BMW 335i Complaints

831 consumer complaints on file.

#11531093July 8, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The battery light would come on randomly when using the AC. We just took the car out for a 30 minute drive and parked in the garage. When we went back out to get something out of the car 10 minutes later, the car was smoking. We popped the trunk and the battery was on fire! I researched if there were recalls of faulty wiring and came across an article that mentioned this happening when the AC was on. It also mentioned issues with PCV valve heater recalls. After we bought this car, we noticed burn marks around the area near the battery when we replaced it. We wonder if the same thing happened to them but not as much damage. One recall involves the heater for the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve, and the other recall involves wiring and electrical connectors in the system that controls air flow for heating and air conditioning. Can we get help from a BMW dealer to fix this issue? Please advise. Thank you.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11530365July 5, 2023
AIR BAGS, LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
The airbags is displayed as not working/off. The blind spot warning, and the lane keeping assistance does not function. There was an incident that happened where I hit a pot hole and ended up hitting a construction cone. No warning signs went off and my car wasn’t assisted yo avoid the cone.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529077June 27, 2023
AIR BAGS, SEAT BELTS
Out of nowhere, on 6/24, the warning light came on saying that there is an issue with the passenger restraint system. It stays on when there is no one in the seat and then, even if someone is in the seat, it will turn off. I have not had an accident or had the car flooded to warrant a system malfunction like that. I have read that this has happened to other owners of this model and it is a faulty mat sensor that costs over $1000 to repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11528196June 21, 2023
STRUCTURE:BODY
On Sunday, 6/18/2023, a little after 9pm, I was STOPPED at a traffic light outside the Shell station at 600 S Michigan St, Seattle, WA. Whilst waiting for the traffic light to turn green, the sunroof exploded from the inside out! (Traffic camera should confirm the sudden hole in my sunroof) It was an EXTREMELY loud bang and initially I thought someone threw a large rock at my cars' window. However, I didn't see anyone on the street. My second thought was that I was being shot at - and quickly made the right turn onto 6th Ave. S. I then got out because I was confused that I could hear glass pieces. Once I got out of the car I could see that the sunroof had exploded outward! Thankfully I had the shade above my head closed, otherwise I would have been showered in EXTREMELY sharp glass bits. WEATHER: it was in between rain showers. The road was dry. The temperature was normal cool weather; maybe 65F. It was overcast. WARNING INDICATORS: There were no warning indications prior to the explosion. The car was running great. Service of the car was up-to-date! OTHER INFO: I had the car serviced January 4th ~ 5th; EVERYTHING that BMW suggested, I agreed to! To the tune of over $5000! SAFETY: Just a moment before the sunroof exploded, I was travelling on I5 - had it happened on the freeway, the sunroof might have been pulled out into traffic behind me. It would have caused a serious accident, especially if a Motorbike was behind me. Thankfully I was stopped and other drivers were not affected.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11524106May 27, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car caught fire in driveway spontaneously. It had not been used since the previous day and had been sitting atleast 16 hours since last use. We woke up and black smoke and flames coming from car taller than our house. Significant damage to other three cars in driveway and side of our house. Car that caught fire is totaled
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11522053May 15, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I have electrical error codes and I cant seem to find what it is not sure if its wiring.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520526May 4, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was driving on the highway when my sunroof exploded. I thought someone shot at me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518735April 24, 2023
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Vehicles equipped with the Xenon Headlight option that have spent time in warmer climates have very poor quality wiring inside the headlight itself, whose insulation degrades and falls off, exposing bare copper that shorts, causes lighting faults, and disables headlights. This happened in my own car, the driver side headlight Daytime Running Light just stopped working one day, first with no fault codes, then eventually fault codes started appearing as more parts of the headlight stopped working, including the low-beam while driving at night. Obviously the headlights ceasing to work randomly is extremely unsafe on roadways at night, like what happened in my case, but beyond that, wiring shorting inside the headlight can causes electrical fires as well. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request, and has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, due to testimonials I have heard from many other owners of cars with the same headlights, that BMW dealers and BMWNA are refusing to help at all with this issue. As previously stated, warning lamps did not initially appear, but as more of the wiring insulation began to degrade headlight fault codes did eventually appear.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11508094February 19, 2023
