2007 BMW 335I

IN RESPONSE TO ODI'S INFORMATION REQUEST FOR PE08-032 BMW STATED THAT DURING FAILURE OF THE HIGH PRESSURE PUMP THE CUSTOMER SHOULD INITIALLY EXPERIENCE LONGER ENGINE STARTING TIMES OR ROUGH ENGINE RUNNING.AFTER A DISTANCE OF APPROXIMATELY 1 TO 2 MILES THE PUMP- AND ENGINE-EMERGENCY OPERATION PROGRAM IS ACTIVATED, AND THE MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP IS ILLUMINATED.DESPITE REDUCED ENGINE POWER BMW BELIEVES THAT SAFE VEHICLE OPERATION IS POSSIBLE AND THAT VEHICLE DRIVEABILITY, STEERING, AND BRAKING SYSTEMS ARE NOT AFFECTED AND FUNCTION IN A NORMAL MANNER.BMW INDICATED THAT ONLY IN VERY RARE CASES COULD THE ENGINE STALL. ODI'S ANALYSIS OF WARRANTY DATA CLAIMS INDICATING POSSIBLE STALL INCIDENTS ESTIMATES THAT THE RATE AT THREE YEARS IN SERVICE WOULD BE LESS THAN 1.0% OF THE POPULATION (NOTE THAT SOME OF THE CLAIMS INDICATING STALL DO NOT APPEAR TO INVOLVE ACTUAL ENGINE STALLS, BUT RATHER OPERATION AT REDUCED ENGINE POWER).ODI'S ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER COMPLAINTS DETERMINED THAT ABOUT HALF DESCRIBE THE CONSEQUENCE OF THE FAILURE AS OPERATION IN LIMP MODE, 27 PERCENT INDICATE THE PROBLEM RESULTED IN A HARD START OR NO START CONDITION AND 19 PERCENT STATE THAT THE PROBLEM WAS DETECTED BY ILLUMINATION OF THE MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP OR A MINOR DRIVEABILITY SYMPTOM. ONLY FOUR PERCENT OF THE COMPLAINTS TO ODI AND BMW INDICATE THAT AN ENGINE STALL OCCURRED.BMW INDICATED THAT A SERVICE ACTION WAS INITIATED IN APRIL 2008 TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM AND IT IS CONTINUING TO MONITOR THE FIELD SITUATION AND ANALYZE FIELD DATA. FURTHER INVESTIGATION OF THIS MATTER WOULD NOT BE AN EFFICIENT ALLOCATION OF AGENCY RESOURCES.ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED.THE CLOSING OF THIS INVESTIGATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINDING BY NHTSA THAT A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DOES NOT EXIST.THE AGENCY WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR COMPLAINTS AND OTHER INFORMATION RELATING TO THE ALLEGED DEFECT IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES AND TAKE FURTHER ACTION IN THE FUTURE IF WARRANTED.

The vehicle underwent a BMW recall repair involving the blower motor wiring, completed at an authorized BMW dealership. Immediately after the recall repair, the blower motor began operating intermittently. The system turns on and off while driving. The blower motor function can be temporarily restored by physically moving the wiring harness behind the glove box in the area where the recall repair was performed. Upon inspection, the wiring in the repair area appears to have been cut and spliced, with sections exposed and not properly insulated. The intermittent failure appears directly linked to movement of this wiring harness. The dealership was informed of the issue and recommended replacing the blower motor. However, the blower motor was functioning properly prior to the recall repair. The symptoms began immediately after the recall service. This condition presents a potential electrical safety concern and loss of HVAC functionality while driving. Photos documenting the wiring condition are available. I am requesting review of this recall repair to determine whether it was performed correctly and whether corrective action is required.

NHTSA ID

11733326

Incident

Mar 31, 2026

The coating on the angel.eye wiring is made to deteriorate (environmental purposes) but leads to shorting out. Now my angel eyes don't turn on. Wiring needs to be replaced. Could possibly cause a fire I would assume as the live wires have no coating. Multiple forums talk about this issue and lots of drivers experience this. It is a hazzard and possible fire instigator the same as the blower motor wiring which does have a recall.

NHTSA ID

11559984

Incident

Feb 1, 2022

The battery light would come on randomly when using the AC. We just took the car out for a 30 minute drive and parked in the garage. When we went back out to get something out of the car 10 minutes later, the car was smoking. We popped the trunk and the battery was on fire! I researched if there were recalls of faulty wiring and came across an article that mentioned this happening when the AC was on. It also mentioned issues with PCV valve heater recalls. After we bought this car, we noticed burn marks around the area near the battery when we replaced it. We wonder if the same thing happened to them but not as much damage. One recall involves the heater for the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve, and the other recall involves wiring and electrical connectors in the system that controls air flow for heating and air conditioning. Can we get help from a BMW dealer to fix this issue? Please advise. Thank you.

NHTSA ID

11531093

Incident

Jul 8, 2023

Vehicles equipped with the Xenon Headlight option that have spent time in warmer climates have very poor quality wiring inside the headlight itself, whose insulation degrades and falls off, exposing bare copper that shorts, causes lighting faults, and disables headlights. This happened in my own car, the driver side headlight Daytime Running Light just stopped working one day, first with no fault codes, then eventually fault codes started appearing as more parts of the headlight stopped working, including the low-beam while driving at night. Obviously the headlights ceasing to work randomly is extremely unsafe on roadways at night, like what happened in my case, but beyond that, wiring shorting inside the headlight can causes electrical fires as well. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request, and has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, due to testimonials I have heard from many other owners of cars with the same headlights, that BMW dealers and BMWNA are refusing to help at all with this issue. As previously stated, warning lamps did not initially appear, but as more of the wiring insulation began to degrade headlight fault codes did eventually appear.

