On June 28,2024, after parking and turning off the ignition switch, the dash started smoking and within minutes the whole dash and front of car were on fire. The car almost completely burned to the ground before the fire department could get there. The car was recently serviced at a BMW for an air bag recall. Heater ducts were loose when returned. There are also recalls for the 2006 325i for similar dash fires. The cause could be either dealer work or a factory issue.

- Chickasha, OK, USA

The contact owned a 2003 BMW 325I. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, it caught on fire. The fire department extinguished the fire. The contact stated that the fire arsonist investigator filed a report and provided a case number. The vehicle was not towed to a dealer and was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.

- Houston, TX, USA

My rear window and the rooftop dont work I can hear the motors but nothing happens a technician explain that the regulator and lines are broken its a common thing on my model he specified.

- North Hills, CA, USA

Both back windows on my 2003 BMW 325I will not go up. Garage says both regulators and actuators must be replaced. Researching the internet shows this to be a common failure on this model and it is considered a safety hazard.

- Munford, TN, USA

Drivers window is stuck in up position. When raise/lower switch is activated, I hear the motor running but window does not move down. The local BMW repair center said it will be $150 to inspect the problem and then $$$ to repair. The malfunction of the window happened while I was driving

- Salem, OR, USA

The contact owns a 2003 BMW 325. The contact stated that the vehicle's electrical system was malfunctioning. The contact stated that certain lights were illuminating on the dashboard while other lights were not. The vehicle also failed to start. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was awaiting diagnosis and repairs. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 158,000.

- Houston, TX, USA

Dangerous death trap!!! I got stuck in my car because the door locks do not work. You are unable to get out of the car if the unlock mechanism fails. There are many compaints of the same for the E46 BMW models. We had to crawl of windows and luckily those worked. As designed, you cannot open the doors if ithe module fails and there is not mechanical override to unlock. There is not door key for passenger doors as well. This has happened multiple times, I am looking to get it fixed but it works sometimes.

- San Diego, CA, USA

Stalling, electrical issues, dead batteries, swerving

- La Mesa, CA, USA

Transmission will drop out of gear and shut car down, while vehicle in motion during normal use. Vehicle will only work when cold, manufacturer is aware of badly designed smg temp sensor and negligently designed computer logic that shifts transmission to neutral and shuts car down.

- Ft Walton Beach, FL, USA

Central locking system near total failure with possibility of becoming trapped in vehicle. Also, on a minor note, windshield washer doesn't work. The lock, window, wiper, and maybe other relays are located on a circuit board making it impossible to be swapped out by the average person. This means a high repair cost which means that as these vehicles come onto the used market and being the amazing value that they are, current owners may be unable or unwilling to have this fixed immediately and simply not use the locks or whatever else has a relay failure. Due to the security features and such associated with this car, it becomes easy for the locks to be engaged and impossible to unlock as the problem in the relays gets worse. The relays need to be relocated to sockets that allow them to be individually replaced like fuses the way most cars have them so that the problem doesn't have a chance to get worse and render car nearly unusable or trap somebody inside before a repair is possible. I can't tell you when the problem first happened because I bought the car used and the locks were imperfect at that time, it is also known to be an intermittent problem in most vehicles' cases. In my time with the car it has gotten worse, but since I still have life left in my battery and recently purchased a working remote key, and am an able bodied young person, I was able to get creative using the windows and cargo door for entry and exit and plan on attempting a temporary fix, maybe just disabling lock system, until I can afford the repair which I've heard can cost half the book value of this vehicle!!! insanity!!! a typical relay replacement is as simple as buying a new one for what maybe $5 and putting it in? just add a relay panel on top of the fuse panel. I do love this car you've made, but relays fail, we should be able to replace them like fuses, just like other cars.

- Yuma, AZ, USA

Doors failed to unlock on a few different occasions.

- Sun City , AZ, USA

The contact owns a 2003 BMW 325xi. When the ignition was turned to the on position, the vehicle failed to start without warning. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 93,000.

