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.
Earlier this year in February I have replaced the alternator and some other major part right after purchasing from dealership and i have seen all the other recent recalls for the vehicle also it appears to have recalls that have not been worked on by manufacture. there also were no signs that came on also the wheel tightened up and stopped on me out of no where while driving. this being the second time this has happened as on new years i was on the freeway on my way home and the car did the same when i first replaced the alternator
I went to start my car and there was a red warning light that is a steering wheel with a padlock. I am not able to start my car or do anything with it for that matter, so I am stuck. Thank goodness I was home and parked in the driveway or worse, driving and it lock on me! so now I am stuck without a car and hard telling what its going to cost me! ive been reading that a lot of other people are having or have had the same issue.
Power steering pulley comes into contact of axle carrier, it's a clear design flaw and this car hasn't had much research and development done, the company knowingly put an unsafe beta car on the market. My belt broke because of the pulley to frame contact and stalled on the 405 freeway and ended up getting injured when the car was rear ended at 60mph. There is a service bulletin within BMW's system describing this issue and they want consumers to pay out of pocket for repairs. I spoke to corporate and they have given me the cold shoulder so far. My mission is to get this escalated to a recall before someone gets seriously hurt.
Serpentine drive belt broke during highway driving, power steering immediately lost. Belt replaced; after 2000 miles belt was found to be frayed and severely worn. Belt was replaced a second time. Belt then broke a third time after 8000 while driving, same conditions and symptoms. Diagnosed as damage to the drive belt and power steering pulley due to insufficient clearance with the front subframe. BMW has had a tsb for the issue since 2008 (si B11 09 08) for all E90 series with N54 engines (135I, 335I) up to 04/08 production; recommended repair for vehicles that had subframe contact with the pulley is to replace front subframe with updated part -- no warranty extension or recall at present for affected vehicles, covered under new warranty only. Owner eventually replaced subframe with updated one out of pocket.
- Denton, TX, USA
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I recieved an error message while driving a red steering wheel with a padock with the fear of something happening as I had my underage son in the car decided to stop and check the code which read ccid 186 after researching and finding out this is a very common issue with the 3 series I am very dissapointed with the ammount of claims this should be covered by BMW as it is over 1.5K to fix out of warranty.
The vehicle was parked in my driveway, before I started vehicle I noticed a red steering wheel lock light on my dashboard, I tried to turn vehicle on and unforptunately my car won't start.
I have a 2007 BMW 335I with a locked steering wheel. This have been a non and dangerous problem from the release of the car. BMW refuses to help there owners even when the estimated repair is about 2000. This item should have been recalled a long time ago, my steering locked on me while I was driving inthe city, I was able to get over before I hit something. bmwproblem.com/tag/steering/page/5/
The steering lock warning light in red display. I took to the dealer and they recommended me to replace the steering lock "elv" and program new control module. It cost $1,975 to replace. I did some research and it seems this might be known problem to BMW, but yet, I have never heard about it, until the incident happened to me. When the warning symbol displayed, it display every time even when I open the door.
Red electric steering wheel lock icon on screen and car will not start or turn over. Radio works and everything else but car will not start. When battery died, and I charged it full, then went to start the car and this red electric steering wheel lock came on. Had to get car serviced
Battery died. Jumpstarted, drove for a bit. Turned off, turned back on drove home. Parked the car. Tried to restart and the red electronic steering wheel lock indicator was on. Plenty of juice in the battery, car will not even attempt to turn over. Can not get into neutral to tow out. Car is dead where it sits because of the electronic steering lock. Thank goodness we weren't in the middle of nowhere.
Yellow warning light indicated wheel is locked; car will not start. This has happened multiple times. Whereas it did not affect my driving, it affected driveability. Have been far from home late in the day -work related. Dealership said this is a common problem. What if wheel locks while driving? shame on BMW.
Just the other day I decided to take a trip to the store. I stepped in the car and attempted to state it. I got the ( electric steering wheel lock malfunction ) it automatically disables the vehicle no matter where you are located. I called the dealership to confirm the diagnostics and they told me it was a common issue and it would cost me up towards $1500 out of pocket.. that is crazy !! now I have a heavy and expensive paper weight in my driveway. I did some research on a couple of BMW forums to do some home work I couldn't believe the number of people with the same issue. The kicker is its a dealer part only. I have now choice but to go the dealership and be forced to pay premium prices for a defective part the is common to break. Its a sensor that is located in the steering column of the car that fails. BMW designed the steering column to be one unit so I have to change out the whole column instead the effected problem which cost nothing in comparison. How is this my fault. Why do I have to pay this outrageous amount of money for something that is out of my hands.
The vehicle steering wheel locked and the car would not start. A known and consistent problem for this vehicle, yet no recall. A faulty lock mechanism in the steering column could lead to a fatal accident. This is completely unacceptable.
My serpentine belt (drive belt) snapped and shattered causing my vehicle to lose power steering capabilities. This belt drives all the accesories( alternator, power steering, ac, etc). This is a known issue by BMW, there is a sib 11 09 08 that states the issue and how to go about checking it by the dealer. The issue is the design flaw in the power steering pully hitting the sub frame and causing damage to the belt and in turn the belt snapping. This can/will cause a fatality one day because of the loss of steering controls. The belt on my vehicle was replaced before on 12/20/12 for the same reason and it has only been 1.5 years and the same problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hanford, CA, USA