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.
There are two outstanding (for which I have received written notices) defects on the car. I got these in November of 2017. I have called BMW several times to get a status and they have, on each occasion, told me that they were not yet able to resolve the problems. It is now 10 months later. It seems that this is longer than one should have to wait for items that demand written notification of defects. So, I am writing to ask you to assist in getting these recall items addressed. Thank you.
When I start a trip my car makes an strong noise on the back. I'm pretty sure it comes from the rear differential axle-final drive assy. My car has 123206 milles. I usually make any maintenance on time. I'm really worry about this strong noise, cause this car is driving everyday by my wife with our baby inside.
Transmission shift badly - lunges forward - tendes to stall -traveling at low speeds goes in to 5 or 6 gear step on gas paddle takes to long to shift down and jumps forward. This has been happening even when the car was new and getting worse as time goes on.
- Santa Ana, CA, USA
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I only had the car for 8 months & the transmission is gone I need someone to assit me with this problem I don't have thousands of dollars to get this fix my car stop in the middle of the street I had to have it towed
The drive shaft snapped in half at the joint while I was driving. There was very little vibration in the moments before it happened. I was on a city street after just getting off the highway.
One evening in December 2014, my car (2007 BMW 328xi) suddenly started making a loud clanging noise and vibrating violently. I immediately pulled over to the side of the road. I had it towed to a local shop and was told that the driveshaft (propellor shaft) had broken. Less than a month later, the vehicle's transfer case failed - damage from the driveshaft that had been undetected at the time of the driveshaft rupture. In January 2015 I contacted BMW as I had heard of other drivers of similar 3 series bmws having driveshaft and transfer case problems, but BMW denied there was an issue. But in August 2015, BMW announced a "component specific limited warranty extension" for the driveshaft for the BMW X5 - for 10 years and 120,000 miles. No such program has been announced for the 328xi. Given that the failure of the driveshaft and transfer case of my 328xi was very premature and that it was identical to the repeated driveshaft failures that led to the action announced for the X5, I believe that the same issue exists for the 328xi and merits an investigation and action by NHTSA.
After, I parked my car in the garage. (nothing out of the ordinary, daily routine, normal conditions). My car wouldn't start. It displayed a "power steering wheel locked" icon warning when I tried to start the ignition. The ignition spark wasnt there. The lights also dimmed as I tried to get started.
2007 BMW 328 xi with 67K miles on it, first the car wouldn't go in reverse then a few day later while driving on the autobahn the car stopped working. The engine stayed on but I was unable to get any power. Had the car towed over 150 miles back to my house only to find that I need a new transmission. I have called BMW and am waitng on a call back to see what they will cover. I have read a ton of compalints online about this issue, there was also a law suit filed back in 2008 against BMW for 2000-2006 models having bad transmission. If BMW doesnt resolve this issue in a timely manner, I will also take them to court!!
I was parked, placed my car in reverse and immediately all of my dashboard lights were activated (4X4 malfunction, ABS brake failure, transmission malfunction) then my car lost power. There is a known issue with the set positioning motor failing on these vehicles. The BMW dealer part # is 27 10 7 546 671. There is an internal gear, with in the set positioning motor, made out of plastic that wears prematurely. This is a known issue with BMW's and it should be recalled. My vehicle become disabled with out warning, leaving me stranded which may have caused an accident.
I am an owner of a 2007 BMW 328xi. Two months ago, I brought my car to a BMW dealership for check engine light issue. They told me that cylinder 6 was the problem. So they fixed cylinder 6 and replaced all spark plugs. On 24-Apr-2014, my wife drove the car to work and came home. That evening she took the kids to an event at their school and parked the car. After the event, she tried backing the car and the car won't go into reverse. So, I dropped the car off to the dealer ship and after they completed their dagnostic test, they told me that I have transmission problem which will cost $6000 to fix.
When I start my car it wants to turn off. BMW issued a recall I took it in to fix it but problem still happening. Then my car has 63000 miles and it kicks a lot in first gear. For low miles that should not be happening.
I was driving home on the highway during a rainstorm when the 4X4, brakes warning came on. The handling immediately was affected. I didn't feel the traction I was used to and braking became dangerous. I wanted to pull over but the brakes made the car stop too abruptly, causing me to skid on the wet road. Had the highway been busier I'm sure I would've been in a serious accident. I consider myself very lucky. I took my car to a local mechanic. I was told that it was the transfer case actuator gear. It's plastic and the intense heat causes it to fail. I was told this problem is very common....so much that the replacements are made of a different composite and more heat resistant. My question is why do I have to pay for a gear that is recognized as faulty. If the replacements are better than the original then obviously BMW recognizes that too. This is becoming way to common for BMW not to react.
My 2007 328xi transfer case on the drive train failed at approximately 65 mph on Sunday 6/16/2013. This caused an immediately loss of all wheel drive and ABS in the rear of the vehicle. With some simple research online it is evident that this is a common problem amongst similar models and year groups. The X3 and X5 are notorious for the issue. A whole aftermarket industry and developed on replacing the gears with newer, high heat and stress gears so this issue doesn't happen and there are retailers who market to people with these vehicles to replace them. The fact that a secondary market has appeared and it has not been acknowledged as a serious issue is confusing. The interior of the transfer case shows the gears are made from plastic which degrade overtime and eventually cause all wheel drive to fail to engage or to disengage and causing severe brake and handling issues. I was fortunate enough to maintain control but others may not be.
My wife was departing a traffic circle on base here in germany. She accelerated to 35 mph and experienced stalled acceleration as she was traveling down the main road. My wife was stepping on the gas and the car appeared not to be running. She attempted to get the vehicle off to the side of the road as it rolled to a stop. She was stuck in the right hand turn lane on a two lane road and waited for security forces patrolman that stopped and helped push the car out of traffic.
I bought my brand new BMW X3 in 2007. There were small issues in the past but withing my manufacturer warrenty period. I had my rear brake pads replaced on Jan 23, 2012. On Jan 30, 2012, when I drove my X3 out my subdivison to go to work, the brake light, ABS light, and 4/4 light all on, plus load clunk type noise from rear, it was difficault to make a U-turn, managed back to home, called BMW unitedbmw dealer and towed my vehicle to dealer. They first told me that is software failure, they would try reprogram to fix, then called to tell the re-program did not work, it was mechanical transfer case actuator broken, a new one must be installed. The total charge for repair (part + labor - discount) is $2354.97. It was in the dealer for one week. The dealer insisted that it was my bad luck, not car's own issue even though the milage is less than 40K. I did some research online, found that there are plenty of similar cases and class-action lawsuits. Looks like BMW (2007 and 2008) models have lubricant problem, later BMW switched with different lubricant. Internet estimation says that ~30% of the vehichles (2007 & 2008) demonstrated this issue. As a consumer, I am trying to urge any car maker to be responsible for their products. But I never get any notice or recall from BMW dealers or maker in the past and when the problem surfaced.
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- Chicago, IL, USA