2011 BMW 328I Engine Problems

I brought my vehicle to an authorized dealer for three open safety recalls. Two were performed at no charge. The third, the VANOS adjustment unit screw connection recall, was not performed. The dealer stated in writing on the repair order that the vehicle has a broken valve cover bolt, that the valve cover will not seal properly, and that a new valve cover is recommended to complete the recall. They quoted $1,077.43 for a valve cover as a customer-pay repair and stated the recall could not be completed until that was done. I declined the valve cover. The recall was not performed. The bolt is not broken and the valve cover is not broken. The threads in the cylinder head bolt boss are stripped, and a larger bolt was installed that holds. There is no oil leak. A new valve cover would thread into the same stripped hole in the cylinder head and would not repair the damaged threads. The dealer's proposed repair does not address the condition they described. The manufacturer's dealer bulletin for this recall lists a cylinder head cover profile seal as a recall part and does not list a valve cover in any parts list. The remedy requires removing the cylinder head cover regardless. I left without signing the repair order. The recall remains open. I am reporting that a free safety recall remedy was conditioned on a customer-pay repair. The dealer could have performed the recall, documented the pre-existing thread damage on the repair order, noted that the customer was advised and declined the valve cover, and disclaimed responsibility for any future seepage at the cover. I would have accepted that. Instead they performed neither the recall nor any repair, and left a federal safety recall open.

NHTSA ID

11751109

Incident

Jul 16, 2026

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the low oil pressure warning light illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the VANOS bolts had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The contact related the failure to TSB Number: SIB 11 04 14. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was covered under the TSB. The failure mileage was approximately 157,637.

NHTSA ID

11727018

Incident

Mar 12, 2026

Mileage

157,637 mi

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, there was a burning odor coming from the vehicle. The odor was more prominent while the vehicle was idling. The RPM fluctuated while idling, causing the vehicle to stall. The contact would depress the brake pedal, place the vehicle in neutral, turn off, and restart the vehicle to accelerate and continue driving. The air bag warning light was illuminated, and the message, "Check Engine Soon," was displayed. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic, and a diagnostic code was retrieved for Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) failure; however, no repairs were completed. The contact completed some research and learned that the failure could be occurring due to air entering the brake lines. The contact also found information about NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine); however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer, diagnosed, or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 133,000.

NHTSA ID

11723007

Incident

Dec 9, 2025

Mileage

133,000 mi

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving on the streets and the highway, the vehicle lost automotive power. There were no warning lights illuminated at the time of the failure. The contact stated that the vehicle jerked unexpectedly, stalled, and failed to accelerate over 30 MPH. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic but was not diagnosed or repaired. The mechanic referred the contact to the dealer for further assistance and stated that the failure could be related to a recall. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the failure started after the vehicle was repaired under an air bag recall by the dealer, and the failure persisted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.

NHTSA ID

11722916

Incident

Mar 9, 2026

Mileage

200,000 mi

> While driving the car, low oil pressure indicator came on and within less than a mile later there was a sudden loss of power, engine stalled and then would not start again, requiring vehicle to be towed off the road and to a repair garage. Yes, vehicle is available for inspection upon request. >Vehicle was immobile on the road putting driver of vehicle and other vehicles on the road at risk of accident and injury. > Attached documentation reviews the issue. > Vehicle originally inspected by non-dealership garage that strongly recommended the vehicle be evaluated by BMW. Vehicle was towed to and inspected by BMW Sewickley [XXX] . BMW states not covered under Vanos recall. >Only immediately prior to stall. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11720328

Incident

Feb 9, 2026

> While driving the car, the low oil pressure indicator came on, and within less than a mile later there was a sudden loss of power, engine stalled and then would not start again, requiring the vehicle to be towed off the road and to a repair garage. > Vehicle was immobile on the road putting driver of this vehicle and other vehicles on the road at risk of an accident and injury. > Vehicle originally inspected by non-dealership garage that strongly recommended the vehicle be evaluated by BMW. Vehicle was towed to and has been inspected by BMW Sewickley [XXX] . > Only immediately prior to stall. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11719240

Incident

Feb 9, 2026

Engine lost all oil pressure, smoke came through vents with the smell of burnt oil. Engine stalled, intake camshaft no longer moves when the engine is trying to turn over. Vanos system failed.

