There are 10 owner-reported electrical system complaints for the 2016 BMW 3 Seriesin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The contact owns a 2016 BMW 328I. The contact stated that after parking and turning the vehicle off, moments later the front end of the vehicle was engulfed in flames. The fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. During the incident, a bystander who attempted to extinguish the flames was treated by EMS at the scene for headaches and smoke inhalation. A fire report was taken at the scene and the vehicle was towed away. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 180,000.
Drive train malfunction. Throws itself in to neutral while driving. Lost the power to accelerate so had to coast to the shoulder.. Turned the car off and restarted it. Took to automotive shop via extended warranty suggested and I paid to have the pressure fuel piece. This same piece, apparently has a recall on the 2015 but not my year. Very upset. While out of town the same thing happened again. With a passenger. Very scary my car lost power and almost caused an accident.
known what failed the entire car was on fire= if there was no one near by it could have consumed more cars/buildings it has been inspected by BMW of north america and Geico the car was overheating the night before and had a check engine light. it was taken to the shop immediately and the fire started within less than 24 hours of the initial symptoms occurring.
The front brakes are locked up and I went to the dealer and they are asking $7000 to replace the dsc module. It was also braking while I was driving on the highway and I got scared and pulled over and checked everything looked okay but i didn’t know what happened. I am glad nobody was behind me when the car (bmw)brakes it self while it was running. I hope you do a further investigation and see what is happening to the bmw brakes. It only had 52139 miles when I send it to bmw of Dallas and they took 3 days to find the problem and told me I need to pay $7000 to replace the dsc module (abs module) I can’t afford to pay that kind of money what do I do
The central locking system frequently goes out and I'd have to replace the three doors actuators that don't work consistently. many times I'm locked in the car with the only way of getting out is by lowering the window and climbing out. according to my service advisor at BMW, this is a known problem with different models of BMW in this time frame. I really wish it would be considered a recall so at least myself and my family will feel safe and know that I can escape the car if necessary.
I was at a red light while driving my car.When I stepped on the gas once the light turned green the car stalled and started jerking i immediately smelled smoked and seen smoke coming through the cabin..lt made a strange sound from the engine The service engine light came on and said reduced engine power/ drive train malfunction get service immediately.I was able to coast the car to a curb luckily in front of a car shop as soon as i can get out of the car a worker from the shop ran outside yelling your car is on fire! We lift the hood and he had a water hose on the side of the shop he then sprayed the area of the fire and it was put out.I have kept regular routine maintenance on the car no prior signs of car malfunctioning or service engine light on no warning at all this was unexpected.This occurred February 8th 2022 I had the vehicle towed to my local Firestone auto care and they said the ignition coils were melted and something strange happened and to check with bmw because it was too catastrophic for them to fix since then I have had the vehicle at my home parked and after calling bmw they said there were no known recalls at the time…
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 BMW 328I. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT OR STOP SIGN WITH THE START/STOP FEATURE ACTIVATED, THE VEHICLE SHIFTED FROM DRIVE INTO PARK INDEPENDENTLY. THE CONTACT HAD TO MANUALLY SHIFT THE VEHICLE BACK INTO THE DRIVE GEAR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO BMW OF SARASOTA (LOCATED AT 5151 CLARK RD, SARASOTA, FL 34233, (941) 214-4155) TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE BATTERY NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONTACT WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT THE FEATURE OF SHIFTING INDEPENDENTLY INTO PARK WAS A FAIL SAFE MODE FOR THE BATTERY POWER REDUCTION. THE BATTERY WAS REPLACED; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 38,750.