- Rochester, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2003 BMW 325ci. The contact stated that the key fob and key failed to unlock the doors. The contact had to make several attempts to unlock the doors by using the key fob and key. The dealer diagnosed that the module five needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000. MA 09/22

- King George, CA, USA

My 2003 BMW 325it stalls unexpectedly while driving. The engine shuts down, I loose power steering, the check engine light goes on and have to pull off the road. I then put it in park and start the engine again. This started to happen in 2011 and now occurs with increasing frequency. It happened three times in 2014, including today October 11, 2014, while I was driving on a two lane road at about 40 mph. I am very worried about my personal safety and hope to have an early response from you about this critical matter. I have also written to BMW corporation. I am the original owner of the car, bought on October 22, 2002 from vob auto sales 1396 rockville pike, rockville, md 20852 usa.

- Bethesda, MD, USA

Remote unlocking/locking will not function. Doors can not be opened or unlocked from inside vehicle with central lock switch or with door handle, trapping passengers inside. The drivers window must be rolled down and key used to unlock driver side door to exit vehicle. Climbing out of windows or climbing to drivers seat is the only way out of car, BMW states "not a safety issue".

- Troutdale, OR, USA

Passenger doors would not unlock. All passengers could not get out of the car. Pulling on the door handles did not open or unlock the doors. Interior unlock buttons did not work. Unlock button on the key fob did not work. This is very common issue and can be very dangerous. 4 passengers had to crawl out the driver door.

- Houston, TX, USA

Traveling South on 75, driver door bag deployed for no reason. Applied brakes and ran off side off road to keep from having a car rear end me and then right tire blew out due to drop off. Car shut down by itself. Air bags did not completely deploy. Over head strap hit head and neck area causing soreness and headache. Door air bag caused fragments to hit hand and tore off skin.I thought car was on fire due to smoke smell of wires burning, removed strap off neck and got out of car. If traffic had been heavy there would have been a major wreck. If I had been on 2 lane highway I would have hit head on another vehicle. Monday called BMW and they said someone would call me back. I called every day for a week and was told to leave msg with case mgr which I did. 10 days later case mgr called and said bags are not suppose to fully deflate and she would have car towed to nearest dealer for engineer to look at and once they have car it could be another 2-3 weeks before he looks at car and not to expect any repairs. She also said she does not find any recalls for this car. I told her I found info on internet.now I am out of car and waiting on BMW to look into. BMW case #[xxx]. NHTSA campaign number 13V172000. + usa today May 7,2013. + suit claims air bags defective (www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/BMW.html). + los angles times-BMW recall air bags that could spray shrapnel Dec 16,2013. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Ky, KY, USA

The car doors at times do not unlock. It is very intermittent. A key can be used to open the driver's door but a couple of times even the door key has not worked. The most serious issue is that I have been locked inside the car and unable to open any of the doors, including the driver's door, with the main lock control or even by trying to open the door with the inside door handle. I have had to have passengers crawl out of the window to exit the car a few times. There are times when the key works to get in but I cannot get the other doors open even by attempting to use the inside door handle. This is a scary situation to be in.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

The display that shows the odometer, temperature, trip meter, etc. Stopped working completely. A pixel or two will show up, but no legible information.

- Oceano, CA, USA

The general module 5 (GM5) is electronic hardware that amongst other functions primarily controls the locking and unlocking of the BMW E46's. this module has decided to stop working in my vehicle making it impossible to unlock the vehicle from any of the possible options (key fob button, central locking button, or door double locking handle). This is an extreme safety hazard because in the case of an accident the passengers will not be able to quickly escape the vehicle due to inability of the doors to unlock. After thorough research I have found that this is a very widespread problem with this make and model vehicle, yet nothing has been done by the manufacturer to address this extremely hazardous flaw. There is no way to manually override the GM5 to unlock the doors so without it passengers are essentially trapped in the vehicle. The module also controls the windshield wipers, power windows, and trunk release. Having these features inoperable on top of the inability to unlock for any given amount of time is unacceptable and should be addressed by the manufacturer as a recall and replacement.

- West Palm Beach, FL, USA