9.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
2,167 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2018 BMW i3 steering problems

steering problem

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2018 BMW i3 Owner Comments

problem #3

Jun 282023

i3

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On two occasions the power steering failed while i was driving, once several months ago and again last Wednesday. Fortunately i was driving on surface streets close to home. i parked the car for twenty minutes and upon starting it the problem seemed to be gone. After the first occurance i went to the dealer and they said they knew nothing about the problem. I also called BMW USA.... again they knew nothing. The second time, last week, i took the car to the dealer again and they located a software update. Without actually acknowledging the problem, BMW had a software update and after initially asking me to pay for it, they agreed to pay.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

problem #2

Jun 112022

i3

  • miles
Hello, I am owning a BMW i3REX (2018). Recently like many other users experienced multiple times the loss of power steering after starting the vehicle. While previous events like this were short lived and resolved with stopping, turning off and on the vehicle, this time it was on entering a highway, where the car suddenly lost its power steering and could not be driven properly. I had to exit, switched the car off and restart after a couple of minutes, which resolved this problem completely. I am reporting this to you, as I see this as a major safety risk for the BMW i3, which as it seems also other driver experiences and so far no solution has been found by BMW (please see https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5065) ?

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #1

Jul 252019

i3

  • 6,500 miles
It's my 7th month driving brand new 2018 I3 bev. After got off the work today, the July 25th, 2019, the car started pulling to the left. I had no problem I thought I had a flat so I checked the tire pressure monitor and it was just fine. I realized that the steering wheel got heavier than usual and quite difficult to turn. It wouldn't stay center but kept moving to the left while being really heavy. Even on the flat pavement. I checked online and there are a lot of people complaining about this very issue with I3. Most of them said turning the car off and turn it back on usually fixes the problem but it's not always the case. Drivers with the same issue also say that it's a software problem as the I3's steering wheel is completely assisted by electrical motor, not a conventional way of how power steering wheel is operated. I feel disconcerted as this is directly related to the operation of the vehicle and safety. Some claimed that software upgrade may fix the problem but I feel strongly that BMW should step up and proactively fix the issue! this is dangerous!

- La Crescenta, CA, USA

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