BMW i3 Complaints

237 consumer complaints on file.

#11614361September 13, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The 12V battery and EME module failed/malfunctioned on Sep 10, 2024. The original 12V battery was replaced by BMW of Wesley Chapel after it was towed by BMW roadside assistance. They should have it and the EME model for inspection upon request depending on their disposal procedures for the battery. My safety was put at risk due to the fact that the EME could shut down electrical power, lead to a loss of propulsion, and increase the risk of a crash. There was a recall for this component for my year make and model but my VIN was not included but possible should have given the related issue and no wear and tear. The dealer reproduced the errors I received when the car started failing during a diagnostic. The vehicle/component has only been inspected by the dealer and is still in their possession. I have not yet filed an insurance claim. There were warning lamps/messages/symptoms a few days before the failure that cleared upon starting the vehicle until it eventually failed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11613788September 10, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
A large portion of the car's hood (carbon laminate?) has ripped off and is surely to continue to tear and fly off while driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11609080August 16, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
Roof panel is deteriorating and loosing integrity. Outer laminate coat broke down in general sun conditions, and now underlying roof structure is breaking down as well. The dealer has not inspected the roof yet, but this is an issue widely discussed on community forums, and it’s breaking down on my vehicle now.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11607941August 12, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
Roof delaminating and is danger of flying off
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11604436July 25, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This has happened twice: I was driving on the expressway and didn’t hear anything hitting my little sunroof, just suddenly noise from that general area. When I pulled over I saw that the sunroof had cracked and the largest part(s) was missing.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11604373July 24, 2024
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
This isn't a safety issue, rather it's a known problem with the factory AC compressor inside of BMW i3s and i8s that seem to constantly fail. I had a replacement under the car's factory warranty and the part already failed again right outside the part's warranty period. The replacement itself was quoted as a little over $9,000 but the dealership has since gone down to just under $4,000 to replace something that's just 2 months outside of warranty (but is probably something that would have failed an inspection had I just "taken it in" earlier). NUMEROUS people in online forums have confirmed this to be a known issue, but the company is holding their ground. Car companies should be held to a higher standard, and I'd like to ask the NHTSA to intervene and assist in this matter.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11601834July 13, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Pieces of my roof flew off.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11594331June 14, 2024
POWER TRAIN
When the vehicle depletes it's battery and switches over to the range extender or the gas engine, the car will suddenly shut off and a drivetrain error appears. This seems to only happen when the car is traveling over 55 mph. This has happened on repeated occasions. If you then leave the car sit for several minutes and then turn it back on, it is driveable as long as it is driven under 55 mph. Since this only happens at higher speeds, it's been extremely dangerous because other cars are also traveling at high speeds and this has happened once on a freeway where the speed limit was 70 mph. If there's no shoulder to guide the car onto when this happens, the car would be disabled on the road because it will not drive again right away. I've taken it in to fix and the mechanic said it was a software update that was needed. However, the problem happened again a few months later. There was no warning before this happened both times it occurred.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11592432June 4, 2024
POWER TRAIN
The vehicle has just over 35000 miles of light normal use as a second family vehicle. It developed a loud grinding noise from the etransmission that quickly progressed to a vibration. It was taken to BMW Seattle where it was diagnosed as a known issue of the main transmission bearings disintegrating due to the effect of the permanent magnet motors on the metal roller bearings. The bearings were quietly modified by BMW for the 2019 model year due to this in an effort to mitigate the problem and subsequently BMW abandoned the permanent magnet motor technology due to this . This information was from the various BMW service advisors. The repair is quoted as $7400 to replece the entire e transmission to the new design. If unrepaired there is a " significant risk the transmission will jam at highway speed causing a loss of control due to rear wheel lockup". Calls to BMW NA about this issue were replied with "BMW is unwilling to assist the customer with this issue." It is unconscionable that a vehicle with 35000m and a 4 year 50 000m warranty would have its transmission disintegrate with the potential of a catastrophic accident under light use due to a known manufacturer defect and BMW would not even attempt to assist their customers when they have the rectification available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11590720May 25, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
Paint bubbling concerns on carbon fiber roof of i3.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11588266May 11, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
