Consumer Safety Complaints
Search 2,245,377 safety complaints filed by vehicle owners with NHTSA, including 140,173 crashes, 56,794 fires, and 8,580 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 2,245,377 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 41,082 complaints for BMW
Incident date: Aug 16, 2022
A small spring in the shifter has broken not allowing the vehicle to recognize it is in park and could roll while parked causing injury. This is a known issue for BMWs in this model and year range. It can be fixed with a new spring but dealer insists that a new shifter is needed. So a $20 part fix vs. a $600 part fix. There are hundreds of others online and world wide that this has happened to. Th... Read more
Incident date: Jun 17, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 BMW X3. The contact received a recall notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine And Engine Cooling). However, the parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time to complete the recall repair. The contact stated that the vehicle was overheating while driving and the AC wa... Read more
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328i. 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 exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that whenever driving after a while the veh... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2022
This vehicle shuts down the engine when stopped at a stop sign or light. The engine resumes when you press on the brake or gas peddle. But sometimes, the engine will turn back on for no apparent reason. That is not an issue of concern. BUT, sometimes, when the engine turns on automatically, it will drop the transmission into PARK. So when you attempt to apply gas, the car will not move forward as ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 8, 2022
High pressure fuel pump failed while BMW dealership mechanic was test-driving car after replacing two tires/oil change/replacing fuel filter/performing fix for recall of egr cooler part; per the service manager at the dealership, metal particles were subsequently found in the quantity control valve, necessitating complete replacement of fuel system. There is a known recall for year, make and model... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 BMW 328i. The contact 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 on 8/2/2022 while parking at a gas station, he started to smell smoke. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated he inspec... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Jun 21, 2021
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328i. 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 exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the vehicle would fail to start i... Read more
Incident date: Apr 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328i. The contact 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 manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not ... Read more
Incident date: Feb 21, 2022
In Feb 2022 my vehicle reported low coolant and later the engine overheating. At one point the accelerator pedal became less effective and the car significantly slowed down while on the highway. After refilling the car's engine coolant and still getting alerts, I brought the vehicle to the BMW auto shop where it was determined there was an active coolant leak from the hose of the cylinder head exp... Read more
Incident date: Jun 6, 2022
I purchased the above vehicle in June 02,2022. The previous owner stated there is a recall on the Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) Valve heater. The issue was never resolved.
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
Problem is that the display says "passenger restraint malfunction" -- which brings safety concern. Upon online search, it is likely caused by design flaw of passenger occupancy detector. Here are some reasons why it is design flaw (i.e. not just individual failure) 1. There has been a recall for the same problem for earlier year models (2006-2007 etc). It seems the other years have the same p... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
Problem is that the display says "passenger restraint malfunction" -- which brings safety concern. Upon online search, it is likely caused by design flaw of passenger occupancy detector. Here are some reasons why it is design flaw (i.e. not just individual failure) 1. There has been a recall for the same problem for earlier year models (2006-2007 etc). It seems the other years have the same p... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
Problem is that the display says "passenger restraint malfunction" -- which brings safety concern. Upon online search, it is likely caused by design flaw of passenger occupancy detector. Here are some reasons why it is design flaw (i.e. not just individual failure) 1. There has been a recall for the same problem for earlier year models (2006-2007 etc). It seems the other years have the same p... Read more
Incident date: Aug 14, 2022
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 contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had ex... Read more
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
My car will not start up to show ignition lights… blinks fast then shuts off / will not crank / after flashing lights on dash service engine light appears & car has smoking from under hood
Incident date: Mar 8, 2022
My car will not start up to show ignition lights… blinks fast then shuts off / will not crank / after flashing lights on dash service engine light appears & car has smoking from under hood
Incident date: Aug 13, 2022
My 2011 BMW 328i turned off while i was at stop sign at top of the street. My children and I could of died! Car starts but keep shutting off. Smells like its also burning! No remedy available still. Now have no vehicle to drive!!!!!
