BMW 540I: recalls and complaints by model year
NHTSA lists 23 recall campaigns for the BMW 540I, model years 1989 to 2024. NHTSA has 153 complaints on file for this model line. 11 of the 22 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.
- 19891
- 19901
- 19911
- 19921
- 19931
- 19944
- 19952
- 19970
- 19981
- 19991
- 20002
- 20014
- 20022
- 20032
- 20171
- 20182
- 20191
- 20205
- 20216
- 20221
- 20231
- 20241
| Model year | Recall campaigns | Complaints | Share of the line average | Units in the campaigns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 309 |
| 2023 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 27,720 |
| 2022 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 27,720 |
| 2021 BMW 540I | 6 | 0 | 0% | 64,267 |
| 2020 BMW 540I | 5 | 0 | 0% | 321,695 |
| 2019 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 257,473 |
| 2018 BMW 540I | 2 | 5 | 72% | 262,782 |
| 2017 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 1 | 14% | 33 |
| 2003 BMW 540I | 2 | 4 | 58% | 576,784 |
| 2002 BMW 540I | 2 | 12 | 173% | 576,784 |
| 2001 BMW 540I | 4 | 12 | 173% | 258,568 |
| 2000 BMW 540I | 2 | 28 | 403% | 175,249 |
| 1999 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 22 | 316% | 1,615 |
| 1998 BMW 540I | 1 | 25 | 359% | 1,100 |
| 1997 BMW 540I | 0 | 26 | 374% | |
| 1995 BMW 540I | 2 | 10 | 144% | 750,000 |
| 1994 BMW 540I | 4 | 8 | 115% | 931,400 |
| 1993 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 340,000 |
| 1992 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 340,000 |
| 1991 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 340,000 |
| 1990 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 340,000 |
| 1989 BMW 540I NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 340,000 |
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
193 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 274.6 | 53 |
| Electrical System | 139.9 | 27 |
| Air Bags | 88.1 | 17 |
| Power Train | 77.7 | 15 |
| Steering | 77.7 | 15 |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 36.3 | 7 |
| Unknown or Other | 36.3 | 7 |
| Seats | 31.1 | 6 |
| Engine | 31.1 | 6 |
| Latches/Locks/Linkages | 25.9 | 5 |
Counts by year
Other model lines of the make
- X5103 campaigns
- 328I27 campaigns
- 325I22 campaigns
- Z428 campaigns
- 3 Series8 campaigns
- X360 campaigns
- 335I13 campaigns
- 330I38 campaigns
- 323I12 campaigns
- 528I14 campaigns
- 5 Series16 campaigns
- 530I33 campaigns
- 525I16 campaigns
- M326 campaigns
- 328XI8 campaigns
- 750LI11 campaigns
- 535I12 campaigns
- 325XI12 campaigns
- X3 SAV3 campaigns
- 330CI7 campaigns
- 32511 campaigns
- 325CI9 campaigns
- X5 SAV9 campaigns
- K1200LT0 campaigns
- Z33 campaigns
- 550I11 campaigns
- 330XI14 campaigns
- X1 SAV7 campaigns
- R1200 GS17 campaigns
- 745LI6 campaigns
- R1200 RT6 campaigns
- 335XI6 campaigns
- 535XI1 campaign
- 530XI3 campaigns
- 740IL6 campaigns
- 135I6 campaigns
- 7 Series8 campaigns
- 745I6 campaigns
- 750I8 campaigns
- 3187 campaigns
- 128I7 campaigns
- 545I0 campaigns
- X644 campaigns
- 1 Series3 campaigns
- 740I23 campaigns
- 318I4 campaigns
- 3281 campaign
- R 1200 RT5 campaigns
- 5255 campaigns
- 650I5 campaigns
- M523 campaigns
- 3351 campaign
- K1300 S5 campaigns
- K1200 GT6 campaigns
- K1300 GT4 campaigns
- 320I13 campaigns
- R 1200 GS6 campaigns
- I38 campaigns
- 328D8 campaigns
- K1200 S9 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 540I: recalls and complaints by model year. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/bmw/540i/. 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
- 15 May 2019
- Manufacturer in the recall file
- BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE
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 540I model years have the most recall campaigns?
- 2021 with 6, 2020 with 5, 2001 with 4. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
- Which BMW 540I model year has the most complaints?
- The 2000 model year, with 28 of the 153 complaints for the line. A newer model year has had less time to get complaints.
- Which components do the complaints about the BMW 540I name?
- Engine and Engine Cooling: 274.6 per 1,000 component mentions. Electrical System: 139.9 per 1,000 component mentions. Air Bags: 88.1 per 1,000 component mentions.
- How many NHTSA investigations name the BMW 540I?
- 3 investigations name one or more model years of the line. The page of each model year lists its investigations.