NHTSA ID

11714100

Incident

Jan 25, 2026

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle hesitated and stalled. The vehicle was restarted several times but continually stalled. The vehicle was later towed to the residence. The contact examined the engine and discovered metal shavings in the VANOS solenoid engine oil. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The failure mileage was 120,000.

NHTSA ID

11705161

Incident

Nov 14, 2025

Mileage

120,000 mi

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact noticed an abnormal dinging sound coming from underneath the hood. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a detached VANOS bolt. The contact was informed that the failure was due to unrepaired recall NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The recall repair was performed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that when the vehicle was released to the contact, the contact stated that the vehicle was shaking violently, and the RPM was fluctuating. In addition, the engine shut off while idling. The contact stated that the failure occurred before leaving the dealer. The dealer requested that the vehicle remain at the dealer for inspection. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer the following day. The vehicle was inspected, and the contact was informed that the failure was not related to the recall. The contact was requested to provide a diagnostic fee for further diagnostic tests and the contact declined. The contact stated that the vehicle was in worse condition after the recall repair was performed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 91,000.

NHTSA ID

11702719

Incident

Nov 28, 2025

Mileage

91,000 mi

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). The recall repair was completed; however, on the drive home after the vehicle was retrieved, while driving 60 MPH, the engine seized. The contact stated that the vehicle was sluggish and hesitated before stalling in the middle lane of the highway. The oil pressure warning light was illuminated. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle, and after several attempts, the vehicle failed to restart. The contact was able to coast to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was determined that the incorrect oil filter was installed on the vehicle. The vehicle was repaired. The contact towed the vehicle back to the residence. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered the contact a 10% discount on a new engine. The failure mileage was 126,657.

NHTSA ID

11691679

Incident

Sep 30, 2024

Mileage

126,657 mi

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). The contact had received various unknown notifications of NHTSA recalls. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the vehicle was repaired. The contact stopped by the dealer to pick up the vehicle, and when the vehicle was started, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine. The contact stated that the vehicle was idling abnormally. The contact left the vehicle at the dealer. The contact believed that the dealer had damaged the vehicle. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle had other issues that the contact needed to repair for the dealer to repair the vehicle again. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 134,184.

NHTSA ID

11687727

Incident

Aug 16, 2025

Mileage

134,184 mi

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (Engine and Engine Cooling), but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ID

11668656

Incident

Jun 23, 2025

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and attempting to slow down, the vehicle started to jerk abnormally, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the camshaft adjusting unit was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.

NHTSA ID

11659754

Incident

Mar 19, 2025

Mileage

106,000 mi

RE: Recall on 2011 328i Vin# [XXX] I drove the car to run an errand, car was running ok but had a miss. During my drive home, the car stalled. I had to quickly coast to a parking lot in order not to get hit by the car behind me. I tried to restart the car, but it acted as if it needed a jump. Tried to jump the car but it turned over slowly without starting. Ended up getting it towed to Metairie very early the next morning, due to parades. Had a friend of mine, a BMW shop owner, take a look at the car. He told me that he found out that it had a few recalls and he thought that may be the problem. I spoke with a service advisor at BMW dealer that checked the vin and said the recalls would be taken care of along with anything it caused. I made the appointment and had it towed to BMW dea;er. I was assigned to Erin C, Service Advisor, when I made my appointment. My appointment was for 7:30 AM on the 28th of March. I heard from Erin at 4:30 that afternoon with an update. She told me that I had a seized engine and it was going to cost ten thousand or more to replace the engine. I asked if the recall was done on it, because the recall stated that one of the indicators of the Vanos issue was that it would not start any more. I also found information saying that stalling, engine seizing, and oil starvation can be dangerously caused by the recall. Erin stated that they would take the valve cover off to confirm. Didn’t hear from her on Friday, or over the weekend. I got her on the phone Monday evening at 5:30 PM. Erin told me the same information that after they took off the valve cover and videoed it (have not seen that video yet). That my engine was seized. She assured me that they hooked up the car to communicate with the engineers who confirmed, from all the evidence, that the engine seizing was not caused by the recall but lack of oil circulation. If she had a diagnostic done on the car, she had not shared any codes found with me at this INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATIO

NHTSA ID

11657961

Incident

Mar 28, 2025

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328i. The contact had received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); and the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the recall repair. The contact stated that upon returning to pick up the vehicle, he was informed that the vehicle would no longer start, requiring the vehicle to be towed back to the residence. The dealer diagnosed a failure with the VANOS solenoid. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to the recall repair, and the dealer seemed to concur with the sentiments but had not provided any further assistance. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 240,000.