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The engine stalled multiple times driving on the highway. When I turn off the car and turn on the car, it would go back to normal. I researched this is a problem for 335d, I think im experiencing the same problem, not sure why 335i is not included in the recall list. This happened multiple times for me and I ignored it at that time, other person has also experienced the same issue when he was driving my car. Now the electrical battery power is completely shut off and there is no recall, this really bothers me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11508001February 18, 2023
ENGINE, STEERING, POWER TRAIN
I recently was advised by BMW that my valve cover had a leak as well as a rear axle. I feel that after only 8 years and less than 80,000 miles those component should NOT be failing so soon. My biggest complaint is that I recently had my power steering system completely fail on me. I was able to limp my car home and turn it off to let it sit for 15 minutes which the dealer recommended. I started the car back up and it has been working fine. The dealer inspected the vehicle and advised that I should have the entire system replaced for a little under $6,000. My largest concern is that the steering system is going to give out when my wife is driving the car or when we are hundreds of miles away from a dealer to fix it. The aggravating portion of this is that there is a recall for this issue on 2015-2017 SUV's and the 4 series (Recall 16v-704) and BMW will not cover the costs for repairs. I'm currently talking with BMW North America to see if their good will repair program will cover it but I still believe that the electric steering should not go out after only 8 years and less than 80,000 miles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11507274February 14, 2023
POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
My vehicle functioned normally without any faults for the approximately year and a half/ ~20,000 miles I used it. The one day I attempt to start my vehicle in colder weather (-6 degrees fahrenheit) and my starter fried and my engine seized up. I have heard of other occurrences like this happening where BMW owners attempted to start their vehicles in colder weather, have a fault come up as "starter/ignition malfunction" and then leading to an engine seizing. I believe this to be a faulty product from BMW.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11505769February 6, 2023
ENGINE, FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 335I. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled with the yellow check engine warning light displayed on the instrument panel. Due to the failure, the vehicle behind him came to a screeching halt to avoid causing a major accident. Multiple attempts to restart the vehicle failed, resulting in the vehicle being towed to an independent mechanic. The mechanic determined the failure to be a defective high-pressure fuel pump. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 177,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11499513December 30, 2022
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
The high pressure fuel pump failed. I still have the vehicle but it does work. It cannot be driven with a bad high pressure fuel pump. To repair it is over $2000.00.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11499600December 30, 2022
ENGINE
I have an F30 body style bmw with the N55 engine. After purchasing the car I noticed a very rough idle for a few moments when warming up the car. The idle would be so rough that when in gear to reverse out of my driveway, it would jerk the car further than it should be meant to go. A slight tap of the throttle and the jerking would propel the car forward resulting in a dangerous situation. I almost collided with a couple of cars so far and I have kids in the car. Upon much research and performing car diagnostics, it was found that the cars valvetronic system which controls the idle for fuel efficiency is defective. After looking into this further and joining a few online forum groups with the same vehicle, it has been known that this is a vastly common issue with this vehicle. Thousands of owners had come up with top issues with this engine and this issue is at the top of the list. I do think that bmw should be responsible for this system as it fails very early on. I only have 58,000 miles on my vehicle and thousands of others reported the same issue and low mileage. This system needs to be looked at for safety precautions.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11493779November 16, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES
No past issues with brakes. No warning lights. Went to brake and pedal went to the floor. Christmas tree of lights go off about brake/abs/traction control issue. Press pedal agian, same thing. Press again, and finally get brakes. I was going about 35mph. Luckily I didn't coast through a busy intersection, but if this happened somewhere else, I or others could be dead. I had room to maneuver and avoid an accident. There is no hydraulic issue. There is no leak, fluid is full. Brakes work perfectly fine since this. My guess is that the ABS valves went full open, like it thought all wheels were locked up even though they never even braked. I have not yet had it diagnosed, but the result is irrelevant since this did happen and happened without warning and without a good cause. So it should be reported and tracked. I don't feel the ABS should ever have a failure mode of full open no brakes. Even if the car is old and high mileage (179k).
