Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEATS | |||
| 02/21/2013 | 145000 | ||
| Felt a burning under my leg and smelled burning plastic. parked the car and my scarf was melted to the seat and smoke was coming from it. pulled on my scarf to get it off and noticed a hole burnt in the seat from the heated seat element. parts of the seat were stuck to my scarf and pants. made sure the seat stopped smoking and wont use the heated seats anymore. | |||
| 01/02/2012 | |||
| Drivers side seat over heats and burns your butt and a hole in the leather as well as clothes. very dangerous. | |||
| 12/28/2011 | 65000 | ||
| Drivers side seat warmer overheats and burns seat and causes burns on legs. do not use seat warmers when driving. called bmw, claimed this wasn't an issue - was very disappointed in customer service. | |||
| 01/27/2012 | 47598 | ||
| Driver's seat back heater grid shorted causing damage to the insulation and leather seat cover. it was hot enough to cause physical burns. | |||
| 12/05/2011 | 70000 | ||
| I had just started driving, had turned the driver front seat heater to low, and only went about half a mile when i felt a burning sensation under left buttock/thigh area. turned off seat heater quickly and pulled over - leather was puckered and discolored in one concentrated spot. it is apparent if it was left on for any length of time it would have burned right through and possibly caused a fire or injury. | |||
| 12/01/2011 | |||
| While driving down the road in the morning, i had the driver seat heater on and felt it get very hot on one spot on the left side of the seat.it was so hot that it hurt and i turned it right off. i noticed this a week before also. the next night we went out and i looked down at the driver seat and there was an actual hole that was burned right through the leather! | |||
| 11/01/2010 | |||
| Bmw 2004 x3 seat heater element burned through leather causing burning and dangerous driving condition or fire possibility. | |||
| 12/25/2010 | 68000 | ||
| Left side of heated drivers side seat got really hot while driving and burned the leather on the seat and also my left leg. leg felt extremely hot and i smelt something burning so i immediately pulled over and turned car off. when i got out of the vehicle the seat was smoking in the area of the burn. i plan to take this car into fields bmw of northbrook, il (where i purchased the vehicle) to determine how they plan to fix this defect. | |||
| 12/30/2010 | 92008 | ||
| Bmw x3 heated seat burned foam & leather and caused minor burn to left leg of driver | |||
| 12/25/2010 | 68000 | ||
| Left side of heated drivers side seat got really hot while driving and burned the leather on the seat and also my left leg. leg felt extremely hot and i smelt something burning so i immediately pulled over and turned car off. when i got out of the vehicle the seat was smoking in the area of the burn. i plan to take this car into fields bmw of northbrook, il (where i purchased the vehicle) to determine how they plan to fix this defect. | |||
| 12/30/2010 | 92008 | ||
| Bmw x3 heated seat burned foam & leather and caused minor burn to left leg of driver | |||
| 12/25/2010 | 68000 | ||
| Left side of heated drivers side seat got really hot while driving and burned the leather on the seat and also my left leg. leg felt extremely hot and i smelt something burning so i immediately pulled over and turned car off. when i got out of the vehicle the seat was smoking in the area of the burn. i plan to take this car into fields bmw of northbrook, il (where i purchased the vehicle) to determine how they plan to fix this defect. | |||
| 12/30/2010 | 92008 | ||
| Bmw x3 heated seat burned foam & leather and caused minor burn to left leg of driver | |||
| 11/26/2010 | 74248 | ||
| Heated driver seat started burning my leg/buttock and smelled electrical burning smell. turned off heated seat. | |||
| 11/18/2010 | 62000 | ||
| My 2004 bmw x3 has heated seats which burned a hole through the seat and almost burned a hole through my pants. i was driving and almost wrecked from the pain. after i pulled over and jumped out i saw a burn in the seat that looked like a cigarett burn. bmw wants to make $700 to replace the heater and another $700 to replace the leather. took it to charleston, sc dealership. | |||
| 11/26/2010 | 74248 | ||
