Our 2003 BMW 325I has had repeated stalling events occurring at increasing frequency. While idling at stop lights or at highway speed warning lights on the dashboard (eml, hazard and brake) light and the engine loses power, and RPM's drop. After the first occurrence, the BMW was taken to advantage midtown BMW in houston, tx for diagnosis/repair. BMW replaced the throttle controller which they said was defective. 1-2 months later the problem began occurring again with increasing frequency. The car stalled at a traffic light with the same warning lights/symptoms. The car was returned to advantage BMW and left for several days. Initially the service staff at advantage BMW told us that the computer had failed and needed to be replaced and was under warranty. However, after discussions with the BMW corporate office, advantage BMW did not replace the computer instead stating the that the problem may be due to low voltage in the system. I asked them what would cause this since I did not want to drive the car when it intermittently could stall. Advantage kept the car a few more days and then returned it to us with the explanation that the low voltage was due to insufficient charge on the battery. I was advised to purchase a float charger. Since then the car has been kept fully charged via a ctek float charger. However last weekend the engine stalled repeatedly while my family and I were driving on interstate 10 at freeway speeds. This forced me to pull to the shoulder of the highway and drive with reduced power. After stopping the car and restarting, the engine reset and functioned again for a while. Since this time the problem has repeated itself 5 times in 1 week. I feel that BMW returning the car to me in the condition where intermittent stalling is occurring is unsafe - I stated this to advantage BMW when I had it in for service during the second instance of these problems. I have service scheduled again at advantage BMW for August 14, 2010.

- Houston, TX, USA

I purchased my BMW 325I in August of 2006. Since that purchase I have only driven it approximately 9-12 months collectively. The car was purchased with 37500 miles and now has 70,000 miles. The problem appears to be the electrical system which causes the lights to turn off and on when they feel like it. This car has been sitting in my driveway for the past 9 months because it is unsafe to drive and will not pass inspection. I have had it to numerous BMW dealerships, they can not find the problem. All the issues seem to be electrical in nature and are very hard to accurately diagnose. The bottom line is I am charged thousands of dollars to repair the car but car is still not safe. The rear lights have burned out and the right front light goes on and off at will. The last incident occurred in Dec 2009 when the car lit up like a christmas tree (the only time all of the lights worked.) however, when you turn the car on, the lights went off again. The car had to be towed to the shop where it remained until January 2010. I was charged $2700 and still can't get this beast inspected. This has gone beyond the point of ludicrous. I am completely disgusted with the "ultimate driving machine". in essence I am paying 650 dollars a month for nothing. The last mechanic that looked at the car recommended that we should replace the front lighting system because the current system that is faulty is not meant to be replaced, so replacement parts are very expensive. In theory the lights should last the life of the car. This is not the case with my car and to replace the xenon lights with the more common halogen lights it will cost an estimated 2,000 dollars. This is not feasible with a car payment and until the car is paid off in 2012. It will sit in the driveway, a waste of a perfect car, my retirement car.

- Richmond, VA, USA

We own a BMW 325I series 2003 sedan. While my daughter started the car she noted the left headlight went out on the driver's side of the car. She was only around 4 blocks away so proceeded to drive home and during the drive she experienced her brakes grabbing and steering difficulties. All the dashboard indicator lights came on. We took the car that night to BMW to drop off for evaluation. The service manager stated that the xenon headlight failed and took at the steering system panel and had to be all rewired. He said they had never seen this happen before. I am concerned this is a safety concern in the wiring of the xenon headlight to effect a steering panel when the headlight goes out. The effect on the steering panel is immediate and gives no time to replace the headlight without further damage to the car. The cost to repair was $1800. This is very concerning. 2 months later the blinker headlight next to the xenon headlight fell completely out of the car held by a wire while my daughter was driving on the highway. It seems like there is an issue with the BMW 325I series headlights that to me is a great safety concern for those driving. I would appreciate your follow up to the make and model. I would be glad to provide my name for you to obtain copies of the service records on these events from our BMW dealership. Thank you.

