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.
Child safety lock window get stuck and remain stuck, glass window will not roll up. The rotary on this vehicle manufacturing is damaged and I have done numerous research trying to find a solution and found that there is a big community of frustrated BMW owner with the same issue but BMW is not willing to acknowledge this fail window manufacturing error. This is the rear child seat window and it stuck. It has stuck before at a parking lot at work and I had to end up seating there to for almost an hour until it roll up. This time it will not roll up and I had to leave the window down while parking the car at the hospital. Please do diligence and research this as many owner are frustrated. The dealership wants to charge 700 to fix it!
Just finished driving about 10 miles from home to work, about 70 degrees-F outside, sunny, good weather around 11am. Did not operate air conditioner, heater or vent fan. Car seemed to drive fine, no strange noises. Had no recent major repairs. We are second owners of certified pre-owned BMW, have had vehicle for the past 7 years and driven about 50K miles since purchase. After arriving at workplace, stopped at workplace parking lot with engine idling for a few seconds to wait for parking gate to open. However, began seeing white smoke coming out of driver's side of engine hood. Tried to reverse the vehicle out to the street and moved about 10ft before engine shut off and would not restart. Within 15-30 seconds a plume of fire erupted out of the front hood through the grill. Within 3 minutes entire car was engulfed in flames and its proximity to other cars in the lot caused fire damage to 4 other vehicles. Car was a total loss including all possessions within it. Electronic locks quit working as soon as fire started.
The vehicle was stationary in a garage. With vehicle either running or not running, we were unable to exit the vehicle as we were unable to unlock and open both front and the left rear doors, from the inside (using the door levers, central locking system button, and remote) or from the outside (using the door handle, key, and remote). The only ways to exit the vehicle were to climb through a window or over the front seats (difficult) to access the right rear door. To get the doors to unlock, I needed to replace a fuse in the fuse panel and disconnect the battery for at least 30 seconds. This could be a death trap if in an accident, high water, extreme cold, etc.
- Blaine, MN, USA
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Water leaks in my car on driver side front and back seat carpet is soak and smell. Not the first when going to get a car wash leaks occur. This is my second BMW I had a 2004 325L same problem with leakage. Also, no doubt rust have occur in this vehicle with on going leaks.
The central locking function stopped working. The unlocking does not work through the key fob or the central unlock/lock button within the vehicle. Only the driverside door is able to be unlocked by pulling on the inner door handle. The other 3 doors are unable to be opened and pose a severe safety risk. The fix per BMW is to replace 15A fuses with 20A. This was already done to my vehicle in the past and the problem has appeared again. Disconnecting the battery overnight has also been a fix, but that does not work either.
I was on a well-paved road, approaching a highway on-ramp, travelling straight at about 40mph, and my sunroof spontaneously exploded. I had been on the road maybe 5 minutes, it was sunny and approximately 80 degrees out, there was no sudden change in temperature and there was no impact from flying debris, pot holes, other vehicles etc. Both my sunroof and visor were both closed at the time. I heard an extremely loud bang, similar to a gunshot but not as loud, I checked my mirrors and didn't see anything. I then opened the visor to my sunroof and glass rained down. I immediately closed my visor and proceeded to a safe section of the road where I cull pull off and inspect the exterior of my car. From the exterior, it looked like an explosion had occurred inside the vehicle as the glass was angled up and out, was completely shattered and had several large pieces missing. I filed a report with BMW as soon as the offices reopened and am waiting on further information. From what I can see, this is not the first instance of this occurring with BMW vehicles.
The drivers side back door will not open. Thankfully, it was realized in a non-emergency situation. After research it seems that this issue is popular among this year on this car.
Driving at approximately 30mph passing vehicle allerted me of fire and smoke coming from my rear. As I slowed down flames and smoke increased. Smoke filled interior upon my exiting. Rear fire co0ntinued to burn until fire department. Dooused car with water. Police report taken. Car taken to repair shop and declared to expensive to repair.
