RoadVitals

2013 BMW Activehybrid 3 Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
8
Latest Nov 28, 2018
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Sep 11, 2013

What this page shows

Our database holds 8 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2013 BMW Activehybrid 3. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–8 of 8

AirbagsEngine
Filed Nov 28, 2018

WASTE GATE RATTLE OR TURBO RATTLE, THE VEHICLE RATTLES DURING COLD START, RATTLE UPON DECELERATION,LOSS OF POWER, CHECK ENGINE ILLUMINATION, MANUFACTURE SPECIFIC OBD TROUPE CODE P30FF, ENGINE LIGHT TURNS ON AND OFF AND OFF AFTER REFILLING GAS.THE TURBO CHARGER MUST BE REPLACED.

NHTSA ID
11154633
Incident
Oct 25, 2018
EnginePowertrain (other)
Filed Oct 1, 2018

HIT A POT HOLE FOR THE SECOND TIME BLOW OUT A RIM BUT NOW THE INDICATORS SAY DRIVE TRAIN MALFUNCTIONS AND WONT START WHO KNOWS WHERE THE OIL GOES KEEPS RUNNING LOW EVEN THOUGH NO LEAKS HAVEN'T SEEN MY CAR IN MONTHS PUT SOMETHING ON THE SEAT IT SAYS TO LOCK SEAT BELT THESE CARS ARE LEMONS WHAT'S WITH ALL THE SENSORS BEFORE SENSORS CARS DIDN'T BREAK DOWN AND IF THEY DID YOU COULD FIX IT YOURSELF

NHTSA ID
11132416
Incident
Jul 21, 2018
Mileage
63,567 mi
AirbagsSeat belts
Filed Apr 5, 2017

DROVE A SHORT DISTANCE WITH A WOMEN'S PURSE IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT. SINCE THAT TIME, I GET TWO FAULT MESSAGES EVERY TIME I START THE CAR, REGARDING AN ERROR IN THE PASSENGER AIR BAG OR SEAT BELT RESTRAINT SYSTEM. MESSAGE STATES TO ENSURE PASSENGER WEARS SEAT BELT AS THEY AIR BAG MAY NOT OPERATE.

NHTSA ID
10970751
Incident
Mar 20, 2017
Mileage
60,000 mi
ElectricalFuel system
Filed Jul 26, 2016

I PURCHASED 2013 VEHICLE 3 MONTHS AGO. I HAVE TAKEN VEHICLE IN FOR REPAIRS W SAME ERROR 4XS - ERROR "DRIVETRAIN - VEHICLE CAN NOT BE RESTARTED" I HAVE BEEN ON FREEWAY AND ON STREET WHEN ERROR HAS OCCURRED. WJEN THIS ERROR OCCURS VEHICLES ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS NO LONGER WORK. VEHICLE CAN STILL BE DRIVEN BUT WITH CAUTION. I AM VERY CONCERNED AND CANNOT TAKE LONG TRIPS AWAY FROM BMW SERVICE LOCATIONS SINCE THIS ERROR APPEARS WITHOUT WARNING. BMW DEALER KEPT VEHICLE FOR MORE THAN 7 DAYS LAST REPAIRS, HOWEVER I STILL HAVE ERROR APPEARING AND VEHICLE IS STILL NOT REPAIRED. DEALER NONCHALANT SINCE WARRANTY IS STILL IN PLACE -- I BELIEVE THEY ARE IGNORING AS NOT TO RELATE DRIVE TRANSMISSION. TOMORROW I HAVE NO VEHICLE SINCE CAR WON'T START. CONTACTED DEALER TO COME AND DELIVER RENTAL VEHICLE. I HAVE TO WORK! ERROR APPEARS WHEN VEHICLE IS IN MOTION ALWAYS. I AM CONCERNED WITH MY SAFETY - NOT SURE WHAT ELSE WILL TAKE PLACE WHILE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION. TODAY WEATHER WAS 112 AND NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR 40 MILES. I NEED VEHICLE REPAIRED AS TO PASS EMISSIONS AS WELL AS FOR MY SAFETY!!!

