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.
I have a 2013 BMW 528I with 160,299 miles. I bought it 4 months prior to the incident with 145,000-150,000 miles on it. First the beginning of the month, the blower motor from the ac/heating stopped working. This was not covered under the extended service warranty I purchased. Then last that month my girlfriend is driving on the interstate merging onto another interstate when the BMW'S DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND she HAD A LOSS OF POWER. She did everything she was supposed to do. I had the veh towed home. The next day, I went out and it would not even stay running. I then had it towed to the repair shop which was chosen by the dealership I bought the car from. They inspected it and stated that the fuel injectors needed replacing because they were leaking. How was I to know they were leaking. There were no indicators at all prior to the warning light and lost power on the interstate. She could have been badly injured. Warranty stated this was not part of the engine, so they would not cover the repairs. The car is still sitting at the shop 4 months later. it is going to cost over $2000 to repair.
Upon purchasing the vehicle it was not serviced as supposed I have been calling only to be played around with this has been a nightmare I haven't made my 3rd payment and currently carless
The engine timing chain failed due to faulty plastic guide around the timing chain which gets brittle and brakes in the engine causing catastrophic engine failure. Our safety and the safety of others on the Parkway was put at HIGH RISK because the car goes into some safe mode and puts itself into PARK!! This three lane parkway has no shoulder to pull over on at all! So we were blocking the entire lane during rush hour traffic in NYC!! This problem was confirmed by the BMW dealership where the car is now, and they are fully aware of this issue with certain model BMWs produced between 2012 thru 2015. The vehicle was inspected by BMW Certified Mechanics at their service station. The warning light came on a min before the car shut itself down on this very DANGEROUS stretch of highway!!
Error Codes : 1. E11480 No Message (Alive Counter Safety 0xD7) Receiver Instrument Cluster Transmitter Airbag 2. E11482 Message (Alive Counter Safety 0xD7) Not Current Receiver Instrument Cluster Transmitter Airbag 3. B7F685 Under Voltage. 4. E114DB Instrument Panel: Demand Based Service Message, Message From CBS Subscriber (BBV) Missing 5. E114DC Instrument Panel: Demand Based Service Message, Message From CBS Subscriber (BBH) Missing 6. E11421 Message Demand Based Service Message From CBS User Has Failed DRIVETRAIN MALFUCTION when drive sport mode The Trunk always Open for no Reason when unlock the car.
While driving with my children, the u-joint on my BMW 528xi failed, causing the driveshaft to break. There was no warning lights or other system indicators. Because the car was moving, the driveshaft continued to spin, smashing the oil and pan and other components in the car. Thankfully I was driving on a side street and not on a Highway, because I would imagine there could have been injury if this occurred at higher speeds. BMW confirmed that the u-joint failed upon inspection. My personal mechanic said that a driveshaft and u-joint is not a maintenance item and that it should not fail if properly designed and manufactured. I have since learned that BMW recalled this exact component on certain other 5 series and X5 models during the same years, but not my model.
- Aurora, OH, USA
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I currently have a 2013 528I BMW with less 90K miles and less than 8 years old. I was driving the vehicle and all of a sudden I received a drivetrain malfunction that abruptly stopped the car. I got to find out that the engine was completely done. I called BMW to see if there was any recall on that issue, I also found out that many BMW owners have had the same issue and had to get the engine replaced. If I was on the freeway this would have been a major traffic incident accident,
On numerous occasions after restarting the car after a short period of rest (30mins-1hr) and a couple times on extended drives(2+ hours) car stalls out the first 6 times came up with power train and fuel module codes took to dealer. Dealer replaced high pressure fuel pump and timing chain issue appeared fix till it started doing it again no longer throwing codes
While driving a message of drivetrain malfunction pops up on the idrive system. Spark plugs have been changed along with regular oil changes. Happens occasionaly then I shut the car off and lock then unlock and restart. Sometimes the message will pop back up and sometimes it does not.
Car was giving the powertrain service message, while driving it would start to power down the car apart of built in mechanism. Took to BMW dealership to have looked at. They came back to me and informed me that the timing chain links were folding over on itself, and the chain was confirmed to have excessive play. Timing chain guides have failed, causing exhaust camshaft to unsync from crankshaft. Can cause catastrophic failure if valves contact piston. Recommendation is to replace entire motor at cost just under $15,000. Car is under 7 years old with 98,000 miles on it. Warranty was "extended" to cover this issue in 2018 out to 7 years, 70,000 miles. This has occurred throughout spring of 2020.
BMW engine N20B20 known timing chain issue. The car in question is 2013 BMW 528I xdrive, 4 cyl. Turbo engine, automatic, all wheel drive, sedan. I was at work and started driving home, got out on the highway, hit 65 mph and immediately notified by the instrument display that there is powertrain issue and to pull over and call service. I had to tow the car home and then again to the service since it would not start. I had 77130 miles on the car at the moment. I got call from the service this morning 05/29/2020 where they stated: Car had 3 quarts of oil instead of 5 which caused mechanical damage and wear. Plastic lead for the timing chain broke and chain is loose. Camshaft I believe is broken. They also stated that the fix is engine replacement $11,000. I asked is there any other solutions beside whole engine replacement they said no except for getting used engine instead of new. Now I have one more BMW (2007 328I, N52 6 cyl. Engine, 6 speed manual, rear wheel drive - still in great shape, never left me on the side of the road 176000 miles and counting), I am enthusiast, I take great care about my cars. Always full synthetic oil every 5000 miles, always mann filter(s), always BMW spec ll-01 for us, always castrol made in belgium. All the parts genuine, best tires. With all that care I know the weakness - oil thirsty engines. The car that's in problem got it's oil checked that morning or day before and showed up max. Those new engines have electrical oil reader (no stick anymore) so I have to rely on that. I am heavily disappointed in BMW and how they are handling this issue. They should offer remedy and full reimbursement or recall for this well known problem.
