There are 9 stored owner reports matching the electrical system leading-label group for the 2003 BMW 7 Series in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 9 of 9 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 BMW 745I. WHILE DRIVING 70 MPH, THE FAN BELT FRACTURED AND AN UNKNOWN WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED, WHICH MEANT THAT THE VEHICLE WAS OVERHEATING. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. A WEEK LATER, THE HOOD WAS OPENED AND SMOKE WAS SEEN COMING FROM THE COMPUTER PANEL AS A FIRE STARTED. THE CONTACT EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE WITH A WATER HOSE AND DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY. THE VEHICLE STOPPED SMOKING ONCE THE BATTERY WAS DISCONNECTED. THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT CONTACTED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 130,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
BOUGHT 2003 745LI NEW. MANY PROBLEMS FROM THE START AND OFTEN IN FOR SERVICE. DRIVER SIDE WINDOW MOTOR QUIT WORKING A YEAR AGO. LEARNED THIS IS COMMON WITH OTHER BLOGS AND BMW OWNERS. CURRENT MILES ARE ONLY 70,000. OVER THE PAST YEAR THE ENGINE HAS RUN EXTREMELY ROUGH EVEN HAVING TO STOP THE CAR BECAUSE OF IT. OCCASIONALLY HAS BEEN DIFFICULT TO RESTART. AFTER THREE WEEKS IN THEIR SERVICE CENTER BMW CAN'T SEEM TO FIGURE OUT THE CAUSE BUT WANT TO DO $4500 OF WORK IN THE ENGINE WHILE TELLING ME THEY CAN'T BE SURE THAT WHAT THEY DO WILL TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM!?
FOLLOWING ERROR WHEN DRIVING VEHICLE: "FAULT IN PASS-RESTRAINT SYSTEM AFFECTING AIRBAG, BELT TENSIONER OR BELT-FORCE LIMITER. FASTEN AND CONTINUE TO WEAR SEATBELTS. PLEASE CONTACT THE NEAREST BMW CENTER" IN THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM WHEN STARTING THE CAR. " 2003 BMW 745I. THIS MODEL/YEAR WAS NOT INCLUDED IN PRIOR RECALL. *TR
I HAVE A SERIOUS OIL LEAK MY, LIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING, AIRBAG IN THE SEAT NOT WORKING, BRAKES AND HUD ASSEMBLY HAS TO BE REPLACED. *TR
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 BMW 745I. AFTER THE CONTACT STARTED THE VEHICLE, THE PASSENGER RESTRAINT SYSTEM, SEAT BELT, AND AIR BAG WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE INDICATORS WERE RESET BY SELECTING THE HARD DRIVE BUTTON LOCATED ON THE GPS PANEL; HOWEVER, THE INDICATORS WERE ILLUMINATED AGAIN THE FOLLOWING DAY WHEN THE ENGINE WAS STARTED. THE FAILURE OCCURRED CONSISTENTLY THEREAFTER. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 72,000.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 BMW 760LI. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE STALLED WHILE DRIVING 15 MPH. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT IT WAS DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER THE STEERING WHEEL DURING THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A LOCAL MECHANIC. THE LOCAL MECHANIC PERFORMED A TUNE-UP AND CHECKED TO SEE IF WATER WAS IN THE FUEL SYSTEM. THE FAILURE CONTINUED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE COMPUTER WAS THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE, NOT THE FUEL SYSTEM. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 57,000.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 BMW 745LI . THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ALARM WOULD ACTIVATE ON ITS OWN. IN ADDITION, THE AIR BAG AND SEAT BELT WARNING LIGHTS WOULD ILLUMINATE ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL FOR NO REASON. THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM WOULD FLASH ON AND OFF AS IF THERE WERE AN ELECTRICAL SHORT WHENEVER HE WOULD STOP THE VEHICLE OR DEPRESS THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE DEALER WOULD NOT MAKE ANY REPAIRS BECAUSE THE WARRANTY WAS EXPIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE LESS THAN 80,000.
TL*- THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 BMW 745LI. WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT 5 MPH SHE LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE LOST POWER, AND SHE WAS UNABLE TO RESTART THE VEHICLE. IT WAS TOWED; THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 10,000 MILES. IN 2006 WHILE ATTEMPTING TO START THE VEHICLE THE TRANSMISSION DISENGAGED, THE RADIO WAS ON, AND THE VEHICLE WAS OUT OF CONTROL. THE VEHICLE WAS AT THE DEALER FOR 4 TO 5 DAYS IN ORDER TO UPDATE THE SOFTWARE. ON ANOTHER OCCASION, THE SHIFT CONTROL FELL OFF THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED, AND THE CONTACT DIDN'T FEEL SAFE DRIVING. SHE WAS STRANDED 3 TIMES ON THE HIGHWAY, AND THERE WERE RECALLS ON THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE CONTINUED TO OCCUR AFTER THE SOFTWARE WAS UPDATED. RECALL# 03V240000. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 38,000.*AK
I PURCHASED THE CAR IN KANSAS IN JULY 2003. THE FIRST WEEK AFTER I PURCHASED THE CAR I CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP ABOUT A PROBLEM WITH THE CAR STALLING OUT. THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME IT WAS A DESIGN FEATURE. I MOVED OUT OF THE STATE AND CONTACTED A DEALERSHIP IN THE CORPUS CHRISTI, TX AREA ABOUT THE CONTINUING PROBLEM. OVER THE PAST YEAR I HAVE HAD SEVERAL OCCASSIONS WHEN THE STALLING WAS SUCH THAT THE CAR WOULD FAIL AND PLACE ME AND/OR MY FAMILY IN NEAR ACCIDENTS. I MADE VISITS TO THE TEXAS DEALERSHIP IN NOVEMBER 2003, TWICE IN JANUARY 2004 AND MAY 2004 FOR REPAIRS AND COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SAME PROBLEM AND POTENTIAL ACCIDENTS DUE TO THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM WAS DISMISSED AND REPAIR WAS NEVER MADE. IN THE LAST MONTH THE "SAFETY" FEATURE THAT WAS SUPPOSEDLY CAUSING MY PROBLEM WAS "TURNED OFF" TO CURE THE PROBLEM. I NOW FEEL MORE THAN EVER THAT THE CAR IS UNSAFE. I HAVE TAKEN THIS ALL THE WAY UP TO THE MANUFACTURER AND STILL NO REPAIR HAS BEEN MADE AND NO OTHER OPTION HAS BEEN GIVEN. THE STATE OF KANSAS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE SUGGESTED I CONTACT YOU FOR HELP.*AK
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.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.