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.

- Bayville , NY, USA

Loss of power/won't Rev over 2500rpms No fault codes displayed on dash Radiator fan goes to max and cuts off consistently every 30sec-45sec Very dangerous situation when pulling out in front of traffic. I've only owned this car for 3 months! I need to get this fixed asap. Also, this problem occurs at random times in all different conditions. It will also "reset" after turning car off and restarting. It has happened to me 7 - 8 times in 3 months!

- Apache Junction, AZ, USA

Charge intake pipe failed and experienced severe power loss during acceleration onto the interstate. No warnings or caution lights illuminated at the time of the power loss. I continued driving to my service dealer (valencia BMW in valencia, ca). Upon arrival, I opened the hood and saw that the charge intake was torn away from the housing. Upon further review, the dealership indicated that the part failed and needed be replaced. I had the service center replace the part in full accordance with BMW factory recommendations and procedures. The vehicle's engine is not modified in any way.

- Newhall, CA, USA

I loved my BMW until I realized it has a faulty engine. I noticed the drive train malfunction light once when I went through a car wash. I turned off when I restarted the car. My car was up to date on all oil changes etc, I take it to BMW specialist only. I noticed a light tick sound and reported it to BMW at my last oil change. They disregarded it and said they did notice oil on the gasket. No changes requested at that time. My car never showed signs of leaking oil and the oil pressure at times showed to be low but would always return to normal. I was told it was because the hybrids work differently. On my way home on the frontage road of I35 my car just shut down and never restarted. I was able to guide it into a parking lot and the engine just stopped turning and the drive train malfunction light turned on. I had it towed to a mechanic and they basically said they had to replace the entire engine. A new engine cost $18000 and a used is around 13000. That does not include labor!!! I had to then have my car towed home to just park it. This is the only car I have, I owe thousands on it and the engine completely broke! as I'm doing research I see multiple complaints with the same issues and same result, complete engine failure!!! this needs to be investigated! from what I gather it is related to the drivetrain malfunction light sending a signal to the engine & stopping oil from reaching the top of the motor, leading to vanos complications and leading to metal in the engine leading to a complete damage to the engine. Cheap issue leading to failure of the entire vehicle. I've also gathered there is a fault with the start/stop that causes this issue. I am left with no car, I'm a full time nurse and now in debt with no working car! this could have been prevented had a recall been done a few years ago with all the initial complaints!! several forums including on this site!!

- Austin, TX, USA

My name is [xxx], and I took my BMW to one of portlands dealerships to get my car services. First two days were fine, then after that my passenger and driver air bag lights were constantly flashing on my warning notifications tab. I reached out to the dealership and they wanted me to come back. After I was done with them they charged me over $700 for inspecting the issues and problems reported, then quoted me over $4,000 worth of air bag replacements. The dealership cleared the codes before I left and declined their offer. I saw on kelly blue book that there were recalls on this model. At this time I'm hesitant to trust the dealership because last time I was there I was told I needed a new engine, worth over $26,000. The car is almost at 70,000 miles and I find that very hard to believe.I almost asked the technician if he would be willing to take a lie detector test on my expense. I understand that dealerships typically make more money in the service department than selling new and used cars. I was told by them there were no recalls on my car, but I do want to make a report. Not feeling comfortable to drive my car, I have been storing it in the garage and only using it very lightly. My engine issues started with a small ticking sound. The dealership of portland wanted me to replace tensioners and the timing belt, but the sound was coming from the fuel injectors, after that they wanted me to replace my whole engine.I have been misled by them multiple times. When I bought the car, my luck wasn't so great, after two weeks of purchasing it a small rock on the penetrated my window while I was on the highway. I got insure to cover it but they needed a quote from the dealership. I got 3 different quotes, all hundreds of dollars apart from $800-+$1,000. The reason why I am making this report is regarding my safety and concerns for these airbags, wanting to be assured safety. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Vancouver, WA, USA

The contact owns a 2013 BMW 335I. The contact stated that the engine charge pipe separated from the welding area located by the intake manifold, and charge pipe particles penetrated the throttle body. The contact and an independent mechanic inspected the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted. The failure mileage was 68,000.

- Mena, AR, USA

While driving on the freeway going to work, around 5:30 in the morning, the power train warning light came on the screen.., while on sport mode selected I noticed that my RPM was close to 3K doing 65 mph., the vehicle slowed down to 45 miles per hour and had no power.., I was able to pull over the shoulder and tried several times to re-start the car to no avail., I had the car towed to the nearest BMW dealership, and they diagnosed it as a bad high pressure fuel pump. They replaced the pump the same day, test drove it and everything is back to normal. The repair was covered under warranty, I sent the towing expenses to the BMW road side assistance for reimbursement., said it will take a few weeks to get it in the mail..

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

Drive train malfunction has occurred twice in which the cars output is minimized. We were on one highway, connecting with another and went to accelerated to merge with traffic and the car would not accelerate. Top speed was 40mph. The second time we could at least do 65mph. Occurred 7/5/16 and 9/19/16

- Foxboro, MA, USA

While parking car in usual parking lot at work, 8:30 am, turning wheels to left, car suddenly accelerated on it's own without any warning, causing car to jump over parking bumper, through concrete block wall and continued to Ram into private home, making home unsafe to enter. All this caused $14000, now, updated to $19000 damage to the car, not including the cost of damage to the wall and building. BMW dealership will not look into the accelerator cables etc...says it is not an issue with this incident. This should be investigated further as safety of occupants / pedestrians and other vehicles could be in jeopardy! P.S. we have not driven the car yet since it has been at the BMW body shop since December 8 2015. Car is second owned by us. We bought car at 6K miles and now has 10K miles. My wife is scared of getting behind the wheel and driving the car.

