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 left passenger door lock has ceased to operate on my 2007 BMW 328I. It does not unlock with either the key fob or the main unlock switch. This is very dangerous if there were any kind of emergency involving this door needing to be opened.
My car keys cannot unlock all the doors. I had to remove the key from the remote and use the key to manually open the driver side door. The front passenger door and both doors at the rear passenger seats cannot be opened. There is no way the doors can be opened from the inside once it is locked. This is a serious safety issue especially in the event of an emergency from a car fire, people in the car (passenger side cannot unlock the door to get out and the doors cannot be opened from the outside. I see this a potential liability and I am surprised why no authorities have stepped up and initiate an investigation. Does that mean when only there is a fatal incident that people will start investigation? I brought my car to the dealership and their appointment time is fully booked till next week. They don't seem to even think this could result in potentially dangerous and safety issue. If this website is dedicated to what is profess to do, then I hope to see action. This has been a known problem with BMW but I am sure other makes also have this safety concern.
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...
The mechanism to unlock the door on the driver's side of my BMW 335I failed, making it impossible to open the door. Previously, the passenger's side door lock failed and was reported to NHTSA (ODI #: 10378269). BMW agreed to replace the passenger's side door lock (the car was out of warranty), but at the time did not replace the driver's side door lock which has now failed too. Being trapped in the car due to a failed door lock mechanism is an inconvenience at best and a major hazard at worst.
All doors except driver door are locked and cannot be open by passenger from inside using door handle; cannot be opened using the door lock switch on the dash board; cannot be opened using the key fob; cannot be opened from the outside door handle. Therefore all passengers have to exit through the driver door. Once being locked from the outside, the drive has to use the backup key in the key fob to unlock the door. This is a serious safety issue regarding exiting the car in emergency situation.
- San Diego, CA, USA
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2007 BMW 335I. Consumer writes in regards to actuator failure which caused the circuit breaker to permanently lock vehicle doors. The consumer stated after he arrived at his destination, he attempted to open the door, but it failed to open. Then, he attempted to use the door handle to exit from the vehicle, but that failed to open the door as well. After applying all practical options to exit the vehicle, such as using the manual door release, internal and external door handle, and using the central locking mechanism, all the doors failed to open. He had to roll down the window and climb out of the vehicle.
The doors will not unlock; from the exterior, only the driver's door can be opened with the key. From the interior, only the driver's door can be opened; none of the other 3 doors can be opened manually or by using the unlock buttons either on the dash or on the key. I think that this creates a very hazardous situation-if this failure occurred while the vehicle was occupied, passengers would only be able to exit through the windows or through the driver's door. This could result in injury or loss of life in some accident situations. I spoke to BMW North America about this problem and they said that they "probably would not be responsible for repairs" to this potentially dangerous situation.
Door locked in position, unable to get out of car. No manual way to get out of car. Huge safety issue. Finally able to unlock using key. When speaking to BMW service center (walters of riverside) about issue, they said if key would have been in ignition the car would have unlocked. Now episode happened again, but unable to get out of car. Key does not work even if in ignition. Luckily, the passenger door was unlock and I was able to crawl out. Now doors are lock so I will have to have the car towed. I am unable to get into the car.
Doors will not unlock or open. I was literally trapped inside my car in a parking lot. Drove vehicle home, had to put down window and have someone use valet key at my house to open the driver door. None of the other three passenger doors can be unlocked. Luckily no passengers in my vehicle. Was told there is a tsb related to this, however it is not recognized as a safety issue. Cannot understand how this is considered "safe" when if my vehicle was on fire and I had my children in their car seats in the back seat, there would be no way to open the doors to get them out. BMW is aware that the actuators are pulling too much current through the fuses and that the actuators need replaced. They are making tons of money off of charging people to repair this known problem as this is not something you can avoid having repaired unless you are willing to gamble on your own life or those of family/friends who may be in your vehicle when this occurs. There really needs to be a safety recall on this issue before someone loses their life as a result. I find it quite absurd that the NHTSA does not recognize this. Does someone need to die for this to be remedied? just because I drive a used BMW does not mean I have the money to have this repaired, yet I've got two very young children who ride in the backseat of this car on a daily basis. Looking at the number of complaints that have already been filed, obviously it appears that neither BMW nor the NHTSA seem to care about my safety, my family's safety or that of any of the other thousands of BMW owners who are having the same issue.