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
BMW NA is aware of this problem with the sunroof leaking water on the dashboard and damaging the electrical of the car. BMW NA is colluding with the dealers to inform customers they are clogged to charge them money for a clog that is non existent. The sun roof are not clogged as BMW NA and the dealers are saying I have video of the unclogged drain tubes and have caught the dealers all lying that t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
BMW NA is aware of this problem with the sunroof leaking water on the dashboard and damaging the electrical of the car. BMW NA is colluding with the dealers to inform customers they are clogged to charge them money for a clog that is non existent. The sun roof are not clogged as BMW NA and the dealers are saying I have video of the unclogged drain tubes and have caught the dealers all lying that t... Read more
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
BMW NA is aware of this problem with the sunroof leaking water on the dashboard and damaging the electrical of the car. BMW NA is colluding with the dealers to inform customers they are clogged to charge them money for a clog that is non existent. The sun roof are not clogged as BMW NA and the dealers are saying I have video of the unclogged drain tubes and have caught the dealers all lying that t... Read more
Incident date: Aug 15, 2022
The contact owns a 2016 BMW X5. The contact stated that the sunroof drain was faulty, causing water to leak into the dash and damage the interior lights and windshield wiper function. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with water damage from the sunroof; however, the dealer informed the contact that water damage was not covered under the warranty. The vehicle was then tak... Read more
Incident date: Jul 22, 2022
The contact owned a 2016 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 contact stated that the dealer had previously performed an engine inspection and pressure test for the coolant system due to coolant loss with the low coolant warning light illuminated. The contact had adde... Read more
Fire
Incident date: Aug 13, 2022
This is a serious problem with the handling of this car in standing water situations. This car immediately begins to hydroplane when it encounters standing water, every time. We had been lucky so far of the numerous instances we had encountered with this vehicle hydroplaning and rotating. Always slowing down when encountering rain to avoid these situations. Tonight 08-13-2022, we were driving on t... Read more
Crash
1 injured
Incident date: Aug 10, 2022
The BMW's display showed "Secure Vehicle Against Rolling". We took the car to the BMW dealership and they repaired the issue with a complete gear selector display assembly. We are concerned that this is a safety issue and we understand this may be a common problem with BMW. The vehicle in question had only 22,669 miles on the odometer when repaired.
Incident date: Jun 19, 2022
The drive shaft on my 2016 BMW R1200 RTW failed while I was on I 69 northbound at speed of 75 mph. I am in possession of the failed components. The back wheel locked with no warning and the bike fishtailed dangerously while I was in heavy traffic. The local BMW dealership has replaced the driveshaft and connected universal joints.There was zero warning . The director of service at the dealership r... Read more
Incident date: May 12, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 BMW X3. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would suddenly brake and would stop abruptly though there were no other vehicles or objects nearby. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who duplicated the failure. However, the dealer was advised by the manufacturer that the vehicle was operating as designed. The vehicle was not repaired. The cont... Read more
Incident date: Feb 1, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 328i. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at approximately 40 MPH, the vehicle began to overheat as indicated by the temperature gauge. The vehicle also began to hesitate upon the depression of the accelerator as the check engine light appeared on the instrument panel. His daughter pulled the vehicle over and waited for the engine to cool off. Once th... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2022
A recall campaign No. 21V-907 was issued for my car on November 19, 2021 for the EGR Cooler. In the past 6 months I've had to add engine coolant to the cooling system reservoir and I made sure it is not leaking on the ground. On 8-8-22 I had a check engine light(MIL) with a stored code of P2004 which indicated: Intake manifold runner control (IMRC) is stuck in the open position. According to y... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2022
A recall campaign No. 21V-907 was issued for my car on November 19, 2021 for the EGR Cooler. In the past 6 months I've had to add engine coolant to the cooling system reservoir and I made sure it is not leaking on the ground. On 8-8-22 I had a check engine light(MIL) with a stored code of P2004 which indicated: Intake manifold runner control (IMRC) is stuck in the open position. According to y... Read more
Incident date: May 26, 2022
Without any warning, the vehicle experienced a major engine failure while I was driving at about 70 mph on the highway. The vehicle immediately lost power and went into limp mode, making it impossible to safely maintain speed on a busy highway. Vehicle was towed to the dealership and it was determined that it had experienced a VANOS bolts failure on the intake side. Inspection of the failed VANOS ... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
The engine timing chain failed due to faulty plastic guide around the timing chain which gets brittle and brakes in the engine causing catastrophic engine failure. Our safety and the safety of others on the Parkway was put at HIGH RISK because the car goes into some safe mode and puts itself into PARK!! This three lane parkway has no shoulder to pull over on at all! So we were blocking the entir... Read more
Incident date: Aug 1, 2022
The engine timing chain failed due to faulty plastic guide around the timing chain which gets brittle and brakes in the engine causing catastrophic engine failure. Our safety and the safety of others on the Parkway was put at HIGH RISK because the car goes into some safe mode and puts itself into PARK!! This three lane parkway has no shoulder to pull over on at all! So we were blocking the entir... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2022
The contact owns a 2009 BMW 328i. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confir... Read more
Incident date: Aug 11, 2022
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328i. The contact received a recall notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine And Engine Cooling). However, the parts to do the recall repair were not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time to complete the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the iss... Read more
Incident date: Jan 12, 2022
I have read from hundreds of other people having the same problem. One side of the moonroof shade has come loose just from simply leaving it open.
