BMW i4 Complaints

79 consumer complaints on file.

#11529748June 30, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
This is a fully electric vehicle and upon arriving at a charger, the charging port door on the car would not open. It is a manual door - normally just push on the outside of the door and it pops opens. In this instance, pushing on the door did nothing, the door was stuck and would not open, putting my safety at risk as I could not charge the vehicle and had only limited range left to drive. No lights or warning messages appeared in the car. I contacted BMW roadside assistance who had me try multiple things, none of which worked. I was then advised there was no way to open the charging door without bringing it to the dealer. This left me, a single female on a road trip with my child 4 hours from home, stuck in a parking lot as darkness was approaching unable to charge my perfectly functioning vehicle. A quick google search revealed this is a known issue to BMW and many have been replaced under warranty, although no recall has been issued. We are expected to just drive with faulty charge door mechanisms until they fail, and just hope and pray you're in a safe place when it happens or have enough charge to get to a BMW dealer. The vehicle has not yet been repaired, waiting on a service appointment.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11528540June 23, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
On 6/8/23 I tried to start my car and received the following error: "Drivetrain malfunction: Driving not possible. Call Roadside Assistance" and the car turned off. I tried 3 more times to start the car and received the same message. I could not drive my car, and had it immediately towed to the dealer. This is a brand new 2023 BMW i4 eDrive40 with only 1469 miles on it. Yes, the problem has been confirmed by the dealer, testing confirmed faults for the high voltage battery and a 30F current violation and sporadic software issue. As of 6/23/23, my car is still sitting at the dealer waiting for a fix (estimated for August). There is a recall for some 2023 i4 eDrive40s (campaign # 22V944000) regarding the high voltage battery electronic control unit (ECU) that may cause an interruption of electrical power, and risk of crash increases. I believe my vehicle should be included in this.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11527330June 16, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, POWER TRAIN
My BmW I4 M50 was parked and turned off. While I was behind the wheel the car. Suddenly the car took off and hit a curb and went thru some trees. I took my cat to creviar bmw and an engineer from bmw came to check out the vehicle. The engineer checked out the car, BMW had my car for 3 and half weeks and after told me nothing was wrong with the car. I don’t trust bmw. This is my second EV. I think BMW is trying to cover up the issue.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11525905June 7, 2023
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
On 5/10/23 I was driving approximately 50 mph on a highway when my car slowed to 15 mph. I stepped on the accelerator and nothing happened. On the dash screen there was a warning which stated "drivetrain malfunction. Driving not possible. Call Roadside assistance". So I was stuck with a sudden deceleration on a busy highway and had to creep over 2 lanes to the shoulder and put the car in park. It would not restart. Myself and my child were in the vehicle. It is a miracle that we were not rear-ended. After calling roadside assistance, the car did turn back on and was driven to the dealer. The car spent 2.5 weeks at the dealer and they say a software update resolved the issue. This car was 4 weeks old when the incident occurred. It had approximately 300 miles on the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11524818June 1, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
I opened our garage door remotely, as I always do, and pulled into the driveway. As I entered the garage, I attempted to brake but the car continued to roll despite my pressure on the brake pedal. The car ran into the shelving and other items against the garage wall. I have entered our garage in this way many thousands of times, and I am confident I did nothing differently this time.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11524209May 28, 2023
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Drivetrain malfunction, made car inoperable. Went into park mode. No neutral ability to move. Had to be special tow. Car is 2 days old. Only 200 miles on odometer. Check internet, many many same issues.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11521423May 10, 2023
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
A small spill of liquid (unsweetened iced tea) on the gear shift area inches from the cup holder shorted out the entire transmission of the vehicle, rendering it immovable. This happened while pulling into our garage, but if it had happened while the car was moving on the road it could have caused a catastrophic accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518443April 22, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ENGINE, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Wireless CarPlay is not operating correctly and proving to be a hazard in driving. Often times, the GPS will randomly shift the “location of the car”, making it unsafe to drive because it is off by several miles, and a distraction because the screen moves with the location ping. I’ve reported this to apple and BMW several times over the last few months since January. Attached are just three of several instances in which this has happened (and I had a friend who was able to screenshot these).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11512064March 15, 2023
BACK OVER PREVENTION, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
The contact owns a 2022 BMW I4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V026000 (Back Over Prevention, Forward Collision Avoidance) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11511945March 15, 2023
AIR BAGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2022 BMW i4. The contact stated that while pulling into her apartment's parking garage, the vehicle surged forward as the steering wheel independently maneuvered to the left without warning. The vehicle initially hit the rear bumper of her passenger's vehicle and then a concrete planter. The vehicle finally came to a stop once it hit her apartment building's wall. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. Bystanders called the authorities as both police and medical aide arrived at the scene. The EMT examined both the contact and her passenger at the scene. The next day, they both went to the hospital where her passenger was treated for a contusion to his sternum. The contact suffered injuries to left hand, right shoulder, both ankles, and both wrists. A police report was filed. The contact reached out to the manufacturer and was advised to have the vehicle towed to a dealer; the vehicle was eventually towed to a dealer after several other informed her that they did not service electrical vehicles. The contact stated that a crack had damaged the side of the apartment building as a result of the failure. The failure was investigated and the contact was found to be partially at fault for the failure; the contact objected to the finding and maintained that an electrical defect caused the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 5,800.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
2
Deaths:
0