MY CAR IS ACTUALLY A 2017 BMW 340I BUT THE SYSTEM DID NOT ALLOW ME TO CHOOSE THAT CAR. I HAD THE AUTO-START/STOP FEATURE ENGAGED AND THE CAR STALLED ONCE I CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. I WAS DRIVING ON A STREET AT THE TIME. I HAD TO RESTART THE ENGINE BUT IT WOULDN'T START COMPLETELY OFF. I DISABLED THE FEATURE AND IT STOPPED DOING THIS. LATER ON JULY 5TH, THE CAR SIMPLY STOPPED STARTING ALL TOGETHER. AT THIS TIME I WAS PARKING IN MY PARKING GARAGE AT HOME AND WHEN I TURNED THE CAR OFF I TRIED STARTING IT BACK AND IT NO LONGER WORKED. PLEASE SEE THE FOLLOWING VIDEO: HTTPS://WWW.DROPBOX.COM/S/GPQJS6IOHHG0L5T/VID_20170705_164538.MP4?DL=0
THIS VEHICLE SUDDENLY SHUT OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION. THE ENTIRE CAR SHUT OFF AND WOULD NOT START AGAIN. YOU COULD NOT PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL EITHER TO GET IT OFF THE ROAD. THE CAR WOULD NOT MOVE. THIS VEHICLE WAS ON A 6 LANE ROAD STARTING TO GO FROM THE INTERSECTION. I KNOW THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ANOTHER PERSON WITH AN X3 AS WELL. BMW IS CLAIMING THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN. I WAS DRIVING A RALPH SCHOMP BMW LOANER AT THE TIME BECAUSE MY 2017 X3 WAS IN THE SHOP. I HAVE THE OTHER PERSON'S INFORMATION SHOULD YOU NEED IT. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. THE OTHER PERSON THIS HAPPENED TO WAS ON A HIGHWAY WHEN IT HAPPENED. IT IS UNKNOWN TO ME WHAT CAUSED THIS, BUT THE VEHICLE FLASHED LIGHTS AND TOLD ME TO TURN OFF THE CAR. WHEN I DID, IT WOULD NOT START AGAIN. I AM CONCERNED THAT BMW IS HIDING THIS PROBLEM SINCE I KNOW THE SAME DEALERSHIP HAS HAD THIS ISSUE BEFORE WITH THE SAME VEHICLE. PEOPLE NEED TO BE AWARE OF THIS ISSUE. THANK YOU. *TR
SUDDEN ACCELERATION - ON TWO OCCASIONS (JUNE 12 AND 27, 2016), WHILE SLOWING AND COMING TO A STOP (ONCE TO PARK AND ONCE TO STOP AT A RED LIGHT BEHIND ANOTHER VEHICLE), THE CAR BUCKED AND REVVED AND WAS INCREDIBLY HARD TO CONTROL, LURCHING FORWARD. ON THE FIRST OCCASION IT LURCHED FORWARD AT A HIGH RATE OF FORCE AND HIT A FENCE AS I WAS PULLING IN SLOWLY TO PARK - I COULD NOT CONTROL IT WITH THE BRAKE UNTIL I PUT IT IN REVERSE; ON SECOND OCCASION (2 WEEKS LATER), I WAS ON A CITY STREET SLOWING TO 5MPH AND STOPPING AT A RED LIGHT AND SUDDENLY WHILE I WAS FULL FOOT ON BRAKE THE CAR WAS REVVING AND BUCKING AND I COULD NOT CONTROL IT UNTIL I THREW IT INTO PARK. FOOT HARD ON THE BRAKE THE WHOLE TIME. BOTH TIMES DRIVING COMPLETELY STRAIGHT AND VERY SLOWLY INTO THE STOP. THE CAR HAS LESS THAN 1500 MILES ON IT. IT IS AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, WITH VARIOUS TRANSMISSION STYLES - THE FIRST TIME IT WAS IN "SPORT" TRANSMISSION; THE SECOND IT WAS IN THE DEFAULT ("CUSTOM"). ON JUNE 28, I TOOK IT TO THE BMW DEALER. THEY HAVE NOW HAD IT NEARLY 3 WEEKS AND HAVE NOT TOLD ME ANYTHING, OTHER THAN THAT THE SOFTWARE IS BEING ANALYZED IN GERMANY AND SOMEONE FROM BMW NA NOW HAS MY FILE.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026