10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 76,191 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Engine's timing chain failure after 6 years and 65000 miles.
- Jersey City, NJ, USA
Car was in motion broke down on highway
- Freeport, NY, USA
Bought used 2013 BMW 528I xdrive 0N 4/2018 with over 94K mikes. Car in great condition and always serviced. At 123K miles, warning signals came on ("oil pressure low, drive train malfunction, stop immediately and tow to dealer"). was driving about 30 mph on street in neighborhood and pulled over and as I coasted to stop, the engine shut off prior to my stopping. Wheels locked upon stop. Towed to repair shop. Timing chain jumped off track and ruined the engine. No signs leading up to this event. Remanufactured engine will cost between $12-15,000. Cost more than car. I had to scrap it. (can provide documentation from repair shop when/if you need it).
- Sag Harbor, NY, USA
A catastrophic problem occurred with my BMW, a 2013 528I model, while I was driving on a busy expressway. A warning message indicated the oil pressure was low. As I attempted to navigate to the shoulder, another message stated there was a drive-train malfunction. The car proceeded to decelerate, .shut down and the engine completely fail.
- Houston, TX, USA
Was driving from memphis to pcb last Friday when I lost power in the middle of the highway near birmingham. First the 'oil pressure low' warning light came on, immediately followed by the 'drivetrain' warning light. Pulled over and got towed to the dealer in B'ham, where they told me that the engine was blown and a new engine would be roughly 15-17K. They didn't visually inspect the timing chain...just a hunch by their lead mechanic based on the ticking he heard when attempting to get the engine to start. They offered to do a deeper dive into the issue for an additional $1000, which I declined. I'm having the car towed back to memphis, where I will look into finding a second-hand engine for replacement. I will be tracking the lawsuit. My car (2013 528I xdrive) only had 74K miles, and I owe what they quoted me for a new engine, so that's not a consideration. I have been religious with maintenance, with all work done at the dealer.
- Collierville, TN, USA
I was driving my vehicle on the highway and a drive train malfunction indicator was displayed on the screen. The car immediately lost all power and I was forced to pull over on the side of the road. I towed my vehicle to the closest certified repair shop. After the repair ran their diagnostic test, they informed me that I needed a new engine because it had seized. They also quoted me at $9,900 for a new engine. My car currently has approximately 111,000 miles.
- Palmetto, FL, USA
Drivetrain malfunction error message appeared and car went into limp mode. Replaced air pump to control engine vacuum, made car driveable, cost $1200. Did not stop drivetrain malfunction error message from coming on. Took car in for routine service and had them look at the issue. Timing chain is about to go out. Car is not running properly, and there is no way to know when the timing chain will completely fail. I googled the issue to see if it is common and found out it's extremely common with the N20 engines. The error message comes on every single time I drive my car, and it has affected the performance.
- Trussville, AL, USA
Pre mature timing chain and vanos failure.
- Lynchburg, VA, USA
While driving on the interstate at 70 mph, the car, without warning, gave an error message that the oil pressure was low and then another message that said drivetrain malfunction. The car went into neutral on its own and wouldn't go back into drive. In traffic on a 4 lane highway, I had to immediately pull over (dangerous), and get the car towed. The belly pan had to be removed in order to manually engage the car in neutral so the car could be towed(dangerous to do on a busy highway). After the car was taken to a BMW dealership, I was told the engine was locked and the replacement was $18,000! this car has been serviced and was full of oil, so the dealer could not tell me what the issue was unless they tore it down. I complained to BMW North America (corporate) that there was obvious an issue with this vehicle, and they only came back with giving me the warranty rate of $12,000 and they would pick up 15% of the cost. This is not good enough on a vehicle that cost $$60,000 and does not hold its value. After further research, I found out that total story about these cars. BMW's who have the N 20 or N26 engines have a timing chain that have a systematic defect. My vehicle has a N 20 engine. Once these vehicles approach 70,000 - 100,000 miles, the timing chain will break which will cause extensive damage to the engine. BMW is aware of this issue, but have refused to do a recall to install the repair kit. This is most likely due to the cost of the replacement kit, but BMW would rather compromise one's safety and for over priced repairs. Instead, BMW issued an extended warranty on the drivetrain unit up to 70,000 miles. However, BMW is aware that the timing chain will break after 70,000 miles. In the vehicles with these engines, it is not a matter of if the chain will break, it is a matter of when it will break. I will never purchase another BMW product.
