
The car seat warmer burned through leather and burned through my coat. I made compliant to BMW and spoke to michael pigoncelli. BMW refused to repair the defect or to compensate me for my coat. The car has been maintained. The seat warmer will severely injure anyone who uses it if a heavy coat is not worn. I was told by the BMW dealership that the seat warmer burning through the leather and peoples skin/coat is common. BMW (newmarket, Ontario) took pictures of the damage to the seat and my coat.
Vehicle adaptive xenon headlight wiring is faulty. Wire insulation is cracking/deteriorating and entire wires are breaking apart. Symptoms start with flickering xenon headlight eventually (about a week later) stops working at all. Vehicle is moving or stationary, engine on. The faulty wires are in a weather sealed compartment of the headlight and have never (to my knowledge) even been unsealed/accessed since leaving the factory. The issue is on the passenger side, unknown if it is on the driver side as well. The attached photo shows back side of the headlight housing looking down, with the weather-sealed compartment open. All exposed wire is as a result of the issue, nobody has actively cut or stripped the wires. Problem first noticed in Sept of 2016, attempts were made to repair but now it has happened again, worse.
My vehicle unexpectedly started on fire as my daughter was driving to school. It was determined that it was an electrical fire, and resulted in the car being totaled. The 2004 models need to be included in the recall (not that it will help with the loss of my car).
Headlight wiring insulation on standard BMW headlights is brittle and falling off exposing bare copper wires within the headlight assembly. In order to protect the headlights I have had to wrap the wires in electrical tape and shrink wrapping. This issue has existed for several years.
The power door lock on passenger side cannot be unlocked either via remote or inside button. Worse, often when this happens, the door cannot be opened even by pulling on the handle from the inside! a passenger cannot get out of the car via the door. Furthermore, repeatedly attempts to have this fixed all fail within a short time.
All doors, with the exception of drivers door, are unable to open manually inside and outside. Cannot use alarm or unlock button to open either. This is of great concern considering I have two young children under my care.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW 325I. The contact stated that the turn signals and the headlights failed to activate. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the light module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 202,000. Updated 4/7/15
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.
I was not able to unlock my car with my car key. I was able to hear the click sound on pressing the unlock button on the key but nothing was happening. After numerous attempts for about 10 minutes car got unlocked. Now I'm having this problem on/off basis. I took the car to the local BMW dealer. After diagnose they said I have a failed general module which will cost me around $1000. This is way too much for car for it's total value of around $7000. This is scary since I'm not able to trust the locking system on my car. Sometime I'm not able to lock at all and at sometime I'm not able to unlock anything.
The heating element on my 2004 BMW X3 caught on fire while I was driving. I don't use it often, but had noticed a hot smell when I did use it and that it would be too warm in the lumbar and hip region. The fire actually burned about a dime size hole in the driver side left seat panel (under the thigh). After reading of many others having the same or worse experiences, I am glad I immediately shut if off, although it still burned all the way through the leather. Please advise me of next steps I should take. I have shut off the heater and will no longer use it. With so many complaints, I would think this would result in a recall. Thanks for your advice.
Wire loosing coating on inside of adaptive headlights, causing shorts or broken wires where the headlights and or turn signals will fail to work. Wire is very brittle as this is also roughly 20 gauge wire. This can be an extreme hazard especially at night. This seems to be affecting BMW's 3/5/6/ series from at least 2004 to 2008 from my independent research. Many pictures and complaints on various BMW forums to document this problem. My problem occurred when I lost one headlight on my way home in the dark and an indicator came on to identify a fault in the headlight. Originally I though it was a bulb, changed bulb and it still did not work. Further investigation led to a broken wire inside of the headlight assembly. I fixed the broken wire and then noticed two more wires where the coating on the wire seem to have flaked off causing bare wire. I also fixed those wires and all was well. A day or two later, the indicator came on again pointing to the same headlight. This time the turn signal was out. I opened the access panel to check the wiring and now a forth wire has been severed, however I can not fix it as it is down pretty far inside the headlight and to repair would require removing the headlight and taking it apart. Apparently BMW used biodegradable wire for the headlights?? source of the headlight is believed to be hella. Supposedly BMW knows about the issue but unwilling to fix unless you purchase a $800-1500 new headlight. This is crazy for a car that is 10 years old and well maintained. This is a safety hazard as you will can loose a headlight in the dark and maybe both headlights going out, plus the fact of bare wires that can short and cause a fire.
As reported by other owners, the bi-xenon headlights no longer light up the road. It is a safety hazard and is a known issue with headlights manufactured by zkw on 2003-2005 BMW 330 models. The reflector bowls on these units burn out over time and reduce the headlights ability to reflect light. Driving at night is literally no better with the headlights on or off. I have to rely on my fog lights just to see anything. Please look into this safety issue as it is wide-spread. Replacement of headlights is expensive at $1300 ea, this has to be resolved by BMW immediately.
My bi-xenon headlights have been slowly fading resulting in extremely poor visibility during normal nightime driving. This degradation has been occurring without my knowledge until it became obvious after driving another vehicle. As it turns out, my mechanic has advised there is a common issue with certain BMW assemblies that the projector lenses literally burn due to heat resulting in the need to replace the entire assembly. This loss of headlight intensity resulting in poor visibility is a significant safety situation and request someone look into why no recall has occurred as this is obviously a safety concern. I have entered today's date as incident date as I am not sure when degradation of the projectors began.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Neshanic Station, NJ, USA