Owner-reported complaints naming the exterior lighting system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming headlights, tail lights, turn signals and other exterior lighting. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2007 BMW 328I submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 13 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
HEADLIGHTS. FIRE HAZARD BECAUSE OF BRITTLE AND BARE WIRING INSIDE OF HEADLIGHT HOUSING. Confirmation is as simple as looking inside of headlight to change a bulb. The vehicle does not set any codes to make you aware of wiring issue.
I was driving just my 3rd day of having my car and i come outside and its wrecked someone hit the driver side front panel and bumper
HEADLIGHT WIRING HARNESS SLEEVES HAVE ROTTED, THE EXPOSED COPPER WIRING CAN SHORT INSIDE THE VEHICLE CAUSING A SPARK, PROLONGED CONTACT BETWEEN BARE WIRES WILL GENERATE HEAT CAPABLE OF MELTING THE HEADLIGHT UNIT AND PLASTIC COMPONENTS AROUND IT.
ABOUT A MONTH AGO, (TODAY'S DATE IS 10/8/18) MY DRIVERS SIDE REVERSE LIGHT WENT OUT. WITH IT BEING A LIGHT THAT ISN'T REALLY A NECESSITY OR SAFETY HAZARD, I DIDN'T HAVE ANY URGENCY REPLACING. LAST NIGHT I DECIDED TO PEEL THE COVER OFF THE TRUNK TO ACCESS MY TAIL LIGHT, AND ONCE REMOVED, THE ENTIRE BULB HOUSING FALLS OUT OF THE TAIL LIGHT. THERE IS A LOT OF MELTED PLASTIC (IT WAS VERY VERY HOT) IN THE TAIL LIGHT. I EXAMINE THE BULBS, NONE BEING BURNT OUT. NO WHERE ON THE PART THAT THE LIGHTS ACTUALLY GO INTO HAS ANY HEAT DAMAGE (BURNT AND CRACKED PLASTIC). I THEN CONTACT MY MECHANIC WITH A VIDEO ASKING HIM WHAT I NEED TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE NOW THAT I SEE MY TAIL LIGHT IS LITERALLY MELTED. HE SAYS HE'LL HAVE TO CHECK IT OUT AND WILL COME BY IN THE MORNING. HE WAS 'BAFFLED' AND SAID THAT IT IS ENTIRELY A MANUFACTURES DEFECT, AFTER INSPECTING THE CONNECTOR, AS WELL AS ALL THE WIRING. I THEN HAD HIM, (OUT OF CURIOSITY) CHECK AND SEE IF THE PASSENGER SIDE WAS ALSO DEFECTED. I GET ON GOOGLE AND SEE THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH MY EXACT CAR, AND NUMEROUS PEOPLES VEHICLES HAVE BURST INTO FLAMES BUT THERE ISN'T A RECALL?? EVEN PEOPLE'S CARS THAT ARE TURNED OFF??? I HAVE TWO TODDLERS AND JUST TRAVELED 750 MILES AWAY 1500 MILES FROM HOME AND BACK. I AM VERY ANGRY AT THE FACT THAT THEY AS WELL AS MY OWN SAFETY WAS IN DANGER THE ENTIRE TIME AND WE HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF. AND I'M EVEN MORE ANGRY THAT I COULD HAVE BEEN TAKING MY NIECE TO AN APPOINTMENT TOMORROW MORNING (I DO HAVE TO FIND OTHER MEANS TO GET HER THERE) AND MY CAR JUST COMBUSTS, HAD I NOT CARED TO REPLACE THE BULB, MY CAR COULD CATCH ON FIRE WHILE TYPING THIS COMPLAINT. I HAVE SEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY BMW IS TAKING NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS ISSUE.
BOTH FRONT HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY'S HAVE HAD TO BE REPLACE THREE TIMES DUE TO THE BULBS MELTING THEIR BASES - THIS INCLUDES MELTING OF BOTH TURN SIGNALS BULBS. THE COST TO REPLACE A SINGLE FRONT HEADLAMP ASSEMBLY IS $990, $1,980 FOR BOTH, TIMES THREE TIMES.... THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE AND IS A BIG PROBLEM WITH BMW 3 SERIES CARS
FRONT HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY'S, BOTH RIGHT AND LEFT, THE WIRING INSULATION IS FALLING OFF OF ALL THE HEADLIGHT WIRES THUS LEAVING AN ARRAY OF COMPLETELY EXPOSED COPPER WIRING. UPON READING IN THE BIMMER COMPUTER FORUM THIS IS A COMMON HAPPENING IN MOST ~ 2000 VINTAGE BMW'S. BMW'S RESPONSE IS THIS IS NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR AND BLAMED ON FLORIDA WEATHER EVEN THOUGH THIS DOESN'T EXIST IN OTHER AUTO MODEL'S.
BLINKERS CONTINUE TO GO OUT THE BULBS ARE FINE SO ARE THE SOCKETS. THEY SOMETIMES WORK BUT MOST OF THE TIME NOT AFTER READING ONLINE I FOUND THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHERS WITH SIMILAR IF NOT THE SAME EXACT ISSUES. THEY HAVE FOUND THERE TO BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE FRM MODULES. IF YOU PLAY WITH THE BULB LONG ENOUGH OR VERY SLOWLY TURN THE SOCKET IT MIGHT COME ON BUT DECIDES WETHER TO STAY ON OR NOT THERE IS NO PATTERN TO IT.
MY REAR LEFT TAIL LAMP WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. WE CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT IS WRONG AND ALL OF THE LIGHTS STILL WORK.
PLASTIC INSULATION HAS CRACKED AND PEELED ON ALL WIRING INSIDE MY FRONT HEADLIGHT HOUSINGS. EXPOSED WIRING CREATES A POTENTIAL SHORT CIRCUIT AND FIRE HAZARD.