#11511898March 14, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When using navigation with CarPlay the position can become incorrect. This happens inconsistently but when it happens can happen suddenly. It is distracting as the navigation keeps re-routing and this often makes the map rotate in the big central display. It can also disorient the driver if they are driving in an area which is not familiar to them.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11511840March 14, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Our BMW i4 is equipped with wireless Apple CarPlay. CarPlay gets its geo-location (ie, GPS) data from the car. Since CarPlay is also an extension of your iPhone, the phone also is getting its GPS data from the car. In some situations, the car sends the wrong GPS data to CarPlay, and then all the mapping applications in CarPlay (and on your phone) have the wrong location. When this happens, the car is shown way off course, and the navigation app starts giving you rerouting instructions to get you back on course. Of course, these instruction are nonsensical and the locations are sometimes comical -- we live near a body of water, and the car is often shown driving through the water. This can only be corrected by rebooting the cars iDrive system or by disconnecting your phone completely from the car. This is a safety issue for two reasons. First the car gives you erroneous navigation instructions which can confuse you and potentially lead to an accident. But more importantly, the car is giving your phone the incorrect geo-location. This means that when you look at any map on your phone it shows you in the wrong the location. Modern iPhones have an SOS feature. If your car crashes, it will call 911 and relay your location. However, it will send the *wrong* location because it only knows what the car is telling it. This problem has been seen in several different BMW models; most often with cars that have iDrive 8. Based on BMW owner community forums, BMW dealers were made aware of the problem as long ago as June 2022. BMW USA has acknowledged the problem, and if pressed will say "we are working on a resolution" but refuse to give a timeframe for a fix. In the meantime, they say "don't use CarPlay maps". But of course that doesn't address the phone GPS / SOS issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11511830March 14, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The on-board GPS sends incorrect information to Apple CarPlay devices, including both location and dead reckoning. This means that any application on the phone--including SOS and 911 calls—sends inaccurate location information when this is occurring. It is intermittent but acknowledged by BMW as an issue. Since CarPlay specifications for wireless CarPlay note that all GNSS information comes from the car to the phone, this is 100% a BMW issue (although they point to Apple). There are reports this happens with Android Auto, as well. There are also reports of this impacting the location BMW thinks the car has, including the My BMW app, which may also impact BMW's emergency services (untested by me for obvious reasons).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11509728March 1, 2023
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The contact owns a 2023 BMW I4. The contact stated while turning into a parking space, the vehicle experienced sudden unintended acceleration and crashed into a post and then into a wall. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that there were no injuries sustained. A police report was not filed. The vehicle had not yet been taken to an independent mechanic or a local dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 2,098.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11507857February 17, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2022 BMW I4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V944000 (Electrical System). The vehicle was taken to a local dealer for the recall repair appointment; however, the contact was informed that the recall remedy would not be completed due to failures with the navigation and stereo systems. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not yet made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was unknown. Parts distribution disconnect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11504941February 1, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
On December 9, 2022, I tried to start my car in my garage. The car would not start..The dash read stop auto train failure contact roadside assistance. After calling my car salesman who told me I had to contact roadside assistance myself, I did so. Roadside assistance informed me they were unable to diagnose/correct the problem, and called a tow truck. The car was towed to dealership that day and has been on the lot ever since. After many consultations with the BMW people in Germany, the analysis was that the cell monitoring circuit module needed to be replaced and the replacement part is scheduled to arrive Mid-March, 2023.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492214November 4, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
Oct 19, 2022, I was driving my 2022 BMW i4 eDrive40 when it flashed notification that Driver Assistance permanently Restricted and it affected the Adaptive Cruise Control and the Lane Departure warning. There were a total of 3 occurrence that these Notifications were flashed on the cars Touch screen. Then on Oct 24, 2022, I dropped off this vehicle at the BMW of Monrovia where they observed and diagnosed the car. On Oct 27, 2022, I was informed that they have to replace 2 (Parking Distance Control) PDC SENSORS for assistance warning light. I also complained to the BMW service that Information screen had gone blank for several times only showing the BMW initials on a black screen. It wa s diagnosed that there were only 2 occurrence and that system was working fine. I picked up my car from service that same day of Oct, 27, 2022. However, after 2 days of using my vehicle, it flashed again the same notification that DRIVER ASSISTANCE is permanently restricted. Moreso, Nov. 1 had a new notification that there is a PARKING ASSISTANCE MALFUNCTION and there were 2 check control messages. I will bring the car back again for service come Nov. 18 for a service appointment.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492213November 4, 2022
TIRES
Sept 2, 2022: I was driving my BMW i4 eDrive40 2022 model going to work when suddenly I heard the rear tire blown off and the Notification on my screen indicating tire pressure on my Rear Right Tire is going down fast. I was able to pull over safely to the curbside and called for roadside assistance . The vehicle was towed to Pacific BMW Glendale CA for tire replacement. They said that the damage to the tire is so immense that it is beyond repair. I’m glad that I have bought a wheel and Tire Insurance from BMW and only has to do a co-pay of $50. But it took 10 days for me to pick up my car from the dealership by just trying to replace one (1) Rear Right tire.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11487351September 30, 2022
TIRES
I was driving at approximately 60 MPH on the Freeway when I heard a loud bang, the car started to vibrate and shortly after that I realized I had a problem with a tire. The display indicated a tire with low pressure. I pulled over and saw the damage to the tire on the Driver left hand side. I brought the car to the dealer service department. I paid to have a new tire installed and I kept the damaged one. No one else has looked at the tire yet. Tire size 225/50 R18 99W XL failed. There are seven (7) holes on the side wall and one (1) hole on the tread. The tire is available for inspection.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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