NHTSA ID

11518735

Incident

Mar 1, 2023

The contact owns a 2007 BMW 335I. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled with the yellow check engine warning light displayed on the instrument panel. Due to the failure, the vehicle behind him came to a screeching halt to avoid causing a major accident. Multiple attempts to restart the vehicle failed, resulting in the vehicle being towed to an independent mechanic. The mechanic determined the failure to be a defective high-pressure fuel pump. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 177,000.

NHTSA ID

11505769

Incident

Jan 23, 2023

Mileage

177,000 mi

No past issues with brakes. No warning lights. Went to brake and pedal went to the floor. Christmas tree of lights go off about brake/abs/traction control issue. Press pedal agian, same thing. Press again, and finally get brakes. I was going about 35mph. Luckily I didn't coast through a busy intersection, but if this happened somewhere else, I or others could be dead. I had room to maneuver and avoid an accident. There is no hydraulic issue. There is no leak, fluid is full. Brakes work perfectly fine since this. My guess is that the ABS valves went full open, like it thought all wheels were locked up even though they never even braked. I have not yet had it diagnosed, but the result is irrelevant since this did happen and happened without warning and without a good cause. So it should be reported and tracked. I don't feel the ABS should ever have a failure mode of full open no brakes. Even if the car is old and high mileage (179k).

NHTSA ID

11493779

Incident

Nov 15, 2022

Mileage

179,000 mi

The oil filter housing gasket, the mechatronic transmission and the electrical system failed. Yes, it is available for inspection. My safety and the safety of others were put at risk as a result of my vehicle losing power suddenly while I was driving on the highway. I was driving at the highway speed limit and my vehicle malfunctioned and lost power while others were at high speeds. I had to abruptly stop almost causing an accident. The problem has been reproduced and confirmed by the BMW service center. The vehicle has been inspected by the BMW dealer service department. The warning lamps that came on my dashboard were the check engine light, oil level light, and the transmission light. The car was running poorly. The engine wouldn’t crank and then it would jolt after driving. I would smell oil occasionally. The symptoms first appeared in 2011. I had my vehicle serviced at BMW regularly. In 2016 the symptoms got worse despite having my vehicle serviced for the same issue. I had the repairs done at BMW and when I drove it for the first time after getting it repaired it still failed.

NHTSA ID

11476287

Incident

Jun 18, 2021

I bought a 2007 BMW 335i convertible on March 10th 2022. On March 18th I left my house and as I was pulling out of my neighborhood the vehicle cut off at about 25 miles an hour and as I pulled over I noticed black smoke coming out from under the hood. There were no warning lights on with the exception of a random airbag light that came on the day after I bought the car and a tire pressure monitor light. My wife and I pulled over and I ran to a nearby house and took a case of Dasani water from painters who were working (with their permission). I got the fire put out within minutes of its starting but the wiring harness is completely melted together along with all of the induction piping to the turbos and the intake manifold and fuel line. I told the car home and had my insurance agent look at it. She said because it was a fire it would be a mechanical issue and needed to go to the BMW dealership. I paid to have it towed there that day. The dealer called me about an hour after the car showed up there and said that they would not service or inspect the vehicle for damage because I have the wrong insurance company. I was forced to tow the car back home after being turned away by several other dealerships and collision centers due to the high volume of mechanical work already on their lots. BMW has open recalls on 3 series vehicles because they can have engine fires. My car for some reason is not one of the ones they cover under that recall. Still have no resolution from my insurance company on what to do because the car hasn't been officially inspected by a BMW technician. I've now towed the car three times and I'm exactly where I was at the beginning of this claim.

NHTSA ID

11458127

Incident

Mar 18, 2022

The basic conditions for initializing the power windows are not met.

The electrical system of BMW vehicles has been subject to an ongoing development process over the last few years. This has led to increased demands being placed on the battery. This document covers important information for the dealer on how to handle “discharged battery” complaints.

CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT: N54/N54T/N55 ELECTRIC ENGINE COOLANT PUMP . With the court's FINAL approval, BMW of North America, LLC (BMW NA) has entered a nationwide settlement with the plaintiffs in the following class action: Oliver, et al v. BMW NA, et al

CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT: N54/N54T/N55 ELECTRIC ENGINE COOLANT PUMP . With the court's FINAL approval, BMW of North America, LLC (BMW NA) has entered a nationwide settlement with the plaintiffs in the following class action: Oliver, et al v. BMW NA, et al

Diagnosis of Compound Brake System Complaints in M Vehicles: 1. Visible cracks are caused by high thermal stresses during rapid heating and cooling of the brake discs. Braking from high speed with cold brake components (less than 212 degrees F) increases the likelihood of cracks to form.

Discharged Battery Energy Diagnosis Must Be Performed: The electrical system of BMW vehicles has been subject to an ongoing development process over the last few years. This has led to increased demands being placed on the battery. This document covers important information for the dealer on how to handle "discharged battery" complaints. In order to properly repair the vehicle the first time in the workshop, it is very important that the diagnostic test plans are performed to completion, with all results taken into consideration. Without performing the energy diagnosis test plan, the root cause of the discharged battery cannot be identified. This increases the chances of a repeat repair.