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.
I was driving this evening and the panoramic sunroof suddenly and unexpectedly shattered. There was no warning or event that led to this. No pothole or external factor. The road was smooth and no other cars were around my vehicle. I heard an extremely loud "pop" and thought something had hit my vehicle. When I stopped to identify the problem, I exited my vehicle ad saw the panoramic sunroof glass was cracked and shattered, but had lifted up in a domed shape, or a bubble. The outside temperature was about 17 degrees. Fortunately I had the headliner in the closed position so no broken glass would have fallen into the cabin.
Reporting very dangerous sudden unintended acceleration of 2015 BMW 328i: When about to back out of a parking space in a parking garage, I pressed the brakes and turned on the ignition switch. After looking around to ensure no cars or people were near the car, I put the gear shift in reverse, turned my whole head entirely over my right shoulder to look through the back windshield and, seeing nothing behind me, began to slowly lift my foot from the brake to reverse out of the parking space. I turned the steering wheel towards the left and the back of the car went to the left. The bumper gently tapped a white column that had been out of sight all the way further over my right shoulder. I gently pressed on the brake, and when I switched the gear shift into drive, the car suddenly and explosively accelerated forward extremely fast and sped out of control. I pressed the brakes to stop the car, which did nothing, and the car slammed into cement wall so hard that it sounded like an explosion and the air bags deployed. I hit my mouth/face/head on the air bag and got whiplash from the sudden stop. When I got out of the car, a couple who-??d heard the explosion drove by and asked if I was ok. After a few moments I reached into the car to turn off ignition switch. This event resulted in very serious damage to the car, which was totaled, and I received medical injuries. This incident was reported to my automobile insurance company and to North America BMW, who has escalated the report to higher levels due to the seriousness of the incident, and will be doing investigations this week. The accelerator pedal or gear box dangerously and seriously malfunctioned, and the car is available for inspection upon request. My safety was seriously at risk as I have headaches and whiplash symptoms. If there were no wall there, or if there had been people or cars anywhere in front of the car, they would have been killed and smashed because the car suddenly accelerated so quickly.
I was driving on an interstate highway this afternoon in Houston at approximately 65 mph when the non-panoramic (single window) sunroof of my 2015 BMW 328i exploded over my head. Sounded like a gunshot. Large and small glass shards all throughout the cabin. No other vehicles within particularly close range of my car when it happened. No visible rock or other debris. No sound or vibration from any impact. Appeared to be spontaneous and not the result of rock or debris. Upon inspection from the outside, it appears clear that there was an outward explosion - pictures and video show the glass around the perimeter of the hole angled upward toward the sky. Glass of course showered into the cabin as well. Despite the dispersion of glass within the interior of the cabin, fortunately I did not suffer any cuts or other injury. But the incident was extremely dangerous. The explosion was very loud and could easily cause a driver to become distracted and/or lose control of the vehicle, especially if occurring under heavier traffic conditions. Obviously the risk of a cut and/or injury to the eyes is significant as well. I called a local BMW auto dealership to discuss the issue. The service advisor indicated that he has seen this happen a number of times with BMW vehicles but that BMW will not cover the cost of repair unless the vehicle is still under warranty. Thank you for your time and consideration of this incident.
The drivetrain malfunction light came on and my car stopped on the main highway while I was driving out and it wouldn-??t start back so a wrecker tow it then maybe 5 days later it just crank again but then it started to do it again. There was a recall for this but it had expired before I bought the car
Vehicle smells like gas. Drivetrain malfunction light comes on, car sputters and shakes, goes off after a couple of days and then comes back on and shakes 4 months or more later. Loses power or won-??t accelerate while traveling more than 50 mph
Passenger side door lock stopped working at the mileage of 71,269. The door lock tab is in down position while door is unlocked. One can open the door while the car is unlocked. Security alarm does not get kicked in. I originally reported the problem of locks sticking when lock/unlock the car at the mileage of 45775 (under warranty). Dealer said that although they are sticking but still work. They are now charging $839 to have one replaced. My online research shows that this problem is very prevalent. It becomes a safety issue when one can break in the car without setting off alarm.
