10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 2
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 60,893 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.
The car seat warmer burned through leather and burned through my coat. I made compliant to BMW and spoke to michael pigoncelli. BMW refused to repair the defect or to compensate me for my coat. The car has been maintained. The seat warmer will severely injure anyone who uses it if a heavy coat is not worn. I was told by the BMW dealership that the seat warmer burning through the leather and peoples skin/coat is common. BMW (newmarket, Ontario) took pictures of the damage to the seat and my coat.
- Scarborough, OR, USA
Takata recall I have requested since May 2015-novemebr 2017 a repair to this recall. My car was on a mountain going uphill and it stalled out and made flickering. It was towed to BMW sealership who kept the car for almost three months and could not fix. I called BMW to no resolution. The car was in motion going up a hill.
- San Anselmo, CA, USA
Seat heater burned through the passenger seat and burned the passenger. The heater was set on high at the time. It has repeated this issue on all three settings. The leather is burned.
- Tumwater, WA, USA
The contact owns a 2004 BMW 325ci. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 20 mph, the air bag warning indicator illuminated after the seat was adjusted. The failure recurred on multiple occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the mat was faulty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
- Covina, CA, USA
The heating element on my 2004 BMW X3 caught on fire while I was driving. I don't use it often, but had noticed a hot smell when I did use it and that it would be too warm in the lumbar and hip region. The fire actually burned about a dime size hole in the driver side left seat panel (under the thigh). After reading of many others having the same or worse experiences, I am glad I immediately shut if off, although it still burned all the way through the leather. Please advise me of next steps I should take. I have shut off the heater and will no longer use it. With so many complaints, I would think this would result in a recall. Thanks for your advice.
- Olathe, KS, USA
No in passenger seat when starting the car and the passenger air bag lamp was illuminated on dashboard. Turned car off and then back on and the light was off. Went about 15 feet and the light came back on. Turns on and off with or without anyone in the seat. BMW representative stated recall id# 81074 did not relate to my VIN.
- Apex, NC, USA
Heated seat are melting thru leather and making burn holes.....burns legs even on low setting.
- Lowell , MD, USA
While driving my 2004 BMW 325ci sport down the road smelled something burning, looked down my heated seat caught fire, burnt my leg, almost wrecked trying to get off the highway. Now my seat has a huge burnt hole in it and cant use seat heaters. Both passenger and drivers seat are doing the same thing!!!! my car only has 45000 miles on it. This needs to be a recalllll!!!!!
- Maiden, NC, USA
- Holly Springs, NC, USA