A BMW i3 caught fire in our garage. Maintenance on the car had been performed the day prior and it was found that the mechanic left the oil cap off. It took less than 7 minutes from the time the car started smoking to the point where the entire home was engulfed in flames. The fire department was onsite a couple of minutes after the car started smoking. It took 4 fire departments approximately 2 hours to extinguish this fire. A car should not be designed in a way in which an oil cap can cause the complete destruction of a home that quickly putting people’s lives at risk. The car was picked up by Geico, so we do not know if it is still available for investigation, but the fire investigators did confirm the cause was the missing oil cap. At this time, ourselves and three of our neighbors are unable to return to their homes. We are looking at least another year before being able to return. We lost everything in our home along with the car. This included many items which can never be replaced. This BMW i3 put ourselves, the neighbors and the multitude of firefighters this took to put this fire out lives at risk.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11583327April 16, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
My car has a problem with the carbon fiber roof panel. In the sun, the clear epoxy of the roof is de laminating from the carbon fiber beneath it. This is a safety issue because as it delaminates the clear epoxy is no longer properly attached to the roof and may fly off and into other vehicles when traveling at highway speeds. This is a well documented issue with these cars on the Reddit forum r/BMWi3.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11582488April 11, 2024
AIR BAGS
Message saying driver restraint failure, air bags may not deploy properly. Random event, has been an issue with bmw i3 models.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11581534April 7, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
I'm writing this in anticipation of my carbon-fiber roof failing, though it has not yet. It is showing standard early signs, consisting of blistering of the clear coat, which appears to be directly over the fiberglass composite roof surface proper. I keep it covered, and that probably has much to do with the blistering not advancing noticeably in recent times.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11576295March 8, 2024
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
AC Compressor for the car battery system failed. There was a check engine light that was on steady, but not flashing. The electric range in the car reduced by 20 to 30% as a result of this fault. It was brought into the BMW dealership for inspection and they determined that was a short in the AC compressor and that the whole AC compressor system would need to be replaced; compressor, lines and radiatorx2 (battery radiator also needed). This was because this typical failure causes metal filings to enter the cooling system and it's not recommended to flush it out. There were no prior warnings or noise leading up to the problem. I'm concerned that there is a high risk that further driving the vehicle or charging it could cause a battery failure and cause it to catch on fire since there is no cooling. Normally a flashing engine light means to stop driving immediately, but there was no flashing light only a steady light. The BWM system check menu reported no issue with the car! The repair bill for this is about $8,400 and is rediculous. This seems to be a common problem when you start searching for it. Seems to also happen to the BMW i8 which shares the same compressor. Note that there are several revisions to the ac compressor part number which seems to suggest that they had to keep changing the part as production went on but did not notify affected cars that they could have a serious problem. This shouldn't be happening at 77k miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11574129February 26, 2024
AIR BAGS
airbag failed. alert light went on. Had to be replaced.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11567737January 25, 2024
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Roof is bubbling, wrinkling, and looks like it is de-laminating
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11566499January 19, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY, STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS
Carbon roof delaminating due to lack of UV protection. Parts of i3 roofs dethatching at highway speeds.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11562353December 28, 2023
AIR BAGS
I am writing to bring to your attention a persistent issue I have been facing with my 2014 BMW i3, VIN: [XXX] . Unfortunately, I have been experiencing an airbag and/or seatbelt alert problem identified as "Driver Restraint System Malfunction" with the error code 930904 displayed on the dashboard. I have attached supporting documentation, including images and information from the BMW Service Bulletin, which clearly outlines that the error code 930904 is a known and routine problem for my specific vehicle model, thus a Service Bulletin was issued by BMW, as you can see attached from BMW’s website. It has come to my attention, through online forums and discussions within the BMW i3 community, that others have successfully resolved this issue under the terms of the service bulletin, but for some reason I keep getting the runaround. Regrettably, despite my efforts to address this matter with BMW USA on three separate occasions since October 2023, I have not received a satisfactory resolution. Instead, I have been redirected to BMW Authorized Dealerships, where I am faced with unjustifiable diagnostic fees and repair costs. It is perplexing to me that other members of the BMW community have had their issues resolved under the service bulletin at no cost, while I am being subjected to unnecessary expenses. To provide you with a clear overview: 1. The error code 930904 is documented in the BMW Service Bulletin for my 2014 BMW i3 REX. 2. Other BMW i3 owners have successfully had this issue resolved under warranty through the service bulletin. 3. BMW USA and its authorized dealerships have been uncooperative in acknowledging and addressing this known issue. I visited my local BMW dealership in Rochester, NY, on 10-10-23, only to be informed that they could not locate the referenced code and insisted on charging me a diagnostic fee and an additional $1,800 for the repair. Are you kidding me? INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11556785November 25, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
The roof of my car is delaminating. It's discoloring and developing bubbles. I looked online and found this is a common issue with the vehicle. I believe this may be a structural concern considering the cars body is composite and the roof contributes to the structural integrity of the vehicle. Not to mention the danger to others on the freeway from large chunks of roof blowing off and hitting vehicles. (not from my vehicle but from other complaints I've read)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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