BMW 3 Series: recalls and complaints by model year
NHTSA lists 8 recall campaigns for the BMW 3 Series, model years 1986 to 2023. NHTSA has 185 complaints on file for this model line. 6 of the 20 model years have a page on this register.
Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .
Model years
The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.
- 19860
- 19940
- 19950
- 19960
- 19970
- 19980
- 19991
- 20001
- 20011
- 20020
- 20030
- 20040
- 20063
- 20071
- 20082
- 20091
- 20102
- 20112
- 20123
- 20231
| Model year | Recall campaigns | Complaints | Share of the line average | Units in the campaigns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 552 |
| 2012 BMW 3 Series | 3 | 0 | 0% | 1,082,502 |
| 2011 BMW 3 Series | 2 | 0 | 0% | 1,074,902 |
| 2010 BMW 3 Series | 2 | 3 | 32% | 1,074,902 |
| 2009 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 1 | 6 | 65% | 917,106 |
| 2008 BMW 3 Series | 2 | 11 | 119% | 919,456 |
| 2007 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 1 | 6 | 65% | 917,106 |
| 2006 BMW 3 Series | 3 | 54 | 584% | 1,117,131 |
| 2004 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 0 | 11 | 119% | |
| 2003 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 0 | 14 | 151% | |
| 2002 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 0 | 7 | 76% | |
| 2001 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 1 | 5 | 54% | 4,511 |
| 2000 BMW 3 Series | 1 | 56 | 605% | 4,511 |
| 1999 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 1 | 2 | 22% | 4,511 |
| 1998 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 11% | |
| 1997 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 0 | 3 | 32% | |
| 1996 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 11% | |
| 1995 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 0 | 3 | 32% | |
| 1994 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 11% | |
| 1986 BMW 3 Series NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 11% |
The share is the complaints of the model year divided by the average of the line for one model year. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
A model year with fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints has no page here. The link in its row opens its NHTSA page.
Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.
Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.
Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.
Components in the complaints
242 component mentions.
A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.
| Component | Per 1,000 | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | 152.9 | 37 |
| Power Train | 128.1 | 31 |
| Air Bags | 99.2 | 24 |
| Tires | 90.9 | 22 |
| Electrical System | 74.4 | 18 |
| Latches/Locks/Linkages | 66.1 | 16 |
| Exterior Lighting | 57.9 | 14 |
| Visibility | 41.3 | 10 |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 41.3 | 10 |
| Suspension | 33.1 | 8 |
Counts by year
Other model lines of the make
- 325I22 campaigns
- 323I12 campaigns
- X5103 campaigns
- Z428 campaigns
- 328I27 campaigns
- 335I13 campaigns
- M326 campaigns
- 32511 campaigns
- 5 Series16 campaigns
- Z33 campaigns
- 525I16 campaigns
- 528I14 campaigns
- K1200LT0 campaigns
- 3187 campaigns
- 330I38 campaigns
- 530I33 campaigns
- 540I23 campaigns
- 740IL6 campaigns
- X360 campaigns
- 330CI7 campaigns
- 318I4 campaigns
- 5255 campaigns
- 740I23 campaigns
- 325CI9 campaigns
- 535I12 campaigns
- K1300 S5 campaigns
- 745LI6 campaigns
- X3 SAV3 campaigns
- 540IA8 campaigns
- 335XI6 campaigns
- 135I6 campaigns
- 325XI12 campaigns
- 325IS4 campaigns
- 745I6 campaigns
- 328IC0 campaigns
- 7 Series8 campaigns
- R1200C3 campaigns
- 318IS4 campaigns
- K1300 GT4 campaigns
- 735I3 campaigns
- 5284 campaigns
- K1200RS4 campaigns
- K1200 GT6 campaigns
- 750IL9 campaigns
- 7356 campaigns
- R1200 RT6 campaigns
- 328XI8 campaigns
- 7503 campaigns
- 330XI14 campaigns
- 5354 campaigns
- R1200 GS17 campaigns
- 550I11 campaigns
- 750LI11 campaigns
- 318IC3 campaigns
- K1200 S9 campaigns
- 530IA5 campaigns
- K1200 LT2 campaigns
- M523 campaigns
- X5 SAV9 campaigns
- 6 Series9 campaigns
Follow by RSS:BMW recallsVehicle recalls
Official channels
- NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
- NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.
Cite this page
Recall Register. BMW 3 Series: recalls and complaints by model year. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/bmw/3-series/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .
Sources
- Source
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
- Licence
- US government work, public domain
- Recall file through
- 29 Sep 2026
- Complaint file through
- 29 Mar 2018
- Manufacturer in the recall file
- BMW of North America, LLC
The model name is the name in the NHTSA files. NHTSA keeps a variant of a model as a different line. How the register is made. Report an error.
Questions
- Which BMW 3 Series model years have the most recall campaigns?
- 2012 with 3, 2006 with 3, 2011 with 2. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
- Which BMW 3 Series model year has the most complaints?
- The 2000 model year, with 56 of the 185 complaints for the line. A newer model year has had less time to get complaints.
- Which components do the complaints about the BMW 3 Series name?
- Structure: 152.9 per 1,000 component mentions. Power Train: 128.1 per 1,000 component mentions. Air Bags: 99.2 per 1,000 component mentions.
- How many NHTSA investigations name the BMW 3 Series?
- 10 investigations name one or more model years of the line. The page of each model year lists its investigations.