BMW Complaints

A/C STOPPED WORKING WITH THE CAR'S ODOMETER AT 65K MILES (CAR IS 6YRS OLD). DEALER DIAGNOSED AS EVAPORATOR FAILURE WITH ESTIMATED REPAIR COST OF $4500. ON THE WEB, OTHERS ARE ALSO EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEM EVEN AT 50K MILES, WHILE OLDER GENERATIONS OF THE SAME CAR FROM THE SAME MAKER NEVER HAD SUCH ISSUE. THIS IS CLEARLY AN IMPURITY CASE AND THE PART SHOULD BE RECALLED, AS EVAPORATOR SHOULDN'T FAIL AT SUCH AGE. *TR

WHEN I PURCHASED THE 530I 2007 BMW I WASN'T AWARE OF THE FAULTY REAR MIDDLE SEATBELT. I THINK IT COULD HAVE BEEN DEFECTIVE. SINCE NO ONE PROBABLY SAT IN THAT SEAT IT WASN'T NOTICED. I THINK IT SHOULD BE A LIFETIME WARRANTY AND I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY ANY PAYMENT TO HAVE IT FIXED. *TR

I'M WRITING YOU THIS EMAIL AFTER WHAT HAPPENED ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK LAST NIGHT. I GOT INTO MY CAR AFTER A DAY OF MEETINGS AND TURNED ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE HEATED SEAT. AFTER ABOUT 5 MINUTES I REALIZE THAT THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SEAT CUSHION WAS GETTING VERY, VERY HOT. I THEN NOTICED THE SMELL OF SOMETHING BURNING. I IMMEDIATELY TURNED OFF THE HEATED SEAT AND THEN PULLED INTO A GAS STATION. WHEN I GOT OUT OF MY CAR I NOTICED A HOLE BURNED INTO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SEAT. THE BURN MARK IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A QUARTER. I'VE ATTACHED A PICTURE OF THIS SPOT. THIS ALSO CAUSE A SMALL MARK ON THE JACKET THAT I WAS WEARING, BUT THAT'S NOT MY ISSUE. AFTER THIS HAPPENED, I ALSO NOTICE THAT MY AIRBAG LIGHT HAS COME ON MY DASH BOARD. WHEN I CALLED MY LOCAL DEALER THIS MORNING TO ASK THEM ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND TO SEE IF THEY HAVE HEARD ABOUT THIS IN THE PAST THEY TOLD ME THEY'VE HEARD NOTHING OF THIS ISSUE, BUT THAT IT WOULD BE $125.00 JUST TO LOOK AT IT. I SAID NO THANK YOU, APPRECIATED THEIR TIME AND HUNG UP. I'M JUST SHOCKED THAT WITH BMW BEING SUCH A REPUTABLE CAR COMPANY, THAT AN ISSUE SUCH AS THIS WOULD NOT BE SOMETHING THEY WOULD TAKE CARE OF IN GOOD FAITH. ALL I WANT IS THE ISSUE CORRECTED. *KB *TR

I HAVE AN 2007 328I BMW WHICH STALLED AND CUTOFF ON 3 OCCASION WITHIN 4 YEARS. THEY REPLACED AS PER TECH THE FUEL INJECTION TWICE WITHIN 2 YEARS AND NOW THE CAR IS PARKED MY WARRANTY IS EXPIRED AND CUTOFF AGAIN LAST 2 WEEKS. *KB

I OWN A 2003 MINI COOPER AUTOMATIC AND I'VE ALREADY HAD TO HAVE THE POWER STEERING PUMP AND THE COOLING FAN REPLACED TWICE, AND NOW, ONLY A YEAR LATER AFTER MY 2ND REPLACEMENT AND A FEW THOUSAND DOLLARS LATER, IT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED FOR A THIRD TIME. THE CARE ONLY HAS 80,000 MILES ON IT. THIS IS COSTLY AND A SAFETY ISSUE FOR DRIVERS. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER CAR BY MINI OR BMW. *TR

STEERING WHEEL LOCKED ON 2007 BMW 328I COUPE FOR THE SECOND TIME IN TWO MONTHS! HAD TO HAVE VEHICLE TOWED, MISSED WORK, AND OUT OF A VEHICLE UNTIL IT IS FIXED...FOR THE SECOND TIME IN TWO MONTHS. I ALSO KNOW OF AT LEAST 4 PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM WITH THEIR BMW'S. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS. *TR

2007 BMW 525XI MODEL NOT LIMITED TO OR EXCLUSIVE OF THIS MAKE/MODEL BUT HAS A KNOWN ISSUE WHERE A RED LIGHT INDICATOR APPEARS ON THE DASH SIGNALING AN ELECTRONIC STEERING COLUMN FAULT HAS OCCURRED, DO NOT TURN THE ENGINE OFF OR THE CAR MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BE STARTED AGAIN, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL BMW SERVICE DEPARTMENT. THIS HAS YET TO MAKE IT ON THE NHTSA DATABASE AS AN OFFICIAL RECALL BUT I HAVE RESEARCHED AND MADE NOTE OF SEVERAL HUNDRED CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCING THIS SAME ISSUE ON THEIR BMW. THIS CAR IS OUT OF THE 3 YEAR SERVICE WARRANTY AND THIS IS NOT COVERED OR A RECALLED ITEM AS OF TODAY. I AM FILING MY COMPLAINT AGAINST BMW SINCE IT WILL BE COSTING ME OVER $1000 TO HAVE THIS ADDRESSED/FIXED WHEN IN FACT IT IS ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR BY BMW ENGINEERING/MANUFACTURING AND IS A DEFECT IN THEIR DESIGN. IT SHOULD BE RECALLED AND FIXED FOR ALL BMW CUSTOMERS COVERING THE SPAN OF YEARS IN WHICH THE COMMONALITY HAS OCCURRED 2006-2007 325, 525 MODELS. *KB