| Heated driver seat started burning my leg/buttock and smelled electrical burning smell. turned off heated seat. | |||
| 11/18/2010 | 62000 | ||
| My 2004 bmw x3 has heated seats which burned a hole through the seat and almost burned a hole through my pants. i was driving and almost wrecked from the pain. after i pulled over and jumped out i saw a burn in the seat that looked like a cigarett burn. bmw wants to make $700 to replace the heater and another $700 to replace the leather. took it to charleston, sc dealership. | |||
| 11/26/2010 | 74248 | ||
| Heated driver seat started burning my leg/buttock and smelled electrical burning smell. turned off heated seat. | |||
| 11/18/2010 | 62000 | ||
| My 2004 bmw x3 has heated seats which burned a hole through the seat and almost burned a hole through my pants. i was driving and almost wrecked from the pain. after i pulled over and jumped out i saw a burn in the seat that looked like a cigarett burn. bmw wants to make $700 to replace the heater and another $700 to replace the leather. took it to charleston, sc dealership. | |||
| 11/26/2010 | 74248 | ||
| Heated driver seat started burning my leg/buttock and smelled electrical burning smell. turned off heated seat. | |||
| 11/18/2010 | 62000 | ||
| My 2004 bmw x3 has heated seats which burned a hole through the seat and almost burned a hole through my pants. i was driving and almost wrecked from the pain. after i pulled over and jumped out i saw a burn in the seat that looked like a cigarett burn. bmw wants to make $700 to replace the heater and another $700 to replace the leather. took it to charleston, sc dealership. | |||
| SEATS - FRONT ASSEMBLY - SEAT HEATER/COOLER | |||
| 01/25/2008 | 75647 | 1 | 04/01/2004 |
| The heated seat malfunctioned and burnt a hole in the leather seat. this easily could have caused a fire, had i not turned off the heated seat immediately. the heater must have shorted out. the spot where the short occurred, on the side bolster in the seat bottom, gets very hot and burned the leather. *tr | |||
| 01/17/2007 | 27000 | 1 | 02/28/2004 |
| As i was driving my 2004 bmw x3 during cold weather, i smelled something burning. i pulled my car over, turned off the heat and checked under the hood. the smell had dissipated and i could see no smoke or any evidence of fire. i restarted the car with the heater turned off, and shortly after, felt a strong burning sensation on my hip and realized that my coat was on fire. i stopped the car and jumped out and used a large book to smother the fire on the driver's seat. field's bmw in northbrook, il took the car back that same day, and the next day confirmed a seat heater fire. i went to my doctor to confirm the burn on my leg. as of today, feb. 1, i have not received any offer, settlement, or satisfaction from bmw. i called bmw north america myself, and received a return call from jay hansen, who seemed responsive, but i have not heard from him since. amazingly, since the day after the fire, when they called to confirm the cause of the fire was the seat heater, i have not heard from the dealership. *jb | |||
| 01/17/2007 | 1 | 02/27/2004 | |
| Tl*- the contact stated that whiled driving on the morning of 01/17/06, the thermostat on her seats turned on high. the contact stated that she smelled something burning and pulled to the side of the road. she then turned off the heater in the vehicle and opened the hood of the vehicle. the contact stated that she found nothing wrong. she got back in the vehicle and started driving without the car heater on. the contact stated that about 1/2 mile later she felt burning on her legs. she jumped out the vehicle and noticed the driver seat was on fire. the fire burned through the leather. the contact called the bmw dealership and the vehicle was towed. the dealership stated that the wires in the seat had malfunctioned. the dealership would repair the vehicle or end the lease on her vehicle. the contact stated that the dealership has offered to take care of any medical expenses and replace her clothing. the contact stated that the dealership did inform her that this failure has happened on numerous occasions. *jb | |||
| 11/25/2004 | 19500 | 1 | 08/15/2004 |
| Heated driver's seat in bmw 745i had electrical short and caused small fire, burning hole in the seat. dealer replaced all components but did not issue receipt identifying source of defect and work performed.*ak | |||