- As I was driving down the road, my sunroof exploded. There was a large popping sound like the release of pressurized air, and glass began falling down. I had the visor closed so it was able to catch most of it. When I was able to pull over, There was a large hole, nearly the size of the sunroof. The surrounding glass that remained was shattered. - My safety was in danger from the falling glass, and the distraction while driving down an interstate. - I cannot find any delaer or recall that can help me, although it seems to be a common problem. - It has been inspected by my insurace company. - There were no warnings.
At random the car will display -??Drivetrain Malfunction-?? which causes the car to shift into neutral and begins to slow down until it doesn-??t move anymore. There is no check engine light or any other indicator of what might be the problem. The message just pops out of no where. It-??s happen in the freeway making me scare to cause an accident because it so random. I-??ve had to quickly turn my hazards and beginning switching lanes to avoid any accidents.
There were multiple occasions (3 times last year and 2 this year) when driver side door latch failed to open the door. The immediate remedy is to unlock using the center console lock/unlock button. This is a dangerous situation esp. When a car gets in an accident or not reach button preventing safe escape. This has happened when car has parked and attempting to open door from latch. I ended up having the car fixed by dealer at steven creek BMW for $1200+ last week replacing cable/latch assembly. My 328I xdrive is barely 6 years old and feel that a mature platform should not prevent you from safely exiting your car.
Driver's door and front passenger's door will not open with the interior door lever. This is an intermittent problem that can happen once a month or once a week. Lock knob on the door pops up and then back down when using the lever. The only way to unlock the door is to press the dash door lock button. This is extremely dangerous as all BMW's have an automatic battery disconnect in the event of an accident; therefore there would be no way to exit the vehicle! I spoke to the local BMW service agent and he said they knew of the problem but it was not covered by BMW. This should be a safety recall!!!!!
I was driving on I-91 at normal highway speed and the car suddenly started decelerating on its own with no warning lights or other indication of a problem. I pulled over immediately and shut the engine off and got out to investigate and saw smoke under the hood. I called 911 and the car was visibly on fire by the time they arrived.
Double pull handle unlock feature not working. When I pull the handle after turning off the vehicle, the lock would not unlock. Instead the knob returns to locked position until I press the unlock button on center console. As showed in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=iattxl7pmow
Rear spoiler malfunction appeared on my screen while I was driving roughly 30 miles per hour, then the rear spoiler began to smoke within 60 seconds. I pulled the car over to park it, and after another 100 seconds, the spoiler caught fire and within 180 more seconds the whole rear of the car was on fire. By this time the fire department showed up and extinguished the flames.
My complaint concerns the radio, and reception. I have been to 3 different dealerships in 3 different towns and have been told on 3 different occasions the radio/antenna is ok. The problem is I have a 2007 BMW and a 3012 gotd Fusion, as well as my former spouse has a 2017 Ford mustang and there is no problem getting radio stations in either of these vehicles.
Gran turismo tailgate crashed upon my head without tail warning lights flashing or alarm. No foot kicking to activate the feature was invoked. While parked with the hatch open, I was simply placing groceries into my trunk. The problem is intermittent, and can not be repeated upon demand. I have been able to demo the problem several times since the first event. I also uncovered several other problems with the tailgate. The kicking feature to activate tailgate lifting and lowering doesn't work 100%. vigorous kicking in different spots is needed to activate the hands free feature. Sometimes there is a partial drop and reopening of the tailgate. Sometimes the alarm works and sometimes not. When hands free closing of hatch, an obstruction will not cause the door to retreat. Finally the hatch will close without any warning.
Trunk closure mechanism has a sensor that can be activated by passing a foot under the bumper area while trunk is opened while stationary. Sensor cannot be deactivated and can be accidentally activated by foot-animal causing the trunk to close causing injury to person in area. Wife being treated by a neurologist for concussion, and potential neck injuries. Dealer in egg harbor New Jersey states sensor cannot be deactivated. System is a safety hazard.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kalamazoo, MI, USA