Electric door locks failed on all four doors with no symptoms prior to complete system failure. Key fob and central locking system button inside car would not unlock any door. Doors would not open by pulling on interior door latch handles. The only way to enter/exit vehicle was by using key on exterior driver's side door to unlock the door, or through the windows. This seems like an extremely dangerous single point egress failure that could result in unnecessary injury or loss of life in emergency situations. I replaced the blown 15A fuse (#57) with a 20A fuse per si B51 19 07 twice. First functional test by pressing the central lock system button resulted in the new fuse blowing immediately each time. Further troubleshooting and repair will be necessary to resolve issue (likely by replacing faulty electro/mechanical door latch/lock/actuator mechanism).
When the power door lock fuse is blown, passenger cannot exit or enter the car manually. You can't open the door using the inside or outside door handle. The car would lock you in. Only the driver side door can be open using the inside door handle. I have to let the passengers in my car climb over the driver seat to get out. This is a serious problem because if the driver door is jam or block for any reason then you cannot open any other door to get out. It gets worse since BMW put an under power fuse for the door lock which cause the fuse to blown often.
Door locks would not open on 3 of the doors; had to crawl from backseat to front seat to start car. Once got home, had to crawl back out via the back seat. Extremely hazardous safety condition due to if there was an accident, myself nor my passengers, especially young children, wouldn't be able to escape. Took vehicle to local BMW dealer and he stated this was not the "1st" time he had seen this type of issue. Approximate cost is between $700 to $1,000 to fix. Contacted BMW customer relations and they are investigating issue.
The automatic door locks on my car have quick working and the only way to enter or exit the car is through the driver door using the manual key fob. Passenger doors are inoperable from both interior and exterior. This presents a serious safety concern in the event of an accident or fire.
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 335I. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked when he noticed that only the front driver side door would open from the interior or exterior. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they were in the process of diagnosing the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 32,000. Updated 11/29/11 the consumer stated the driver's side door actuator failed, causing all the other doors to remain locked and inoperable. Updated 12/07/11
Regular usage. One day, the central locking system simply died without warning and there is no alternative way of unlocking the passenger doors after the central locking system died.
2007 BMW 335xi door lock system failure. The car is 3 years old and the door locks have failed twice. The drivers side door locks will not open and the only recourse was to climb over the console and exit through the passenger door. This is a safety issue. I have had it repaired twice, and the second repair by the dealer was to put in a larger valuse fuse. This does not seem like a proper repair. I am sure that tere is still something wrong and that as it continues to degrade I will be locked in the car again. In an accident situation this could be deadly.
I have a 2007 3 series. Prior to that, I owned a 2000 BMW 3 series that never had this problem. I came out to my car and was unable to unlock the door with remote. After checking to make sure it wasn't the battery in the fob, I then had to manually use key to open driver's side door. Then upon being inside car, I was unable to unlock door using button on dash. My car is in shop and I am told it is a blown fuse needing an actuator replaced. I was told it's also affecting my gas tank, meaning I would be unable to open gas tank to put in gas. After researching, this seems to be a common problem with 2007 3 series. And a huge safety issue of getting trapped in your car. I am really upset I am having to shell out money for this, as my car is out of warranty. My car is in mint condition with 25K miles. I hope this will be seriously considered for a recall as this a potential safety hazard/law suit!
Electric door locks failed on all four doors. Could not unlock any passenger door until fuse inside glove box was replaced. Driver could exit the drivers door by manually lifting door handle. No apparent means to open any passenger doors (or gas door cover) until the fuse was replaced. Had there have been a front seat passenger, that occupant would have to climb over console and exit the drivers door to even allow access to the fuse panel. This is the second occurrence in this vehicle and based on my online research, it is a common problem with this model vehicle. If this problem were to occur and then an accident happened, it would be a serious safety issue because none of the passengers could exit rapidly.
BMW 335I interior doors were locked due to electrical/mechanical malfunction/failure of the door lock system. I had to unroll the windows and crawl out and pull my kids out of the back seats through the windows. If this were an accident, there would have been severe injuries and made it impossible to quickly get out of the car. Online forums indicate this is a serial problem and should be subject to manufacturer recall for this issue.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Florence, AZ, USA