- Liberty Township, OH, USA
This incident happened on April 19th. Whilst climbing an uphill on a multi lane road, I felt I was losing power, confused and worried, I pushed on the gas pedal harder and harder only to realize I was rapidly slowing down, and the engine had stopped revving! looking at the dash, the transmission automatically had shifted to neutral and the car was coasting uphill steadily losing speed. Was in the center lane, hit the hazard lamps and tried to change over to the right lane in an attempt to get over to right shoulder for safely. Car in the adjacent lanes parallel to me, not being able to see all flashers going were not friendly at first to let me change and thank god, I somehow forced my way in and jumped over to the shoulder. Enough to say, I and my family in the car were scared of being rear ended or side swiped and would have been in a multi car collision that was all avoided from my quick thinking on my heels and bit of luck on my side. I towed my car to BMW dealer. Dealer found low oil pressure codes, on further debugging found broken timing chain guide, and informed me that engine was damaged from the broken timing chain guide. Only solution now is to switch to a new engine costing approximately $17K. Since I have 120K miles. I leant about my warranty extension for timing chains and oil pump. My request for any assistance under warranty extension has been declined by BMW because the car has 120K miles vs. 70K miles warranty period. While I understand and appreciate that, I am baffled at the fact that, BMW knew this problems and possible engine damage but did not notify the customers of possible sudden loss of power and catastrophic engine failure. If I had know I would have replaced the timing chain at my cost and potentially saved the engine. At least they should have updated the maintenance schedule to inspect the timing chain degradation.
- Dublin, CA, USA
This incident happened on April 19th. Whilst climbing an uphill on a multi lane road, I felt I was losing power, confused and worried, I pushed on the gas pedal harder and harder only to realize I was rapidly slowing down, and the engine had stopped revving! looking at the dash, the transmission automatically had shifted to neutral and the car was coasting uphill steadily losing speed. Was in the center lane, hit the hazard lamps and tried to change over to the right lane in an attempt to get over to right shoulder for safely. Car in the adjacent lanes parallel to me, not being able to see all flashers going were not friendly at first to let me change and thank god, I somehow forced my way in and jumped over to the shoulder. Enough to say, I and my family in the car were scared of being rear ended or side swiped and would have been in a multi car collision that was all avoided from my quick thinking on my heels and bit of luck on my side. I towed my car to BMW dealer. Dealer found low oil pressure codes, on further debugging found broken timing chain guide, and informed me that engine was damaged from the broken timing chain guide. Only solution now is to switch to a new engine costing approximately $17K. Since I have 120K miles. I leant about my warranty extension for timing chains and oil pump. My request for any assistance under warranty extension has been declined by BMW because the car has 120K miles vs. 70K miles warranty period. While I understand and appreciate that, I am baffled at the fact that, BMW knew this problems and possible engine damage but did not notify the customers of possible sudden loss of power and catastrophic engine failure. If I had know I would have replaced the timing chain at my cost and potentially saved the engine. At least they should have updated the maintenance schedule to inspect the timing chain degradation.
- Dublin, CA, USA
Had 100,000M warranty. Around 110K notice "engine oil pressure" light for first time. Added a bit of oil and light went away. Came on again, took it into dealer. They replaced an oil gasket and another gasket. Light came back on within 5 blocks of dealer. They kept my car for 3 weeks, said engineers at headquarters said I need a new engine. Now, I drive cars until 260K miles and then someone else drives them after me. Needing a new engine at 110K miles is awful. They want to put in a new 'short engine", cam shaft position sensor, cam follower, and turbocharger. I've had my oil changed as often as I should, now tell me, how is this needing all of that my fault?? I still owe 2.5 years on car. This is a landfill problem right here and needs to be corrected by BMW.