NHTSA ID

11653678

Incident

Mar 28, 2025

Mileage

240,000 mi

i took my car in for the vanos bolts recall at a bmw dealership they said they could fix the car.keep in mind i drove the car there just fine and now there saying its gonna cost $3300 to fix my car and its not drivable and idk what to do because im not spending that much money when i took my car in for a recall

NHTSA ID

11650015

Incident

Mar 11, 2025

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). The contact stated while driving 15 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal before the vehicle stalled. The Safe Mode message was displayed. The contact was driving uphill when the vehicle stalled. The contact helped to push the vehicle before coasting downhill. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine had seized. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer stated that engine damage was not part of the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but offered no assistance. The vehicle remained at the dealer and had not been driven since the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 122,000.

NHTSA ID

11637783

Incident

Mar 11, 2024

Mileage

122,000 mi

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ID

11637722

Incident

Oct 20, 2023

The vehicle has been under recall for over a year and the fix is known and takes approximately 4 hours. BMW has had ample time to coordinate a repair, please enforce the repair for the vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11634758

Incident

Jan 7, 2025

Nothing has malfunctioned yet on the vehicle, however, these recalls are putting my daughter at risk while driving as there is an air bag and engine recall on the vehicle. Every time we contact the dealership, the recall is still unavailable.

NHTSA ID

11628356

Incident

Oct 20, 2024

Unknown

NHTSA ID

11627962

Incident

Nov 24, 2024

My car has the same issue as other BMW 328i made in 2011. however, when i put the vehicle vin number in my car does not pull up this as a recall. The Camshaft timing bolts are kicking off a check engine light. There is already a recall on this for other cars like mines see campaign 23V707000. Not sure what to do, any help would be greatly appreciated.

NHTSA ID

11624951

Incident

Nov 4, 2024

I had my car towed to BMW Northwest in fife on October 8th to have my recalled fixed for the vanos bolts that can cause engine problems. My car had shut down the day prior I couldn’t drive it. Through October 8 all the way till the 31st I had been in contact with BMW checking on the status of my car .. I have text messages between me and BMW about my car . I was told that 4 vanos bolts broke off into my engine and that bmw couldn’t find them they had to take my engine apart.. Then on October 31 I had got a call from BMW saying that they could not fix the the recall due to sludge on my engine, and that the reason that my engine had shut down was due to power maintenance . My car has all maintained regular oil change and kept up with the maintenance. So now BMW is trying to give me my car back with the Vanos bolt still stuck in the engine in my car not starting and they said they were not gonna fix the recall.

NHTSA ID

11623365

Incident

Oct 8, 2024

Recall for 2011 BMW 328i PCV Heater valve was conducted on or around March 12, 2023 at my local BMW private shop Bimmer Engineering located in Lancaster, CA. After service was performed was contacted by BMW representative that this service I paid out of pocket would be reimbursed, but would need to take to BMW dealership to be inspected to ensure BMW part had been replaced properly and with the authorized OME part manufactured by BMW. Vehicle was inspected at the Valencia BMW dealership on or around March 15, 2023 and verified manufactured part was replaced properly. After submitting a claim, letters, and invoices to BMW North America which concluded roughly a year later. I was informed that the reimbursement would not be honored due to recall not affiliated and TREAD ACT does not apply. This information was provided on or around October 11, 2024 by Executive Customer Care Relations and Services Specialist Kurt Westrich.

NHTSA ID

11622135

Incident

Mar 13, 2023

The contact owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the failure recurred several times while driving on the same day. Additionally, the contact stated while driving at various speeds and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle shuddered and surged. The vehicle was taken to O'Reilly’s, where DTC code: P054B was retrieved; indicating a VANOS bolts failure. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer to be repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the dealer charged a diagnostic fee and informed the contact that the vehicle would need to be diagnosed for 2 hours prior to the recall repair. The contact declined to pay the diagnostic fee. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 129,000.

NHTSA ID

11621881

Incident

Oct 5, 2024

Mileage

129,000 mi