Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | |||
| 03/13/2013 | 10000 | ||
| Upon trying to start car, control message came on said steering wheel locked, engine will not start. turn wheel to start engine. this did not work, many tries!. car is not running. in checking the internet, for a solution, i find many with the same complaint for the same model & even year bmw. something sounds fishy. there was just a recall on the 3 series for some short involving fuse box to back of car written up in my local newspaper. bmw said my car is not involved. could these two issues be related? i have maintained my car per recommended schedule! bmw of north america said the wheel lock problem is not warranteed nor is it a recall issue. sounds like too many people having this same problem for this not to be a defect that should be fixed by bmw at no charge to the customer. please investigate and advise! | |||
| 02/06/2013 | 95000 | ||
| On february 6, 2013, at around 7am, i was driving south on the taconic state parkway near pleasantville, ny on my way to work . my electrical systems suddenly started to fail, and i heard a crackling noise from the backseat. i looked in my rear-view mirror and i saw flames in the backseat. i pulled over on the right shoulder right before the pleasantville exit. i struggled to exit my car because the seatbelt was stuck as the entire backseat of my car was engulfed with me inside. after it finally released , i exited the burning car in a daze. a good samaritan stopped to help me, whose name and contact information can be provided. she put me in her car and we each called 911. a nys trooper created a police report, which can be provided. as we waited for firemen, the car was engulfed in flames and blew up twice. one of my co-workers stopped to help me and witnessed the car blow up. i have pictures showing the car completely engulfed and the entire car charred and unrecognizable after the fire was extinguished. i am now aware that, after the incident took place, bmw issued its largest recall ever in the u.s. of approximately 504k vehicles, including the same year, make and model as my car. the recall stems from a faulty battery connection. importantly, the battery and the battery connection for bmws are in the trunk, which is where i believe the fire started in my car. as a result of numerous complaints and case studies, bmw had been aware of this battery-related defect on my car since 2010. i'm also aware that bmw has recalled other bmw models for a very similar battery issue that resulted in charring or fires in the bmws. the car is currently being held by traveler's insurance company and is available for your immediate inspection. | |||
| 01/10/2013 | 54000 | ||
| The engine stalled while driving on freeway and would not start after that. dealer replaced fuel pump but it happened again after a week. this time dealer replaced the fuel sensor. first time the car stalled on local street but 2nd time on the freeway. had to tow to dealer both the times. losing engine power at highway speed is dangerous and could cause fatal accident. after a week the engine suddenly lost most of the power at highway speed and now drives at max 50mph or so. dealer is still trying to troubleshoot the car, root cause unknown. all this happened just after 10 days of car going out of warranty. | |||
| 09/07/2012 | 65000 | ||
| I was driving at highway speeds when i hit a small bump in the road which caused my scalding hot coffee to get ejected from the hop holder onto my leg. the cup holders in this car are dangerous because they are sping loaded from underneath. when you have a drink in the holder it (cup holder) exerts upward force on the cup. when the cup is light enough or you hit a bump hard enough it will eject whatever beverage in the holder onto the driver and / or passenger. i had a can of soda come out one and land on the drivers side floor. it wedged under the back of the brake pedal and i almost had an accident. this problem is widespread as i have spoken with other 3 series owners and they have had the same problem. | |||
| 10/03/2012 | 105000 | ||
| I own a 07 bmw 328xi, on 10/03/12 i got out of my car and tried locking it and only two doors locked. the doors would not unlock with the fob or the door switch located in the car. in order to get into car i had to climb over the passangers seat and when it was time to get out the same had to happen. i called my local dealer and they told me that it was a actuator problem, so asked if there was anything i could do to get the doors unlocked till my appt. i made. he proceeded to tell me no and upon reading some forums he could have said use the key hidden in the fob to unlock the door or check the #57 fuse which controls the locks. unfortunatly, i pretty dissapointed with my dealer because he could have potently put me in a dangerous situation, he could have told me these things but he choice to say nothing to get me in there. this is a know problem with bmw's and could be a dangerous problem if the car was to run off the road in a body of water and the person has to over seats to get because of the drivers door not being able to open. | |||
| 07/08/2012 | 80000 | ||
| Vehicle displays moderate overheat warning and within minutes displays high temperature overheat warning and goes into failsafe mode which make the car come to a halt. this could cause a dangerous situation in a busy highway. problem was identified as failed water pump. | |||
| 06/03/2012 | 37000 | ||
| The power locks do not work. the locks on the driver and passenger front doors were locked but the back doors were not locked. i could not open the door on the front passenger at all. i could open the driver door manually and thats pretty much it. | |||
| 09/16/2011 | 51000 | ||
| I have a 2007 328xi that currently has 51,000 miles. it is the second time that my locks in the vehicle have failed. the locks previously failed around 30,000 miles and were replaced under warranty, but now out of warranty i will be left to foot the bill myself. in the most recent incident, i was unable to unlock the car using the key fob or the button on the dash. i found myself locked in the vehicle and had to exit through the driver's window. luckily, i was able to unlock the car from the outside using the valet key. the windows and trunk works, but the locks do not. when i press the lock and unlock button on the key fob and dash, i hear an audible sound as the car is trying to lock/unlock but the actuators in the doors do not function. it is a serious safety hazard if passengers cannot exit the vehicle for any reason. please initiate an investigation and recall immediately. bmw engineers must design new locking system components that are not defective and do not fail every 20,000 miles. | |||