ON 2003-2004 BMW 3 SERIES E46 SEDANS WITH OEM ZKW MANUFACTURED XENON (HID) HEADLIGHTS, THE REFLECTIVE BOWL FOR THE HEADLIGHTS WILL BECOME DISCOLORED AND NON-REFLECTIVE AFTER NORMAL USE WITH OEM BULBS. OVER TIME, THE HEAT FROM THE OEM BULB WILL SCORCH THE REFLECTIVE BOWL AND DRAMATICALLY REDUCE LIGHT OUTPUT TO UNSAFE LEVELS FOR NIGHT TIME DRIVING. BMW HAS NOT NOTIFIED OWNERS OF THE DESIGN FLAW, AND NO REPLACEMENT PARTS ARE AVAILABLE OTHER THAN THE ENTIRE EXPENSIVE, NEW HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLIES THAT WILL SUFFER FROM THE SAME PROBLEM IN TIME. THOUGH BMW REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AN ISSUE EXISTS, BMW CHANGED THE XENON HEADLIGHT REFLECTOR DESIGN FOR LATER MODEL YEARS TO A METAL REFLECTOR ASSEMBLY THAT DOES NOT DEGRADE WHEN EXPOSED TO THE NORMAL OPERATING TEMPERATURES OF THE OEM XENON BULBS. THESE NEWER DESIGNED HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLIES TO NOT SUFFER FROM ANY REDUCTION IN LIGHT OUTPUT WITH USE. *TT

MY VEHICLE IS 2007 BMW 335I. ON 7/3/11, I WAS ON THE INTERSTATE GOING 70 MILES PER HOUR WHEN THE ENGINE WARNING LIGHT "ENGINE MALFUNCTION- REDUCED POWER" WAS ACTIVATED CAUSING THE VEHICLE SPEED TO ABRUPTLY REDUCE SPEED TO AROUND 20-30MPH. I HAD TO ACTIVATE HAZARD LIGHTS AND LIMP OFF INTERSTATE WHILE CAR WAS BUCKING, COUGHING, AND SPUTTERING. IT WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS THE SUDDEN SLOW DOWN MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED ON A BUSIER INTERSTATE. I CALLED THE TOW TRUCK AND HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO A BMW CENTER WHERE THEY CLAIMED THEY REMOVED SOME SAND FROM THE THROTTLE BODY. BMW WANTED TO BLAME THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP, BUT REALIZED IT WAS REPLACED 3 WEEKS EARLIER DUE TO A RECALL, ALONG WITH AN "UPDATING" OF THE ENGINE CONTROL UNIT SOFTWARE AND REPLACING SOME INJECTORS. I NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH ENGINE UNTIL AFTER THESE RECALL "FIXES." THE CARE NOW LOSES POWER AND HAS TURBO ACCELERATION LAG. THESE SAME DANGEROUS ENGINE ISSUES HAVE HAPPENED ANOTHER 5 SINCE THE "FIX", ONLY A MONTH AGO. THIS IS A KNOWN BMW DEFECT! THIS VERY SAME ISSUE APPEARED QUITE OFTEN TO A NUMBER OF 335I OR OTHER BMW MODELS USING THE SAME ENGINE, IN PARTICULAR TO THE 07 AND 08 MODELS. MANY CAR OWNERS HAVE THE SAME ISSUE HAPPEN AFTER THEIR FUEL PUMP WAS REPLACED ONCE OR EVEN TWICE. IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS NO FIX FOR THIS ISSUE AND IT POSES AS A TREMENDOUS DANGER FOR BMW DRIVERS WITH THIS SPECIFIC ENGINE SINCE YOU CANNOT BE CERTAIN WHEN THE PROBLEM WILL RE-OCCUR. A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WAS FILED RECENTLY IN CALIFORNIA REGARDING THESE SAME ISSUES. WILL SOMEONE HAVE TO DIE BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT HOLDS BMW RESPONSIBLE? *TR

ON FEB 8/9, 2011,MY WIFE WAS COMING BACK FROM WORK IN 2004 BMW 530 WHEN SHE SMELL SOMETHING BURNING AND A TINGED ON HER LEG, SHE GOT OUT FROM THE CAR AND SAW A SMOKE AND A BURNING MARK ON THE DRIVER SEAT. I CALLED THE BMW ON 2-10-2011, AND TALKED TO THE REP ABOUT THE SAFETY ISSUE. THE REP TOLD ME THAT I WILL CALL BACK IN 3/5 DAYS BUT CALLED ME BACK AFTER 4 WEEK AND REFUSED TO ADDRESS THE SITUATION.I TOLD THE REP THAT BMW IS A REPUTABLE COMPANY, AND THEY SHOULD FIX IT, AND I WILL REPORT TO THE SAFETY DEPT AS SOMEBODY COULD GET HURT. *TR