2.3

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
68,464 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.

2003 BMW M3 drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2003 BMW M3 Owner Comments

problem #5

May 242019

M3

  • 10,320 miles

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

Msg pump failure

- Prineville, OR, USA

problem #4

Apr 202019

M3

  • 119,000 miles
Smg hydraulic pump: I was driving on the highway at 65 mph in the #1 lane and my car all of a sudden dropped out of gear and my car started to coast losing speed very fast, I looked at my speedometer and it was 45 mph. Cars were honking and high beaming me but I was helpless and was trying to move to the right with my hazard lights on. All of a sudden the car kicked back into gear, I was able to accelerate and exit the highway. I went to research the problem and found out it is a very common scary problem these cars have. There are thousands of complaints on this subject. Very scary situation, I am glad my kids or wife was not driving the car at the time. I hope BMW steps up to the plate and proactively takes care of this before tragedy strikes.

- Baldwin Park, CA, USA

problem #3

Sep 162017

M3

  • 1 miles
Rear subframe structural damage per class action lawsuit bacca V. BMW of North America, llc, case no. [xxx]. I brought my vehicle for maintenace repairs and inspection at a private repair shop and notified me that there is evidence of rear subframe damage during their inspection. BMW did not notify me of this very typical issue of their BMW 3 series models 1999-2006. This is not a typical issue in automotive manufacturing and should be continued to be address by BMW North America due to the compromise of safety to the owners and the public of these vehicles. I have attached a pdf of the class action lawsuit letter regarding the structural issues of the automobile. This obviously was not addressed by BMW properly and should be continued to be addressed as the issues are still relevant up to now. This still raises a safety issue since these models are still being sold today. I've also attached a current photo of my vehicle that shows the evidence of structural damage under the rear subframe of the vehicle. I would greatly appreciate you help in getting this issue resolved with BMW of North America as so prevent further damage and prevent any major accident from happening. Thank you! [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'

- Torrance, CA, USA

problem #2

Apr 082014

M3 6-cyl

  • 120,000 miles
While turning at a slow speed left or right the differential begins to make grinding and clunking noise. Inspection II service has already been performed in which the diff fluid is replaced. However, if turning a hard right or hard left the rear tire begins to vibrate and feels like its running over a bump.

- Inglewood, CA, USA

problem #1

Aug 162012

M3 6-cyl

  • 93,000 miles
While driving on a relatively hot day (92 degrees F), my vehicle's smg (sequential manual gearbox) malfunction indicator light turned on and I began having problems with the vehicle randomly dropping out of gear into neutral or "0" for 6-15 seconds at a time. When out of gear, there was a complete loss of power. On one instance of dropping out of gear, I was turning right at around 10-15 mph when I found I could not accelerate and an oncoming vehicle almost ran into me. Since the first occurrence of this, this type of "stalling" has happened much more frequently when the ambient temperature reaches above 90 degrees, and now I cannot drive longer than 30 minutes without the smg mil turning on and gears start dropping. I'm concerned that this may happen at higher speeds and leave me stranded on a highway or even in stop-and-go traffic, where it seems to occur very frequently. I've researched many forums for this and have found this to be a common issue with other M3 smg owners. There is some indication from other owners that the issue might be linked to a hydraulic temperature sensor located on the main smg hydraulic pump but I have not found any information from BMW detailing a repair for this type of issue. The only option seems to be a full replacement of the hydraulic pump, which has already been done on my vehicle once before for a similar issue. This type of replacement costs almost $4000 as quoted by the dealer. I think BMW should get serious about this issue and conduct an investigation on potential campaign remedies.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

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