- Dubuque, IA, USA

Faulty pin connectors in rear brakelight assemblies, causing premature failure of brake lighting harness, very dangerous.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

3/26/2010 - olney, md - 2003 325xi right and left rear light assembly system failing at times, (turn signal and brake light works intermittenly). BMW acknowledged "ground" problem in assemly in tbs:630306, February 1 2007 local dealer in silver spring md, tisher BMW correct the problem only on the right side and completely ignore multipple office visit for the same issue on both sides and refuse to correct problem on the left assembly. At the same time BMW corporate office customer suport refused to offer out of warranty free repair or to initiate recall on previosly acknowledged "ground" problem. I belive this issue is the safty hazard because the "ground" red wire is burning in the connector of tail light assembly. Also people and other drivers can't see when you "braking"

- Olney, MD, USA

GM5 locking module for 2003 BMW E46. All four lock would not unlock or lock on the remote or switch inside the car. I had to either wait in the heat or cold outside while waiting for the locking system to respond. If there are children in the car and you cannot get to in time because of the lock/unlock issue, it can be fatal for others.

- Elk Grove, CA, USA

BMW 325I rear blinkers shorted out causing electrical wires to burn. While driving my BMW a warning light on my console turned on indicating the left rear brake/blinker light(s) went out while at the same time I smelled wiring burning. I stopped the car and all my lights seemed ok, so I presumed it was a faulty sensor. A short while later while driving down the freeway I pulled into the left lane and really pissed the driver off behind me and nearly caused an accident. At this moment I noticed my left blinker was making a fast noise as though the left blinker bulb(s) was out. I pulled over a second time to check my blinkers, fearing I would cause an accident, and all my flashers, brake lights and blinkers were working fine. The warning lights on the console went on and off intermittently. I purchased a new bulb hoping this would solve the problem, but everything seemed ok and functional. When I returned from my trip, I was told by two european auto shops and the service manager of a BMW dealership that BMW is aware of a ground problem with the rear light cluster. When I unsnapped the plastic connection from the rear light cluster, the metal prongs and plastic were melted away. The heat apparently was so hot, the solid metal prongs 1/4" long completely melted including the plastic casing. A BMW dealership employee told me that this issue is common when driving in the city when one is using the brakes and blinkers incessantly, particularly in heavy traffic. "the grounding wire isn't heavy enough to withstand the demand for electricity required by the brake and blinker lights simultaneously". this is a known BMW defect and this can easily cause an accident, as in my case, not to mention a lot of drivers really pissed off when I cut in front of them thinking my blinkers are working. This is an issue BMW should repair!

- San Francisco, CA, USA

Rear lighting system, to include turn signal and brake light, on my 2003 BMW 325I works intermittently. BMW acknowledged defect in system in si B 63 03 06, dated February 2007 but to date has refused to initiate a recall to fix this safety defect. The nature of the defect causes the lamp housing terminals to burn and burns the surrounding plastic housing. This can be a fire hazard particularly of there is flammable material in the trunk. Obviously the brake lights working intermittently is an obvious hazard. The repair costs approx $600 for both sides.

- Austin, TX, USA

Right rear lighting system, to include turn signal and brake light, on my 2003 BMW 325I works intermittently. BMW acknowledged defect in system in si B 63 03 06, dated February 2007 but to date has refused to initiate a recall to fix this safety defect.

- Grand Prairie, TX, USA

My dashboard panel showed a warning light indicating that the tail light was having an issue. I was told by a service center that the tail light assembly may get hot enough to melt the plastic in the housing and it will have to be replaced. Upon inspection I found that the wire harness had melted and the power supply wire for one of the lights had melted the plastic and the wire had come free. Once free, it arced to the connector pin on the bulb holder assembly and degraded that pin until the connection was lost. All plastic pieces in contact with the parts are melted and burned. I contacted the BMW service center and was told that this is not a recall issue and I was responsible for replacing these parts. Pictures are available of the parts.

- Raleigh, NC, USA

Brake light malfunction due to corrosion of wires within the housing of the brake light. BMW corporate is aware of the problem, but has yet to recall it.

- Puyallup, WA, USA

Ltr fm (MA) concerned about the stalling tendences in model years 2001-2004 BMW 325I and 323I passenger cars. The stalling problem was eleminated by installing an update released about July 2004 by BMW ag headquarters in munich. An independent repair facility downloaded the update from the BMW-siemens website in the U.K. and installed it in the consumer's BMW. Since the software has been updated the vehicle has only stalled twice since updated, once when in the wrong gear, and once when the emergency brake was set.

