10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 2
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 110,600 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.
I was driving to work on a very cold day at approximately 6am. I turned the driver seat heater on. After 5-10 minutes, I started to notice a strong burning smell. I also felt a stinging on the back of my left leg. I pulled over and got out to examine the car, and noticed a small hole had been burnt through the leather seat. There was smoke rising up and out from the hole itself. The extremely hot coil for the seat heater was visible directly in the middle of the hole. My pants also have a hole burnt in them from the seat. There should definitely be a recall placed regarding this blatant material failure, as many other people have been similarly affected and could be burned.
- Drexel Hill, PA, USA
Driver's side heated seat burned hole on left side of seat when activated and singed wife's jacket while driving. Small hole burned into seat. BMW refuses to accept any responsibility to repair damage and correct defect despite numerous incidents over a number of years which they are well aware of. This is potentially a dangerous situation for cabin fire and occupant burns.
- Norfolk, VA, USA
I have a 2003 530I BMW with 100K miles on it the heated seat on the drivers side has burned thought the seat, this was an issue with the 7 series seats (which are the same seats and they were recalled.) the issue happened while driving the vehicles. There was a very strong burning smell, researched the issue on the internet and it is very common with this model. I also have found that it is a very well known safety concern that the pixels go out on the instrument cluster and the mid. Also the back doors have a structural problem where water pools in the back seat.
- Dumfries, VA, USA
- Alpharetta, GA, USA