BMW
X3
(2009) - ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CRANKCASE (PCV)
Aug 11, 2022
Incident date: Aug 11, 2022
2009 BMW X3. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO PVC VALVE HEATER SAFETY RECALL. THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCED A NOISE AND SMOKE AS DESCRIBED IN THE RECALL NOTICE. THE DEALER WAS ADVISED AND TOOK THE VEHICLE IN FOR DIAGNOSTIC AND STATED THERE WAS NO REMEDY FOR THE FAILURE BUT, CHARGED THE CONSUMER FOR THE DIAGNOSTIC FEE.
Incident date: Mar 2, 2022
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced overheating. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The vehicle was towed but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair.... Read more
Incident date: Aug 3, 2022
My 2015 BMW 535d, VIN number: [XXX] is failing post catalytic 02 sensors. I replaced both of the post-catalytic 02 sensors after 1,040 miles and failed again last week on August 3, 2022. I believe the root cause may be related to the NHTSA Recall Number 21V907. BMW North America has not provided a remedy since notification in November 2021. Recall Status Recall Incomplete, remedy not yet availa... Read more
Incident date: Jun 3, 2022
The contact owns a 2019 BMW X6. The contact stated that the vehicle was leaking oil. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed the catalectic converter was missing and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2022
Steering is "sticky" with a feel of detents in the steering instead of expected smooth engagement. At highway speeds this is concerning and feels unsafe. Difficult or impossible to steer smoothly.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
I saw there was a recall for the sunroof for my type of vehicle, sunroof components do not open when I press to open it. Cloth of sunroof got stuck and is now broken.
Incident date: Jun 1, 2022
I saw there was a recall for the sunroof for my type of vehicle, sunroof components do not open when I press to open it. Cloth of sunroof got stuck and is now broken.
Incident date: Aug 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 525i. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 75-85 MPH, she smelled smoke coming from the hood of the vehicle. The contact was unsure if any warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where he referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine And Engine Cooling) , but the vehicle was not diagnosed for the failure. The ... Read more
Incident date: Jul 20, 2022
Fuel injectors not working check engine lights on. Car has 50,000 miles throwing fault 24BB00, recall for models a year after this one, with an extended warranty. The problem has been confirmed by two dealers and a garage. The car is presently at a BMW repair shop awaiting repair. why not this one?
Incident date: Jul 20, 2022
Fuel injectors not working check engine lights on. Car has 50,000 miles throwing fault 24BB00, recall for models a year after this one, with an extended warranty. The problem has been confirmed by two dealers and a garage. The car is presently at a BMW repair shop awaiting repair. why not this one?
Incident date: Aug 6, 2022
The contact owns a 2007 BMW 750i. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving or idling, he heard a rattling noise coming from the engine. The contact then stated that on another occasion while driving, he heard a rattling noise in the engine while making a left turn then the vehicle stalled. No warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The dealer was not notified o... Read more
Incident date: Aug 6, 2022
Tire is cracking at the base of the knobbies.
Incident date: Aug 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2008 BMW X3. The contact stated when she picked up her vehicle from the dealer after having NHTSA Campaign Number:17V683000 (Engine And Engine Cooling) completed while driving at 40 MPH, the vehicle started overheating. The contact was able to pull over and when shutting off and attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle would not start. The dealer was contacted, and they st... Read more
Incident date: Aug 10, 2022
PCV MY safety of my self and my 5 yr 17 yr I use my BMW X5 to take my kids or doctors and school and I work too and something need to be happen about this bc My family are AT RISK OF GETTING CAUGHT ON FIRE when iam starting up the car black smoke or white smoke comes out and when iam driving and people who are behind in they car get smoke out my lots of smoke that comes from my car in back and... Read more
Incident date: Aug 10, 2022
PCV MY safety of my self and my 5 yr 17 yr I use my BMW X5 to take my kids or doctors and school and I work too and something need to be happen about this bc My family are AT RISK OF GETTING CAUGHT ON FIRE when iam starting up the car black smoke or white smoke comes out and when iam driving and people who are behind in they car get smoke out my lots of smoke that comes from my car in back and... Read more