- Lees Summit, MO, USA
Transmission total failure and was replaced around around 55,00 oil chain pump & timing chain resulting in a total motor failure at 72000 car has been non op for a year
- Malibu, CA, USA
I have got the vehicle around December and I only had the car for two days thene I start experiencing problems. I contacted the dealer immediately they told me they had no problems with the car before which is hard to believe. The car purchase was a guy that worked at the dealership. After I started calling for questions the guy ended up disappearing and nobody would help me. They also false advertise the vehicle saying it was a 528 X dr, gave me the incorrect mileage and I was supposed to give me a warranty but I didn't receive any help. So I contacted the BMW dealership got it towed there and they told me I need a new engine. I will be driving in the car would just shut off sometimes then the dashboard tells me drivetrain malfunction. So I had to continuously crank the car and in about 3 to 5 minutes it would start. One day on the way to work I was driving in the whole car just shut off it was saying low oil pressure and drivetrain malfunction try crack the car wouldn't crank. Let it shut for a while one day I sprayed some starting fluid in a air flow sensor it crunk but still has a hard knock and noise it says low or pressure and drivetrain malfunctions.
- Louisburg, NC, USA
I was driving my vehicle on the highway and a drive train malfunction indicator showed up, then I lost all power and had to pull on the side of the road. I eventually got it towed to BMW of vista, ca. They told me I needed a new engine because it had locked up. For no apparent reason. I wasn't due for an oil change not was it low on oil. They quoted me at $13,500 for a new engine when seemingly it wasn't me neglecting the vehicle. It seems that BMW should fix something like that if it just happened out of nowhere. My car currently has approximately 107000 miles and has been well taken care of.
- Vista, CA, USA
Engine immediately lost power on highway at approximately 70 mph with no warning. The car went into neutral stating to get to a safe area, which I was able to drift to. Once the car stopped it switched to park. I tried to restart the engine but it would not turn. Because the engine was not running you can not put the car into neutral. This caused difficulty in getting the car towed from the highway shoulder. The BMW N20 engine has a known flaw with the oil and timing chain. The vehicle was towed to a BMW service center where it was confirmed that the engine is damaged from the chain and the engine will need to be replaced at a value of $18,000. The vehicle has 102,000 miles on it. BMW na states that the can not assist in cost since it is outside of the warranty period, although they have already extended the warranty for this fault once. All maintenance had been completed based on the service intervals. The chain service check is not until 150,000 miles. It is hard to believe that a once reputable car manufacturer would let their customers stranded on the road and then again in the service center with a repair bill worth more than the vehicle itself. I look forward to the resolution of the current class action lawsuit in this matter as my car sits unusable.
- Avondale, PA, USA
We bought a 2013 BMW 528xi new. After approximately 120K miles, oil pressure light came on. We put oil in and it was fine for a week. Then the light came on again so we had it towed. The oil was replaced and a new oil level and temp sensor added. After a couple days the light and drive train failure light came on. Had it towed to the dealer and they found shards of metal in the oil filer. Luckly, my wife was able to maneuver the car off the highway without incident.
- Waterford, VA, USA
My 2013 528I has some problems with the motor. I purchased the car around December 18 some time with about 76000 miles and only had it for 2 days an problem's came. First it was saying I drivetrains malfunction so I turn the car off an tried to crank it about 4 times an it finally crunk. About 3 days later same problem occurred so I contacted the dealer but they couldn't help me. So I left the car sit for a day an came to crank it an everything was fine. About a week later on the way to work my car just shut off an the, dashboard symbol came on saying low oil pressure to the motor. I read on this on others complaints an seen some similar problems. Took my car to the BMW dealership in raleigh early in January they said I may need a new motor an it would cost to just go inside the motor to actually see the problem car dosnt crank but tries to turn over
- Louisburg, NC, USA
A vehicle(SUV) ended my car in the rear in a pretty good speed when I was in the slow traffic almost stationary(5 mph). Crash impact was high. Had to call in an ambulance as my friend sitting in passenger seat was hurt badly. As we realize after the crash, engine got stopped & airbags failed to deploy due to fault in airbag. Engine did not start later & the car was towed to a facility in prospects heights. This happened on a city highway when driving in a straight lane. Very light snow showers at that time around 6pm on 02/26.
- Hoffman Estates, IL, USA
- El Paso, Tx, TX, USA