10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
35,998 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.

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problem #6

Mar 272016

Z4

  • 143,000 miles
The contact owns a 2003 BMW Z4. The contact stated that while driving at 20 mph, various warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel and the vehicle began to accelerate independently without the accelerator pedal being depressed. The vehicle began to veer side to side and as a result, an oncoming vehicle on the left lane crashed into the contact's rear driver side. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The contact did not sustain any injuries. The vehicle was towed to a junkyard. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 143,000. The VIN was not available.

- Myrtle Beach, SC, USA

problem #5

Apr 152010

Z4

  • 50,100 miles
The contact owns a 2003 BMW Z4. While driving 3 mph, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The contact coasted the vehicle to a parking spot and attempted to restart the vehicle. The vehicle would idle but if he depressed the accelerator pedal, it would stall again. The failure occurred twice. The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The contact called the manufacturer and was told that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The current and failure mileages were approximately 50,100.

- El Dorado Hills, CA, USA

problem #4

Nov 282003

Z4 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 7,600 miles
Note: This is my second complaint for the same problem.... when coming to a stop at a traffic signal, my car began to rev uncontollably at speeds so high I though the engine would blow. As happened the first time, I pressed as hard as I could so as not to lunge forward. I shut the engine off but upon starting, it was still out of control. I don't know what it was that stopped this problem as one gets pretty much panicked when one can't control the situation.

- Camarillo, CA, USA

problem #3

Aug 202003

Z4 6-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 4,800 miles
Driving on the interstate in my June 2003 production BMW Z4 3.0I roadster. The car suddenly dies at 65 mph. The "eml" light comes on, brake lights come on, RPM needle surges, throttle is unresponsive, and the foot brakes are frozen and cannot be depressed. I was barely able to swerve off the interstate, across the service road, and into a parking lot where I had to use the hand brakes to get the car to stop completely.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #2

Aug 082003

Z4 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 5,095 miles
I was approaching a traffic signal and I had to stop. I began easing up on the brake pedal as the car was coming to a stop. It was then that I realized I was having to press harder on the brake pedal as the car was not maintaining the slow speed I was expecting. Having reached the point at which I had to stop, I found myself pressing quite hard on the brake pedal. I immediately put the car into neutral and noticed the tachometer reading 3,500 to 4,000 RPM's. I believe it was my tapping on the gas pedal that got the car to rev at the normal RPM's for a car that is a stationary position, however, this happened so fast and caught me off guard, that perhaps the problem fixed itself and it wasn't my tapping on the gas pedal.

- Oxnard, CA, USA

problem #1

May 152003

Z4 6-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 5,396 miles
Engine surged then revved uncontrollablly after startup. Continued to surge and idle with RPM alternating between 0 - 2500 RPM the accelorator was unresponsive. After startup the car surged forward. Damange to front bumber and cracked light resulted. Defective part: Bad throttle housing, replaced engine throttle (R6385) defect code 15 540 712

- Campbell, CA, USA