- Port St Lucie, FL, USA

Driving the vehicle on a highway with normal speed limit. Vehicle started to sputter and drivetrain malfunction warning light came on. Vehicle was losing power and speed decreasing quickly in the middle of the highway. I did have a chance to pull over safely on the shoulder. Wife and children was scared and so was I. had the vehicle towed to the nearest BMW dealers/service station. Diagnostics so far was bad fuel. Online forum suggested otherwise. Any help is greatly appreciated.

- Ladson, SC, USA

The car has displayed "drivetrain malfunction, drive moderately" twice now in less than one year of ownership. When this display has occurred, the car goes into "limp mode" and can only be driven at low speeds or with very sluggish acceleration. This is a safety hazard, as it becomes easy to be rear-ended by another driver when it slows substantially.

- Arlington, TX, USA

My car started shaking vigorously, and a message was displayed (drivetrain malfunction).

- Oakley, CA, USA

Second problem with drivetrain malfunction, first problem back in Nov 2013 bought the car in August 2013.

- Oakley, CA, USA

"limp mode" is a very well known issue affecting 2012-2014 BMW 335I models with the M sport package. After accelerating from a stop to 60-65 mph, and merging into traffic, I experienced limp mode. The car would not accelerate, the rpms would not rise above 2500 or fall below 2000. The oil temperature was approximately 200 degrees. During the sudden loss of acceleration and power, no matter how hard or far I pushed the accelerator, the car would not accelerate- the car completely lost all power and the ability to accelerate. As I was coasting, I tried pumping the gas and shifting gears (shiftable automatic) to no avail. There were no warning lights on the dashboard or other warning messages displayed. While traffic zoomed past me, I coasted for a good 30-60 seconds gradually slowing to about 15 mph. After roughly 60 seconds, I pushed the accelerator down again and the car bucked, lurched and jumped and the rpms began to rise. I was able to accelerate normally again though the temperature did rise to roughly 240. I made an appointment immediately to have the car checked by my local BMW dealer. They replaced the aux cooling fan and applied a software update as is the case with "limp mode". this is the same "fix" applied to countless other 335I owners which simply doesn't work. My dealer opened a puma case with BMW to resolve the issue. Standard operating procedure is to replace the fan and apply a software update the first time, replace the fan relay the second time and apply a software update the third time. None of these work!! check F30 post, bimmer world and bimmer fest forums. Dealer was great, but I wanted them I will fight for a buyback if it happens again. Had this happened a few seconds later, while pulling out in front of cars traveling 65+ mph, I would not be here now. Recall this piece of crap!! when my lease is up or if I can get out of it, I will. Not safe.

- Bluffton, SC, USA

The car would shake at idle and slow speeds. The drivetrain malfunction indicator came on.

- Lewisville, TX, USA

The car goes into "limp mode" while driving reducing power immediately. I was making a turn onto a street crossing a highway and my car went into this limp mode. I was almost hit due to the sudden loss of power. Symptoms: 1) loss of power and car will not rev. Past ~3,000 RPM (no fault codes on dash) 2) radiator electric cooling fan on max (very loud) 3) engine oil temp. Approx. 205 degf or lower (while limp mode is occurring, temp. Is usually not at normal operating temp of 245 degf) the problem goes away once car is turned off and back on (it resets). Many users have reported that it seems to happen after a long comfort mode drive on the freeway followed by city driving and switching to sport mode. Repair attempts: 1) auxiliary electric cooling fan replacement (mounted to the radiator and fan shroud) - biggest culprit (the fan is tested directly and will fail the test but may or may not have a fault code stored in the ECU) 2) fan relay replacement 3) thermostat replacement 4) dme replacement with software update as far as we can tell, there is no sib yet but plenty of puma cases have been filed. A few people have had their cars bought back and replaced by BMW. Please look here www.F30post.com/forums/showthread.php?T=786475 there are 50 pages of this and BMW is not helping.

- Chantilly, VA, USA

Transmission problem resulting in violent shuddering of the vehicle body and abrupt engine stops resulting in dangerous driving conditions. Fluctuations in the tachometer when the car attempted to stop and the car would automatically change gears to neutral or park.

- Iselin, NJ, USA

As I was approaching the on ramp for the highway, I sped up in order to merge into oncoming traffic. I depressed the gas pedal completely to the floor but the car picked up extremely slowly as if it did not have any power. I also noticed at the same time that my engine temperature seemed to be unusually low for a vehicle that had been running for over an hour. There had also been an extremely loud fan noise that would come on every 2 minutes or so. As a result of the lack of power, I nearly caused a collision between myself and the vehicle behind me because the oncoming vehicle did not anticipate someone merging onto the highway at such a slow pace. I continued to drive without power for about 20 minutes as if the car was a naturally aspirated vehicle even though it was clearly turbo charged but the turbo never kicked in. When I got off of the highway and was able to pull over to restart my vehicle, the car started to run as normal.

- Forest Hills, NY, USA

Auto start stop failure on automatic trans vehicle. Second time the engine has stalled and dropped into neutral in traffic while the auto start stop feature is active. Rather than starting back up as normal the engine throws an error code and forces the driver to manually turn the car off and back on again. Both incidents were at a stop light turning red to green.

- Centennial, CO, USA

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