THIS IS AN ADDITION TO OUR PREVIOUS RECALL PROBLEMS AS ALL ELECTRICAL SHUT OFF AS WELL. HERE ARE THE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS TO BE ADDED TO PUBLIC RECORD THAT INDEED 6 RECALLS WERE RECORDED TO OUR REGISTERED VIN AND YET WAS TOLD BMW HAD NO OBLIGATION TO ADHERE TO THESE DOCUMENTS?! ITS ALSO CRAZY THAT WE HAVE TONS OF DOCUMENTS AND YET WE ARE ALLOWED TO SHOW A MBYTE AT A TIME. HOW CONVENIENT.
I WAS DRIVING ON AN EMPTY ROAD WHEN THE CAR SHUT OFF COMPLETELY, THE CABIN LOST ALL POWER AND THE CAR WENT ON BLACK OUT MODE. I BEGAN TO PRESS THE BRAKE BUT IT WAS ROUGH AND UNRESPONSIVE, I PULLED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE TO CONTINUE TO STOP SLOWLY, ONCE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, I BEGAN TO EXAMINE THE VEHICLE, OPENED THE BATTERY COMPARTMENT IN THE TRUNK OF THE VEHICLE AND SEEMED TO BE FINE, I POPPED THE HOOD OPEN, EXAMINED A LITTLE BIT MORE FOR FLUIDS OR SIGNS OF OVER HEATING AND WAS UNSUCCESSFUL, CALLED A TOW TRUCK, THE DRIVER TESTED THE BATTERY AND SAID THE BATTERY WAS NOT TAKING THE CHARGE, SO HE TOWED ME HOME, THE NEXT DAY I TOOK THE BATTERY TO THE PLACE I PURCHASED IT FROM SINCE IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY, THIS BATTERY HAD A 2 YEAR WARRANTY AND WAS USED FOR 8 MONTHS. I INSTALLED THE BATTERY AND THE POWER IN THE CABIN AND DASH WAS REESTABLISHED, A WARNING LIGHT CAME ON THE DASH SHORTLY AFTER I TRY TO START THE CAR AND A CLICKING NOISE FROM WHERE THE FUSE BOX IS LOCATED, ON THE PASSENGER SIDE BEGAN. I PULLED THE KEY OUT, ATTEMPTED TO START THE CAR AGAIN AND AN ICON OF A STEERING WHEEL AND LOCKED POPPED UP, ALL IN RED. I CEASED TO ATTEMPT TO START THE CAR, I RESEARCHED THE FOLLOWING DAY AND IT SEEMS LIKE IT HAD TO BE TAKEN TO THE BMW DEALER, ON TUESDAY 4/22 THE CAR WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER, I WAS INFORMED THE BATTERY WAS DEAD ONCE AGAIN AND THAT THE ISSUE WAS THE STEERING COLUMN MECHANISM WHICH WAS LOCKED, THEY WANTED TO CHARGE $1200 TO PERFORM THE LABOR, APPARENTLY THEY RESET THE CODE AND THE CAR WAS TURNED ON, ONCE I REALIZED THE CAR WAS DRIVABLE AND THAT THERE IS NO SPECIAL CODING TO PERFORM THE JOB, I ASKED FOR THE CAR TO BE RELEASED AFTER PAYING $160. THE VEHICLE HAS AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE THAT CAUSES THE BATTERY TO PUT OUT HIGHER VOLTAGE THAN THE CAR NEEDS AND THEREFORE CAUSES THE BATTERY TO MALFUNCTION. *TR
PASSENGER RESTRAINT SYSTEM MALFUNCTION - WARNING ERROR IS ON AFTER MULTIPLES BATTERIES HAVE BEEN REPLACED. AIRBAG IS NO LONGER WORKING SINCE THIS WARNING IS ON. THE REAR BRAKE LIGHTS MALFUNCTION WARMING ARE ON BUT STILL WORKING/ON. THE RIGHT REAR NIGHT LIGHT IS NOT WORKING BUT NO WARNING ERROR MESSAGE. WE CHANGED THE BULB BUT STILL NOT WORKING... PLEASE HELP!!! *TR
AUTO MANUFACTURES ARE BEGINNING TO INSTALL LED TAIL LIGHTS WITH REFRESH RATES THAT CAUSE ME TO SEE SIGNIFICANT FLICKER (STROBE EFFECT) AT NIGHT. IT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT TO DRIVE WHEN I AM BEHIND ONE OF THESE CARS. MY FEAR IS THAT THE ROADS WILL BE FILLED WITH THESE CARS IN A FEW YEARS, AND THE DISTRACTIONS WILL BE TOO INTENSE TO DRIVE. SPECIFICALLY, AT NIGHT, WHEN THE TAIL LIGHTS ARE DIMMED, (BRAKES NOT ON) AND I LOOK AT THEM AND BLINK OR TURN MY HEAD, THE AFTER IMAGE IS VERY STRANGE. I SEE DASHES OR TRAILS OF LIGHT. LAST NIGHT IN PARTICULAR, I HAD AN AFTER IMAGE FOR ABOUT TWO MINUTES AFTER THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME TURNED OFF THE ROAD. THE CARS THAT HAVE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EFFECT SEEM TO BE CADILLAC'S, INFINITIES, AND BMWS. I HAVE FOUND A THREAD ON A NEWSGROUP THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL EXPLAINING WHAT IS GOING ON: HTTP://WWW.AUTOMOTIVE-USENET.COM/REC-AUTOS-TECH/1414-RE-CAR-LED-TAIL-LIGHTS-STROBE-RATE-TOO-SLOW.HTML I WOULD APPRECIATE IF SOMEONE WOULD LOOK INTO IT. *TR
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .