Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,215,138 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA — including 138,663 crashes, 56,255 fires, and 8,561 deaths.
What is a NHTSA consumer complaint?
A consumer complaint is a free-form report filed by a vehicle owner directly to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) describing a safety concern about their vehicle. NHTSA collects these reports through its Vehicle Owner Defect Report (VOQ) system and publishes them publicly. Each complaint includes the affected component, the date and circumstances of the incident, whether the failure caused a crash or fire, and any reported injuries or deaths. The owner's full narrative description is included verbatim — NHTSA does not edit or moderate the descriptions.
The database below contains over 2,215,138 individual complaints. NHTSA's investigators monitor it for clusters of similar reports — when enough owners describe the same failure mode on the same vehicle, NHTSA may open a Preliminary Evaluation that can lead to a recall. Many of the largest recalls in U.S. history, including the Takata airbag recall and the Hyundai/Kia engine fire recalls, started as patterns visible in this complaint database years before they became formal recalls.
How to interpret what you read
A few principles for reading consumer complaints usefully:
- One complaint is anecdote; a hundred similar complaints is data. NHTSA does not investigate the truthfulness of any individual report — that's the job of the Office of Defects Investigation, which looks at the full pattern. When evaluating a vehicle, look for whether multiple owners describe the same chain of events.
- Crash, fire, injury, and death flags are owner-set. They are not verified by NHTSA. They are still useful as a filter, because owners who tick those boxes are typically reporting more serious incidents than those who don't.
- Component categories are NHTSA-assigned, not owner-assigned. NHTSA standardizes the component field so that complaints can be aggregated. The owner narrative often goes into more detail than the component category captures.
- Complaint volume scales with sales volume. A best-selling model will accumulate more raw complaints than a niche model even at the same defect rate. To compare across vehicles, look at complaints per 100,000 units sold, not raw counts.
If you've experienced a defect
File a complaint. NHTSA's investigators rely on this database to detect emerging defects, and useful complaints — specific, concrete, with dates and mileage and clear descriptions of what happened — feed directly into the agency's pattern detection. The form takes about 10 minutes and is at nhtsa.gov/recalls under "Report a Safety Problem." Your complaint becomes part of the same public record that this page is built from. Owners filing detailed VOQs are how recalls get triggered.
Read more from our blog
Showing 40,555 complaints for BMW
Incident date: May 11, 2022
I purchased my 2014 BMW i3 from Canada in 2019. It was imported from the U.S and still is registered in the U.S. I brought it into the BMW dealership in Vancouver BC shortly after to do a vehicle inspection. At that time, the dealer printed out a list of defect codes/recalls. It also said that they were done and marked "yes" completed. Fast forward to 2022, I bring my car into the same dealer and ... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2022
I purchased my 2014 BMW i3 from Canada in 2019. It was imported from the U.S and still is registered in the U.S. I brought it into the BMW dealership in Vancouver BC shortly after to do a vehicle inspection. At that time, the dealer printed out a list of defect codes/recalls. It also said that they were done and marked "yes" completed. Fast forward to 2022, I bring my car into the same dealer and ... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2022
I purchased my 2014 BMW i3 from Canada in 2019. It was imported from the U.S and still is registered in the U.S. I brought it into the BMW dealership in Vancouver BC shortly after to do a vehicle inspection. At that time, the dealer printed out a list of defect codes/recalls. It also said that they were done and marked "yes" completed. Fast forward to 2022, I bring my car into the same dealer and ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
I received a notice in the mail stating that my vehicle with the matching Vin had a recall for the pc value heater. And that it causes the vehicle to over heat and catch fire I contacted the dealership and manufacturer and I was told that there was no remedy available as I started experiencing issue's with my vehicle. It worries me because I constantly have my grandchildren with me and don't w... Read more
Incident date: Apr 4, 2022
I received a notice in the mail stating that my vehicle with the matching Vin had a recall for the pc value heater. And that it causes the vehicle to over heat and catch fire I contacted the dealership and manufacturer and I was told that there was no remedy available as I started experiencing issue's with my vehicle. It worries me because I constantly have my grandchildren with me and don't w... Read more
Incident date: Nov 1, 2021
The contact owns a 2010 BMW 328i. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, a white color smoke would emit from the underneath the hood of the vehicle as a service warning light would appear on the instrument panel. The contact also stated that an abnormal burning plastic odor would emit from the engine compartment while driving at various speeds. The contact had taken the vehicle to seve... Read more
Incident date: May 10, 2022
An Error / Warning Message occurs which states "Secure Vehicle Against Rolling" when the ignition is first activated. There is no obvious failure in parking or while driving. Only the Message which indicates that the vehicle should be service. This issue shows up rather frequently online and appears to be due to a broken spring in the gear box exchange. There is an extensive video as to how to rep... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 525i. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confir... Read more
Incident date: May 11, 2022
The contact owned a 2014 BMW 328D. The contact stated while stopped at a stoplight there was smoke and flames coming from the driver's side of the hood. The contact was able to exit the vehicle safely. The fire department came to extinguish the fire. The fire and police departments were present and filed reports. The fire department stated that the fire origin was from the Exhaust Gas Recirculatio... Read more
Fire
Incident date: May 2, 2022
On May 2, 2022, the car began to power down involuntarily every time I applied the brakes. This happened 2-3 times, and I was able to restart. The final time was in the middle of an intersection, the car would not restart, could not be placed in neutral to be moved out of the intersection, and I had to have a police tow. The tow service took it to Sport Motoring, where they performed a diagnosis o... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2022
On May 2, 2022, the car began to power down involuntarily every time I applied the brakes. This happened 2-3 times, and I was able to restart. The final time was in the middle of an intersection, the car would not restart, could not be placed in neutral to be moved out of the intersection, and I had to have a police tow. The tow service took it to Sport Motoring, where they performed a diagnosis o... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2022
On May 2, 2022, the car began to power down involuntarily every time I applied the brakes. This happened 2-3 times, and I was able to restart. The final time was in the middle of an intersection, the car would not restart, could not be placed in neutral to be moved out of the intersection, and I had to have a police tow. The tow service took it to Sport Motoring, where they performed a diagnosis o... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
Vanos solenoid bolt came apart and manufacturer refuses to service vehicle advising my car is not part of recall notice # 14V-176. Also denying me SULEV warranty services basically do not want to honor any recalls or EPA compliance warranties.
Incident date: May 10, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 BMW X3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V907000 (Fuel System, Diesel) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and informed the contact that... Read more
Incident date: May 9, 2022
While driving on a highway (with the sunroof closed) I heard a very loud explosion type sound, which was followed by glass falling off my roof. I pulled off the highway as quickly as I could and was able to confirm that the sunroof had exploded (the sunshade was drawn so the glass did not fall on me). At the time of the explosion, there were no cars in front of me or next to me. I did not go under... Read more
Incident date: Feb 10, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X3. The contact stated that the vehicle was leaking an unknown fluid from the engine compartment. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, the diagnostic result was unknown. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
Incident date: May 8, 2022
Sunroof randomly exploded while driving in the middle of no where . No impact , no debris , no flying objects around at all
Incident date: Apr 30, 2022
Panoramic roof shade blind has detached (failed) from its frame and fallen sagging in my sight and blocking the view of the driver while operating the vehicle. Many reports of the same problem of owner community on the internet.
Incident date: May 9, 2021
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328i. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked and upon returning to the vehicle, he noticed that all four windows had rolled down independently. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred. There were no warning lights illuminated. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure an... Read more
Incident date: Jan 27, 2022
The engine overheated on January 27, 2022 and a warning appeared on the dash to pull over and turn off the engine. It was then towed to a repair facility, where it was determined that overheating caused the failure of radiater hoses, loss of coolant, and other damages. Repairs cost $2574.56 on January 29, 2022. When I contacted BMW and the dealer, I was told that did not want to hear about it u... Read more
Incident date: Apr 29, 2019
SUBJECT: Recall Campaign 14V-176: N51, N52K and N52T Engine – Replace VANOS Gear Bolts, (This Service Information bulletin supersedes SI B11 07 14 dated September 2014). My 2011 BMW 528i has around 279000KM and Vanos Gear bolts are broken that Could Lead to Engine Stall and although NHTSA has issued recall campaign but BMW dealers are refusing the repair by saying that no such recall is showing ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 18, 2022
BMW states the X5 is equipped brake pad sensor and will notice driver when is needed to be replace. it doesn't work and become a safety concern. We have this X5 for about 2 years and start to hear noise when apply the brake. When the situation happens, we have never seem any alert from the car. Which our previous 2017 X5 and 440 GC provides such function. We found an opportunity to sent the vehi... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
While driving the vehicle on the Florida turnpike I received the message that the coolant was low, then another message to pull over immediately to prevent engine overheat. I pulled over as soon as I could and the engine ceased to operate. Took the vehicle to a BMW dealership and they told me the engine overheated because a hose from the engine had come undone. They instructed me to file an insu... Read more
Incident date: Apr 22, 2022
The contact's son owns a 2007 BMW 328i. The contact's son received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated while her son was driving approxima... Read more
Incident date: Feb 15, 2022
The passenger seat occupancy sensor stopped working. On the NHSTA website I found where BMW offered a 15 year warranty for this part. What was the negotiation with NHSTA that BMW offered this warranty? It is warranty SI B01 01 18. My car on the list is the E60 and E61 with option 456 (Comfort Seat). BMW refuses to honor this warranty and want to charge me $2,700 to repair this. Note that the front... Read more
Incident date: May 6, 2021
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 328i. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle started to overheat. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving and parked the vehicle at his residence. However, the vehicle failed to restart after several attempts. The contact later received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) h... Read more
Incident date: Jan 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, both the coolant and chassis warning messages would appear on the instrument panel. The contact would frequently replenish the coolant due to rapid coolant consumption. The contact then received a notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V907000 (Fuel System, Diesel) however, the part to do the recall repair ... Read more
Incident date: Apr 30, 2022
The car loses brake at low speeds. This occurs after being in traffic and few stop and go breaks. A google search shows other drivers have experienced the same problem.
Incident date: May 5, 2022
2012 BMW X5. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO ILLUMINATED CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCED AN ENGINE FIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN THE GARAGE, AT THE HOME OF THE CONSUMER. THE HOME WAS DAMAGED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN RECALL 21V907000. THE VEHICLE HAD VARIOUS ENGINE ISSURE PRIOR TO THE FAILURE. THE FAILURES INCLUDED A FLUID, ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS THE CHECK ENG... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The contact owned a 2013 BMW 328i. The contact stated that after her boyfriend parked the vehicle, it caught fire. No injury was sustained and no medical attention was received. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard and deemed totaled by the insurance company. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and sent an en... Read more
Fire
Incident date: May 3, 2022
The motorcycle has a known flaw in the design of the cam and decompression mechanism in the right hand cylinder. The part has been redesigned, and BMW has in certain cases replaced the part for vehicles in and out of warranty. The BMW internal report designation associated with this flaw is INFO 772590. When riding my motorcyle, the flawed cam/decompression mechanism causes the engine to stumbl... Read more
Incident date: Nov 21, 2021
The contact owns a 2014 BMW 535D. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V907000 (Fuel System, Diesel) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experi... Read more
Incident date: Jan 5, 2021
The contact owns a 2006 BMW 330XI. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle began to overheat. The check engine warning light, the coolant temperature warning light, and other unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road and waited. The contact then continued driving. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring increasingly while driv... Read more
Incident date: Dec 1, 2019
Cross traffic alert system does not work. When backing out of drive ways or parking spots there are no audible warnings or automatic braking. I've almost hit people walking behind my car while backing out of a parking space. Additionally, myself and others have complained about this on automobile forums. You can read one of many threads about this issue here. https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums... Read more
Incident date: Oct 10, 2020
The contact owns a 2008 BMW 650I. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, there was smoke coming from under the hood. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled off the roadway and had the vehicle towed an independent mechanic. The independent mechanic diagnosed that the vehicle was leaking oil and the engine oil seals needed to be replaced. The vehicle ... Read more
BMW
650I
(2008) — ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:OIL/LUBRICATION:PIPES, HOSES, AND FITTINGS
May 4, 2022
Incident date: Oct 10, 2020
The contact owns a 2008 BMW 650I. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, there was smoke coming from under the hood. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled off the roadway and had the vehicle towed an independent mechanic. The independent mechanic diagnosed that the vehicle was leaking oil and the engine oil seals needed to be replaced. The vehicle ... Read more
Incident date: May 2, 2022
My BMW X3 was less then 1 month old with less then 200 miles. On the way home around 11PM I noticed sparks and some coming out the hood. I pulled to the side of the road and as soon as I stepped out of the car flames were coming out from under the car, drivers door. Called 911. Police and fire department showed up within 10 minutes. The fire was put out unfortunately the whole car melted by then. ... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Nov 17, 2021
Radiator warning lamp comes on and engine starts to overheat. Problem first ocurred around July/August 2021. Car has been serviced three times (twice by dealer) without being fixed. Radiator, hoses, thermostat, vent line, and expansion tank have been replaced. Car is available for inspection. I believe it could be the coolant pump as reported in other models. Car going back to dealer on 5/5 for a... Read more
Incident date: May 20, 2018
I am reporting a common issue I’ve seen a lot of BMWs have with the seat occupancy sensor. I just wanted to report this to see if it could be a potential recall, since it is a safety concern.
Incident date: Mar 30, 2022
The contact owns a 2015 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V907000 (Fuel System, Diesel) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated while driving 60-65 MPH, the low coolant pressure warni... Read more
Incident date: Jan 3, 2021
The contact owns a 2006 BMW 525i. The contact stated while driving 60-65 MPH, the vehicle started to overheat. The coolant temperature warning light was illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road and added coolant in the vehicle. The contact then continued to drive. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving. The contact stated that he replaced the thermostat himself... Read more
Incident date: May 3, 2022
My 2017 BMW x1 with around 45,000 miles randomly pops up with a "secure vehicle against rolling" warning on my dash when I park now. After reading online, it seems to be a very common issue among BMW x1's that should be a recall.
Incident date: May 1, 2022
This motorcycle and several other models and production years in this series using this engine are not equipped with an oil pressure sensor nor a low/no oil pressure indicator in the instrument panel. While in operation, a low/no oil pressure condition could cause engine seizure, leading to rear wheel lockup, resulting in a skid and potential crash. Not having a low/no oil pressure indicator inc... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2022
This motorcycle and several other models and production years in this series using this engine are not equipped with an oil pressure sensor nor a low/no oil pressure indicator in the instrument panel. While in operation, a low/no oil pressure condition could cause engine seizure, leading to rear wheel lockup, resulting in a skid and potential crash. Not having a low/no oil pressure indicator inc... Read more
Incident date: May 1, 2022
This motorcycle and several other models and production years in this series using this engine are not equipped with an oil pressure sensor nor a low/no oil pressure indicator in the instrument panel. While in operation, a low/no oil pressure condition could cause engine seizure, leading to rear wheel lockup, resulting in a skid and potential crash. Not having a low/no oil pressure indicator inc... Read more
Incident date: Apr 28, 2022
While I was stopped at a traffic light, the vehicle started giving warning after warning. This included "Drive Train Failure", "Cannot Charge", "Roll over detection" etc. Then the car went into Neutral and would not move. That stranded me in a very unsafe location in the middle of the busy intersection. The vehicle's computer system appears to crash like a laptop would.
Incident date: Feb 18, 2022
The contact owns a 2006 BMW 525XI. The contact stated that the vehicle was overheating while driving. The coolant temperature warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the thermostat and radiator were replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the computer needed to be repla... Read more
Incident date: Oct 1, 2021
I took the 2009 BMW 528i to Bridgeport BMW to have a prior safety recall (17V-673/19V-273) repaired but, it wasn't fixed and my car caught on fire last year before I got another recall letter stating that there's no remedy for the Recall Campaign No. 22V-119: PCV Valve Heater.
Fire
Incident date: Oct 1, 2021
I took the 2009 BMW 528i to Bridgeport BMW to have a prior safety recall (17V-673/19V-273) repaired but, it wasn't fixed and my car caught on fire last year before I got another recall letter stating that there's no remedy for the Recall Campaign No. 22V-119: PCV Valve Heater.
Fire
Incident date: Oct 1, 2021
I took the 2009 BMW 528i to Bridgeport BMW to have a prior safety recall (17V-673/19V-273) repaired but, it wasn't fixed and my car caught on fire last year before I got another recall letter stating that there's no remedy for the Recall Campaign No. 22V-119: PCV Valve Heater.
Fire