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.
While sitting still at the first incident the car stalled for no reason. Over the next two weeks the car started to run very rough and the service engine light would come on. You could turn it off and restart and it would be fine for a little while, now my engine light stays on all the time and my #3 injector needs replaced. BMW did recall the injectors for the 2008 models, but not my 2007, the cost is my responsibility and many other 2007 owners have had the same problem. I do.have a BMW extended warranty for my fuel pressure regulator, not a recall, but they go bad several times a year. A recall should be extended for the 2007 injectors.
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.
On 20 Feb 2013, we were driving on a highway in san francisco. Traffic in front of us slowed to a stop and we also stopped. We were then struck hard from behind by another car that hit the right-rear part of our bumper. Immediately after the impact, all interior and exterior lights in our car flickered and became very dim. We discovered later that the impact had damaged the car's battery, evidenced by electrolyte leaking out of the underneath, rear of the car. After the collision, traffic began moving again and the other driver moved his car off the roadway, leaving us sitting in the middle of a busy, 5-lane freeway after dark with no lights of any kind in or on our car. The emergency flasher flickered dimly, but was not working. All the head and tail lights were dark. Police eventually arrived and pushed our car to the shoulder. I waited inside our car while the driver spoke with the police. As I waited, the door locks suddenly latched and the alarm started. It was impossible to unlock the car from the inside. The door handles were completely non-functional. The windows would not open. I was trapped inside the car. People outside the car were unable to help me escape. A tow-truck driver asked me to release the hood latch. He attached a battery pack to some terminals in the engine compartment and when the interior lights came on, I was able to unlock the door and leave the car. Then he disconnected the battery pack and the car went dark. If there had been a fire or an injury, this would have been a very serious situation. As an engineer I see two, no-cost solutions to this problem. (1) surround the battery with a strong barrier and move it farther away from the rear of the car. (2) include a mechanical link to the door latches so that the doors can be opened from the interior of the car when the battery is disconnected.
- San Francisco, CA, USA
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My wife was driving in the left center lane of interstate 384 in manchester ct. The car stalled and she was hit from behind by 3 other vehicles. She suffered back and neck injuries. This is related to the recent recall of bmws for a faulty battery cable. BMW would not acknowledge anything was wrong with the car. We traded the car in because we did not feel it was safe or reliable.
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.
I was unable to unlock the driver's side door. I had to slide over to the passenger side door. There is a BMW sib#: 51-19-07. I cannot believe there has not been a recall given the fact of the possibility of the driver or a passenger being trapped inside the car. I have saved both door locks that malfunctioned.
Key fob will not unlock doors. Valet key gets you into the drivers door, but the other doors will not unlock by any means, either by pulling the handle or by operating the interior unlock switch. In an accident that might disable the door unlock function, 3 of the 4 could not be opened for exit purposes.
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.
The key fob did not unlock the car doors nor did the central control button inside the car unlock the doors. Only the drivers side door could open from inside the car. No other door could be opened from the inside with this malfunction. Found out a fuse went bad creating the problem.
Water pump failed while driving and car would not exceed 5mph. Postings online show this is a common issue (possible recall issue like the fuel pump). Car was towed to the dealer and water pump was replaced for $1033.
My 2007 BMW 335I became very hard to steer during a drive down a steep grade. A battery not charging error would appear on dash shortly after... here is what happened. While driving down a steep hill and needing to break hard on a turn to avoid hitting a dead animal on the road I smelled burning rubber and then heard a noise this noise I discovered later in the day was my power steering belt breaking. I lost all power steering went off the road out off control due to lose of power steering and almost hit a bike rider and came very close to going off the side of road. Later that day I decided to google my problem and see if there would be an easy fix to this problem. I discovered there is not an easy fix for a broken belt on my modal of car. I discovered this is common on many BMW models and BMW is aware of it see sib 11-09-08. I quickly discovered that I am not the only owner out there with this problem. There are many others. BMW knows of the problem and has not recalled any cars. There documentation of the problem is under sib 11-09-08. I will be bringing my car back to dealer to have this problem resolve and hope they follow the sib 11-09-08 which notes new style sub frame replacement will be required. I believe an investigation needs to be made regarding power steering belts breaking. These belts should not be breaking under the condition I was driving and should be considered a major safety issue. I hope to see this resolved soon before someone is killed. At this time I don't feel the car will be safe to drive.
My steering column locked up on me out of the blue without any warning. BMW dealer in raleigh nc (leith BMW on capital blvd) said that to fix is to replace the whole steering wheel column.
After being service by dealer for 4 days which included the replacement of right headlight and ABS and brake system the car caught fire which seem to be related to electrical system. While driving the car heavy toxic smoke started coming out of ventilator of ac system. I immediately step out of the car and in a few minutes smoke and flames located in the engine in front of passenger seat burn the car. Flames and black plastic were coming also under the glove compartment right in front of passenger seat. Dealer quoted $25000 for repair and insurance company declared it total loss. Car was delivered to dealer who has kept it for a month, engineer from BMW North America came and inspected but no report has been issued by them or dealer. This company has no concern for safety of consumers and should be penalize. After having owned six BMW's I feel these autos are not safe.
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).
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.
Using the key remote would only lock the driver's door. Then when using the key remote to unlock the door, the lights flash and the lock "clicks" but the driver's lock wouldn't unlock. I used the metal key in the key fob to manually unlock the door and tried it all over again. Same thing happened...key remote would lock only the driver's door lock...key remote to unlock would flash the lights but not unlock the door...requiring me to use the physical key in the driver's door to unlock the driver's door. Thinking that the car was not registering that the other three doors were not locked, I physically locked the doors while inside the car by depressing the locks on the top of each door. Bad idea! nothing would work to unlock the car (with me inside!)...unlock button on the key remote...nope...lock/unlock button on the dash near the vents...nope....pull on the door handles of all the doors from the inside (multiple times)...nope. Ultimately, to get myself out of the car I had to roll down the driver's side window and used the physical key in the driver's door lock to manually unlock the drivers side door only.
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.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lancaster, PA, USA