A catastrophic problem occurred with my BMW, a 2013 528I model, while I was driving on a busy expressway. A warning message indicated the oil pressure was low. As I attempted to navigate to the shoulder, another message stated there was a drive-train malfunction. The car proceeded to decelerate, .shut down and the engine completely fail.
While driving on the interstate at 70 mph, the car, without warning, gave an error message that the oil pressure was low and then another message that said drivetrain malfunction. The car went into neutral on its own and wouldn't go back into drive. In traffic on a 4 lane highway, I had to immediately pull over (dangerous), and get the car towed. The belly pan had to be removed in order to manually engage the car in neutral so the car could be towed(dangerous to do on a busy highway). After the car was taken to a BMW dealership, I was told the engine was locked and the replacement was $18,000! this car has been serviced and was full of oil, so the dealer could not tell me what the issue was unless they tore it down. I complained to BMW North America (corporate) that there was obvious an issue with this vehicle, and they only came back with giving me the warranty rate of $12,000 and they would pick up 15% of the cost. This is not good enough on a vehicle that cost $$60,000 and does not hold its value. After further research, I found out that total story about these cars. BMW's who have the N 20 or N26 engines have a timing chain that have a systematic defect. My vehicle has a N 20 engine. Once these vehicles approach 70,000 - 100,000 miles, the timing chain will break which will cause extensive damage to the engine. BMW is aware of this issue, but have refused to do a recall to install the repair kit. This is most likely due to the cost of the replacement kit, but BMW would rather compromise one's safety and for over priced repairs. Instead, BMW issued an extended warranty on the drivetrain unit up to 70,000 miles. However, BMW is aware that the timing chain will break after 70,000 miles. In the vehicles with these engines, it is not a matter of if the chain will break, it is a matter of when it will break. I will never purchase another BMW product.
Had 100,000M warranty. Around 110K notice "engine oil pressure" light for first time. Added a bit of oil and light went away. Came on again, took it into dealer. They replaced an oil gasket and another gasket. Light came back on within 5 blocks of dealer. They kept my car for 3 weeks, said engineers at headquarters said I need a new engine. Now, I drive cars until 260K miles and then someone else drives them after me. Needing a new engine at 110K miles is awful. They want to put in a new 'short engine", cam shaft position sensor, cam follower, and turbocharger. I've had my oil changed as often as I should, now tell me, how is this needing all of that my fault?? I still owe 2.5 years on car. This is a landfill problem right here and needs to be corrected by BMW.
Transmission total failure and was replaced around around 55,00 oil chain pump & timing chain resulting in a total motor failure at 72000 car has been non op for a year
Engine immediately lost power on highway at approximately 70 mph with no warning. The car went into neutral stating to get to a safe area, which I was able to drift to. Once the car stopped it switched to park. I tried to restart the engine but it would not turn. Because the engine was not running you can not put the car into neutral. This caused difficulty in getting the car towed from the highway shoulder. The BMW N20 engine has a known flaw with the oil and timing chain. The vehicle was towed to a BMW service center where it was confirmed that the engine is damaged from the chain and the engine will need to be replaced at a value of $18,000. The vehicle has 102,000 miles on it. BMW na states that the can not assist in cost since it is outside of the warranty period, although they have already extended the warranty for this fault once. All maintenance had been completed based on the service intervals. The chain service check is not until 150,000 miles. It is hard to believe that a once reputable car manufacturer would let their customers stranded on the road and then again in the service center with a repair bill worth more than the vehicle itself. I look forward to the resolution of the current class action lawsuit in this matter as my car sits unusable.
118,000 miles had to replace both front drive axles and turbo charger. No recourse to BMW ? my last 2000 BMW 528 went 450,000 miles and never had these problems.
The car had 73,000 miles on it. I was driving home from work in stop and go city traffic when suddenly, the engine went into limp mode (as it is designed to do after it detects engine problems) and indicators lit up saying that I needed to pull over as the car was inoperable. I was in the left lane about to merge onto a toll road, but now found myself trying to get the car safety over three lanes of rush hour traffic to a gas station. This I managed to do while the car was making load noises and not providing adequate acceleration. After having it towed to a BMW specialist I was told the engine's timing system was off. I was also told the timing belt fails often with this particular BMW engine. The common cause seems to be a (unknown at least to me) plastic part within that warps from stress and then causes said part to break apart within the engine. I was told after the engine was disassembled that plastic parts were found inside the engine. After replacement of that belt, I'm now told that the engine still has major problems. It now might require a new engine altogether. If after 73,000 miles a BMW needs a new engine, it suggests to me that NHTSA should do further research into this major engine problem and issue a recall to make these cars safe.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Monroe, NC, USA