- Weston, MA, USA

2003 BMW 325I stalls frequently because of instability. The vehicle stalled about seven times after being driven off the lot on the date if purchase. From Dec 2003 to June 2005 the vehicle had only been drive 11,000 because the dealer was unable to alleviate the stalling condition. The dealer believed the stalling was due to driver error. The consumer believes the stalling is due to instability and that this problem could be easy fixed by updating software. An independent repair facility downloaded the update from the BMW-siemens website in the U.K. and installed it. Since the software has been updated the vehicle has only stalled twice since updated, once when in the wrong gear, and once when the emergency brake was set.

- Weston, MA, USA

The engine has been stalling intermittently while driving since 11/2004, and has had 6 documented services. After last service on 11/18/05, it stalled again on 12/01/05 when driving on freeway. I had not driven it since then and had it towed and returned to the dealer on 12/10/05.

- San Jose, CA, USA

BMW 325I purchased new in April 2003. After a couple of weeks I started to experience problems. My car would jerk very hard when approaching to a stop. My car started to stall out while driving or sometimes it did not even start. In June 2003 a little over a month after I initially purchase it, I took it to the dealer. They could not duplicate the same problem and it did not register any faults in the computer. A month later took it back for the same problem and they could not duplicate problem. Another month passd took it back for the same problem and this time they were able to find out what caused the jerking problem. BMW tech said that they needed to upgrade the computer software which they did and the jerking stopped. But the most important problem that has not been fixed is my car stalling. Since purchased date my car has been in the shop several times now and my car continues to die out on me. Sometimes the car would not even start, I had to tow it back to the dealer once. Summarize current problems: Randomly does not want to start and sometimes my doors does not unlock when using the key remote.

- Oak Forest, IL, USA

I have a BMW 325I which I purchased brand new in Nov. '02. In March '03, while driving on the njtpk at 60-65mph in the left lane, the car suddenly lost its acceleration. The clocks also went off and then reset itself to 12:00. Being that I was driving in the left lane of the NJ turnpike, I consider myself very lucky that I was able to cross four lanes of traffic and come to the right shoulder (there was no left shoulder). I waited for a while, restarted the car, reset the clock and hit the road again. Shortly after that the electrical system in the car starting acting up... at one occasion, I was not able to unlock the car using the remote. At another, the windows would not roll up upon pulling on the knob. The light below the rear view mirror would not come on. Most of these problems would go away after I would shut down the car and restart it. I took the car into princeton BMW where I had purchased it. They had never heard of this issue before. They kept the car for a full day and did extensive testing on it. At the end of the day they were not able to find anything wrong with the car. For the next few months I did not have any problems with the acceleration although the light behind the rear view mirror still does not work fine. If I turn the right light on, nothing happens for about 5-10 minutes. Then all of a sudden the light comes on. Well, this past weakened (March 14th '04) I had an another experience, on rt. 1, where the car totally lost its acceleration again. I am going to schedule an appointment with princeton BMW again. I also called BMW of na and informed them of the issue.

- Princeton Junction, NJ, USA

When driving at an undetermined speed trunk would open without warning. Consumer took the vehicle to the dealership for inspection, and mechanic determined that vehicle had an electrical problem.

- North Hollywood, CA, USA

The computer first failed on my 2003 BMW 325I on June 15, 2003, (three weeks after I picked it up from the dealership, BMW of manhattan), causing me to lose acceleration without warning. I was travelling at 60-65 miles per hour in the far left lane of the garden state parkway. I was barely able to manuever the car to the shoulder of the road and I was lucky that there happened to be a very small shoulder on the left side of the road, as I would have never been able to make it to the shoulder on the right hand side of the road and traffic was very heavy. This sudden loss of acceleration could have easily caused a fatal accident; particularly, because the cars behind me had no way to detect that my car was only coasting. The NJ state troopers had to shut down northbound traffic in all 4 lanes of the garden state parkway in order to remove my car from the parkway. The car was towed to the dealership.the dealership was unable to successfully reprogram the computer, so they sent it to montvale, NJ to be reprogrammed. The dealership returned the car to me on June 20, 2003. On June 25, 2003, the computer failed again, causing the car to lose acceleration without warning. This time, I was exiting a parking garage and another car nearly slammed into me on the exit ramp. When I restarted the car, I was able to reach the top of the ramp and pull to the side of the road, (not an easy task during rush hour in midtown manhattan!), but the car lurched repeatedly and was unable to go more than 5 mph. The car was towed to the dealership.BMW of manhattan has been unresponsive to my telephone calls. The car clearly has a very serious defect, which could easily cause fatalities.

- New York, NY, USA