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 2007 BMW 328I. The contact stated that the driver side door did not unlock even after manually using the key. In addition, the contact had to exit the vehicle through the passenger side door. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
The door actuator system on my 2007 BMW 3281 has failed twice, once locking me in and the other time immobilizing the car and stranding me for several hours.I noticed the first failure when I stopped for gas & could not open the fuel flap. I drove to the dealer but the driver side door would not open, either electronically or manually, and the windows would not lower and the other three doors would not open. Fortunately, the sun roof was not on the door circuit & I was able to toss out the fob key for someone to open the driver door and let me out. A mechanic replaced the 15 amp fuse in the door circuit with a 20 amp fuse and sent me on my way. Conclusion: This car is a death trap waiting to happen. The second incident occurred as I drove home after a state inspection. When I parked and hit the fob lock button, I heard a muffled noise. The fuse had blown again. I unlocked the car with the fob key and after much time and great effort, I installed a another 20 amp fuse. Because the passenger door won't open when the circuit blows, replacing the fuse is very difficult, next to impossible. It requires agility, know-how, and good conditions--not something you can count on in the general population. What can be done about this dangerous condition: Go back to mechanical locking, electronic locking is a bad solution at least, you can get out of the car. Second: Require BMW to recall the original actuators and replace them with new designs that, if they too fail, they fail in a door-open mode. At the very least, car manufacturers should be required to offer buyers a choice between mechanical and electronic door opening. Lives are at stake.
My wife was attempting to exit car when she noticed that she was not able to open any of car doors - all the locks would not operate ! also, the door handles would not open the doors from the inside the vehicle. This issue is safety issue that needs to be looked at asap. I was able to see on line that number of like and kind complaints with the 2007 328 xi models...
First occurrence of problem happened back in May 2012. Me and my fiancee were exiting the vehicle but only my driver door would open. My fiancee was forced to climb over the middle console of the vehicle and exit through my door, with a short dress on. I later looked online on a BMW forum to find the culprit to be the lock actuators blowing fuse 56. I replaced fuse 56 with the appropriate fuse, increasing the 15 amp to a 20 amp at that time. On 30 June 2012 I experienced the same problem with the vehicle while on vacation in ogunquit, me. Once again my passengers were all locked in the vehicle. There is no manual override for the 335I's doors once the fuse blows. All three passengers were forced to climb through the driver side door, creating a dangerous and uncomfortable situation. This time I replaced fuse 57 and it seemed to work just fine afterwards. Lastly, it happened two days ago with just me in the vehicle. I brought it to the BMW dealership (in Rhode Island) and they told me all door lock actuators were defective/faulty. They said I would need to replace every single door actuator on the car, totaling a cost of $1600. I called BMW of na and they said they were unable to help me, despite the obvious safety hazards of a blown fuse in this vehicle. I despair when I think of the problems this could cause during an accident. The absence of a manual override would cause passengers to break open windows in order to escape during an accident or fire.
Model: 2007 BMW 328I. The electronic "door actuators" failed. As a result, it became impossible to open any door of the vehicle from the inside, except the driver's door. When these electronic door actuators fail, passengers are trapped in or out of the vehicle. The service advisor at the dealership (weatherford BMW, berkeley, California) explained that he new exactly what was wrong with my vehicle because they received a bulletin regarding this (meaning this is a "known issue" to BMW with this model car! my question was if BMW has received major complaints about this particular issue, why would"nt it be recalled...he advised me that are normally pertained to "safety", we"ll what would you consider this situation...safe? $900 was my quote to have this fixed! ridiculous!!! we strongly suggest that this defect be investigated, and that the subject vehicles be recalled so that the defect can be corrected before deaths or injuries occur.
- San Pablo, CA, USA
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I have a 1999 BMW 328I that I purchased in 2005 for $25,000 I just purchased a 2007 BMW 328xi on may with 54K miles on 11/1/10 it turned out that I bought a $35,000 death trap with the doors not opening or the gas tank to take it to the dealership so now it just sits there in my driveway. My 1999 with still does that same problem but off and on not like this 2007 death trap. I'm never ever buying a BMW again.
Unable to open front passenger door and rear passenger door due to failure of fuse caused by defective door lock actuators creating an unsafe condition in the event of an accident. This is known problem by BMW as service bulletin was issued. As a technical expert in this field I believe this should be a recall. The failure mode is unsafe and can occur during driving, if failure occurs during driving passengers cannot exit the vehicle. The locking system does not comply to fmvss206 S4.1.3 as there is no ability to unlock the mechanism once the door is locked and the fuse fails.
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- Delmar, DE, USA