The door locks on the front passenger and rear drivers side doors would not unlock and passengers had to climb out of the opposite sides of the vehicle.
Door locks would not open leaving me locked out of the car and stranded. Had to have the car towed 300 miles to get it back home where a BMW repair place was available. Had to replace both front door actuators at a cost of $600 just to get back inside my car. If a baby was trapped in the car it could of died by the time it was to get anyone to help get the doors open. The most dangerous design I've ever heard of. Interior door handles will not work and no way to get out of the car if it happened while I was inside.
Hi, I think, this is a safety issue that BMW has to fix. My automatic car lock gets stuck and I can only open driver's side door and passenger side door doesn't open. The manual lever that is supposed to open the passenger side door and back door doesn't open the door. My wife and kids were stuck and some how manually they crawled out of the driver's side. It was very stressful and I was wondering if my son was 20yrs old, how can he come through the driver's side from the back seat. BMW is well aware of this issue and has not recalled the cars to fix the manual override when the automatic door opener doesn't work.
Locked in car due to failed door locks. Opened window to access manual door key but passenger crawled over to drivers side since this was the only way out.
Doors will not unlock using the key fob or central locking button. Locked doors will not open from interior of vehicle, no way to unlock the rear doors and front passenger door when they are locked. Only way to exit vehicle is through driver's door if manually unlocked with key. Passenger doors will not open and gas door will not open.
On February 6, 2013, at around 7am, I was driving South on the taconic state parkway near pleasantville, NY on my way to work. My electrical systems suddenly started to fail, and I heard a crackling noise from the backseat. I looked in my rear-view mirror and I saw flames in the backseat. I pulled over on the right shoulder right before the pleasantville exit. I struggled to exit my car because the seatbelt was stuck as the entire backseat of my car was engulfed with me inside. After it finally released, I exited the burning car in a daze. A good samaritan stopped to help me, whose name and contact information can be provided. She put me in her car and we each called 911. A nys trooper created a police report, which can be provided. As we waited for firemen, the car was engulfed in flames and blew up twice. One of my co-workers stopped to help me and witnessed the car blow up. I have pictures showing the car completely engulfed and the entire car charred and unrecognizable after the fire was extinguished. I am now aware that, after the incident took place, BMW issued its largest recall ever in the U.S. of approximately 504K vehicles, including the same year, make and model as my car. The recall stems from a faulty battery connection. Importantly, the battery and the battery connection for bmws are in the trunk, which is where I believe the fire started in my car. As a result of numerous complaints and case studies, BMW had been aware of this battery-related defect on my car since 2010. I'm also aware that BMW has recalled other BMW models for a very similar battery issue that resulted in charring or fires in the bmws. The car is currently being held by traveler's insurance company and is available for your immediate inspection.
My door locks failed to unlock (with both the remote entry and the door lock switch located in the car) with the exception of the driver side door using the manual key turn. This was repaired by replacing the door lock actuators, under warranty.
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 328I. The contact stated that the keyless entry function failed to operate when he attempted to unlock the vehicle. The failure affected the front and rear passenger doors disallowing him to enter the vehicle. The dealer replaced the actuator and the manufacturer was made aware of the failure however, did not offer any assistance. The current and failure mileages were 24,000.
I was driving on the motorway and cleaned my windscreen when a piece of my vehicle fell off and became potentially a dangerous projectile. The failure is due to the screen wash jet cover and jet attached to it coming separated from the vehicle. BMW state that this can come off due to ice forming on the washer jets, so can occur at any time when temperatures are below freezing. The consequences are the cover and jet become separated from the vehicle potentially causing other vehicles to swerve, item acts as a projectile so could damage/crack a windscreen or potentially burst a tire if contact is made. To correct the failure the part needed to be replaced. Old part is not available due to coming off vehicle whilst on the motorway.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Miami, FL, USA