10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
20,870 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

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problem #7

Mar 182019

316i

  • 65,536 miles
The door lock actuators have failed. This makes it so that the doors do not open when you are inside the vehicle attempting to get out by pulling the door handle. This is a safety issue not allowing me to get out of my vehicle. If this issue is not resolved by paying the $1500 to fix the issue the doors will stop opening completely making this even more of a safety issue over time. This issue only gets worse and is directly related to the functionality of the car. This door lock actuator should be recalled on all vehicles BMW makes that are having this same issue. This is a known long-standing issue with these vehicles and has yet to be recalled even though it is absolutely a safety issue. BMW should not be able to profit off of their poor safety manufacturing mistakes.

- Chicopee, MA, USA

problem #6

Jan 142019

316i

  • 70,000 miles
Driver and passenger trapped in car after parking at as gas pump. Doors would unlock but not open resulting in the potential of killing its passengers in a crash. There is a video on youtube of a similar incident.

- Bradford, NH, USA

problem #5

Jan 012018

316i

  • miles
When I try to open the drivers side door by pulling the handle it does not unlock automatically. The only way to exit the vehicle is through another door or by using the central lock/unlock button. My fear is that in the case of an emergency or accident if the electrical system is compromised I could possibly be trapped in the vehicle. I attempted to have this repaired at the BMW dealership but they claim that the problem being mechanical is not covered by the warranty. On the BMW internet forums there are multiple posts across vehicle models complaining of the same faulty "door actuator" and BMW's unwillingness to repair it free of charge. I was quoted over $950 to replace the part. This is a serious life safety issue I believe needs to be investigated. Thank you very much!

- San Lorenzo, CA, USA

problem #4

Jun 112014

316i 6-cyl

  • 4,000 miles
My husband was refueling our 2013 BMW 335I and I was in the passenger seat. During that process, a pickup truck backed up and was close to hitting our car. From the passenger seat, I tried to warn the other driver with our car's horn, but it did not work, so I resorted to screaming as loud as possible since the windows were also closed. Fortunately, my husband heard me and realized what was happening and got the trucks attention and prevented a potentially catastrophic collision right next to a gas pump. It never even crossed our minds at the time that a horn did not operate when the car's electrical system was switched off with the ignition key, which one must do for fire safety reasons when refueling. Nevertheless, after we got home we tried the BMW's horn when the car was off and there was no response. We tried our 2005 Subaru outback's horn with its ignition switched off, and its horn worked just fine. I searched on '2013 BMW horn does not work's' on the internet and the system returned 18,200 results. While I did not read all of them, I found numerous postings about BMW horns not working when the car is off, as far back as 2006. Some internet postings advised having the key in the ignition. I placed the key in the ignition and the dashboard display and I drive screen activated, but the horn did not. Next, I pushed the start button, without engaging the engine, and only then did the horn work. I contacted BMW assist for technical assistance and spoke to a BMW customer service representative in columbus, oh. He confirmed that the horn is operating as designed. He said he would enter my concern into the customer feedback database. We think being unable to warn distracted drivers about to crash into your occupied but parked car is a hazard at least worthy of prominent warnings to drivers of bmws and any other vehicle with this "feature".

- Mcdaniel, MD, USA

problem #3

May 142013

316i 4-cyl

  • 2,755 miles
I was rearended, on the freeway, on the passenger side, by an SUV going about 40mph, I slammed in to another SUV in front of me. My vehicle is totaled. The display indicated that there was an airbag deploy error. Also, the reason my car was totaled was because all of the electrical wires for the computer system are behind the rear tail light, and they were melted after impact. This is concerning because this is also where the fuel tank is. Luckily, I walked away with a sore neck and few bruises, but it is concerning that the airbags did not deploy, when they were clearly suppose to. I had the car for less than 2 months prior to the accident, and bought it brand new.

- Martinez, CA, USA

problem #2

Apr 182013

316i

  • 3,500 miles
Auto start/stop function has malfunctioned before where when I take my foot off the brake, the car doesn't start again. Normally I can just press the start button and put it in drive. This time, however, I went to start it again after it had an "auto start/stop malfunction", and it wouldn't turn back on. An error popped up saying "ignition malfunction -- do not turn engine off. Car will not start again." Currently waiting to hear back from the dealership after I had to flatbed it. Also the car wouldn't go into neutral so they had to drag it on the flatbed.

- Ada, MI, USA

problem #1

Dec 252012

316i 4-cyl

  • 300 miles
As my wife open the door and sits, she pulled the door to close but it wont lock up try several times to do it with the remote but wont lock up. Afraid to drive car!!!

- Anaheim, CA, USA