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492216November 4, 2022
AIR BAGS, SEATS, AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION
My car randomly started throwing an error for a failure with the passenger restraint system. From what I have read it has something to do with the OC3 Mat in the seat that detects if there is an occupant, and if the weight of the occupant is considered to be that of an adult, so the airbag does not deploy in the wrong circumstances, which is potentially dangerous to anyone that may ride in the passenger seat. There has been an extended warranty, and recall for previous years of E90 BMWs, but 2009 may not be included, even though the seats should be the same. I plan on contacting the dealership for further investigation, but I know I cannot afford to have this safety feature fixed out of my pocket at this time. Thank you for your time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492354November 4, 2022
STEERING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
My car randomly stiffens steering in a turn which made me nearly hit a parked car and lit up a warning light stating “Drive Moderately”. The car recently also began to have symptoms of clunking and grinding when turning the wheel at low speeds. While this issue has recently arrises, my forward collision warning, blind spot detection, and lane departure warning safety features turned off completely i'm assuming as a result of the issue. The car also clunks and makes the same noise when turning the wheel side to side if the car is completely shut off as well. I’ve been referenced to SIB 01 26 18 and contacted both a BMW Service Center & BMW NA. Both tell me my car suffers from no symptoms, issues, and/or recalls; I tried to argue the fact that it clearly states that the page was more of a reference for models instead of an exact recall. One of the service technicians tried to explain to me my car was manufactured in June instead of May which is the “cut-off” date. I feel unsafe in the car, BMW refuses to recall the EPS Steering Electronic Motor and its assembly. They instead call it more of an issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11490843October 25, 2022
POWER TRAIN
This incident happened twice while I was driving. After driving for about 20 minutes my 2013 BMW 335i (Sedan) shifted into neutral as I was making a turn. I was shown a drivetrain malfunction error along with an error that my car was not in Park position and my car's motor suddenly shut off while it was in neutral. I pulled over to the side of the road and I managed to start my car again without any problem. A few weeks later while I was driving on the I-10 driving past Banning, CA. my vehicle shifted into neutral and my motor shut off. I had to make an emergency stop on the side of the freeway and I managed to restart my car and drive to my family's home. My girlfriend and I were in the car at that time and this sudden shut off of my motor could have caused us to get rear ended on the freeway. When I got back home I scanned my car using an OBD II reader and found 0 faults pertaining to the transmission. I did find the following codes: 11A002 Fuel High Pressure, Plausibility Pressure Too Low and 101F01 Throttle Valve Angle-Absolute Pressure Intake Pipe, Comparison Pressure Too High. I had my mechanic inspect and drive my vehicle, but he couldn't determine the cause of the error. He suspects there is something wrong with the fuel pump, but he was hesitant to say that is problem. Car ran fine at full throttle while testing and I have not received another error code since then. My vehicle has an 8-speed automatic transmission and in both instances when it shifted into neutral, my hands were not on the gear selector. My vehicle is available to be inspected and I have been unable to reproduce the problem. Other BMW owners stated they experienced the same problem. I've attached a video of someone driving a 328i who experienced the same problem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNebnchCUVo&list=LL&index=2 .
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11478973August 12, 2022
ENGINE
Without any warning, the vehicle experienced a major engine failure while I was driving at about 70 mph on the highway. The vehicle immediately lost power and went into limp mode, making it impossible to safely maintain speed on a busy highway. Vehicle was towed to the dealership and it was determined that it had experienced a VANOS bolts failure on the intake side. Inspection of the failed VANOS bolts revealed that they were of the old design that BMW had issued a Recall for. Even though the Recall status for the vehicle in regard to the VANOS bolts indicates that it was completed, it appears the wrong components had been used in the repair. I have been informed that BMW has denied my request to have the recall done properly with the proper components.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11476287July 28, 2022
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
The oil filter housing gasket, the mechatronic transmission and the electrical system failed. Yes, it is available for inspection. My safety and the safety of others were put at risk as a result of my vehicle losing power suddenly while I was driving on the highway. I was driving at the highway speed limit and my vehicle malfunctioned and lost power while others were at high speeds. I had to abruptly stop almost causing an accident. The problem has been reproduced and confirmed by the BMW service center. The vehicle has been inspected by the BMW dealer service department. The warning lamps that came on my dashboard were the check engine light, oil level light, and the transmission light. The car was running poorly. The engine wouldn’t crank and then it would jolt after driving. I would smell oil occasionally. The symptoms first appeared in 2011. I had my vehicle serviced at BMW regularly. In 2016 the symptoms got worse despite having my vehicle serviced for the same issue. I had the repairs done at BMW and when I drove it for the first time after getting it repaired it still failed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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