NHTSA ID
10888858
Incident
Jul 26, 2016
Mileage
24,000 mi
Electrical
Filed Jul 2, 2014

AT LEAST UP TO 5 ISSUES WITH THE BACK UP AND FRONT CAMERA SYSTEMS, AND AN ISSUE WITH THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM. THE CAMERA SYSTEMS ARE ESPECIALLY TROUBLING SINCE THE GO OUT AT RANDOM. THE LAST TIME THE DEALER REPLACED THE ENTIRE CAMERA MODULE SYSTEM AND THE ISSUE CAME UP AGAIN. *TR

NHTSA ID
10607881
Incident
Nov 12, 2013
Mileage
11,000 mi
Airbags
Filed Mar 12, 2014

THE VEHICLE COMPUTER STATES THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG(S). I HAVE DROPPED OFF THE CAR AT THE DEALER AND ITS BEEN A WEEK NOW AND THERE IS NO SOLUTION YET. I READ A SIMILAR ISSUE FROM ANOTHER 2013 ACTIVEHYBRID 3 OWNER ON THIS SITE. DEALER TOLD ME THAT IT'S A RARE CASE AND THEY ARE CALLING ENGINEERS TO CHECK IT OUT. STILL WAITING... *TR

NHTSA ID
10568756
Incident
Mar 1, 2014
Mileage
18,000 mi
AirbagsSeat belts
Filed Jan 24, 2014

WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING, I WAS BOMBARDED WITH DRIVER'S AIRBAG AND SEAT BELT FAULTS, INFORMING ME OF "MALFUNCTION IN SEAT BELT, AIR BAGS, OR BELT TENSIONER. CONTINUE WEARING SEATBELT, CONSULT NEAREST SERVICE CENTER". VEHICLE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH FAULTS FOR "DRIVER'S SEAT BELT TENSIONER - LINE CONNECTED INCORRECTLY" AND "BATTERY SAFETY TERMINAL 2 - LINE CONNECTED INCORRECTLY". BMW CORPORATE INSTRUCTED RUNNING NEW REPLACEMENT WIRING FROM THE BATTERY, AND I WAS TOLD BY CUSTOMER RELATIONS THAT BMW STANDS BEHIND THIS PRODUCT AND THEY OFFERED A SMALL AMOUNT OF MONEY TO BUY MY SATISFACTION. I INFORMED BMW THAT AS A FORMER AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEER, I FIND THE REPAIR JOB TO BE INCONSISTENT WITH THE FAULT AND EXPECT THE ERROR TO RETURN. BMW DID NOT RESPOND, AND SURELY ENOUGH ONE WEEK LATER I STARTED THE CAR TO FIND THE SAME TWO FAULT LIGHTS ON AGAIN AND THE VEHICLE IS BACK AT THE DEALERSHIP. BMW IS ATTEMPTING TO REPLACE ADDITIONAL PARTS IN THE CAR INCLUDING THE ACTIVE CRASH SAFETY MODULE, LEAVING THE VEHICLE IN THE SHOP FOR 21 DAYS IN THE ORIGINAL INCIDENT AND 4 DAYS AND COUNTING THIS TIME. I DO NOT FEEL CONFIDENT IN THE SAFETY OF THIS VEHICLE FOLLOWING THESE INCIDENTS AND WOULD LIKE THE FAILURE OF THE SEAT BELTS AND AIRBAGS TO BE INVESTIGATED BY A NEUTRAL 3RD PARTY. THROUGHOUT THIS INCIDENT BMW REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS VEHICLE AS A LEMON OR ONE-OFF SO I AM LED TO BELIEVE THAT THIS PROBLEM MAY AFFECT ALL 3 SERIES THAT USE THE SAME ACTIVE CRASH SAFETY MODULE. *TR

NHTSA ID
10561357
Incident
Dec 20, 2013
Mileage
16,000 mi
Brakes
Filed Sep 11, 2013

DURING LOW SPEED BRAKING BRAKE PEDAL FEELS HARD, BUT PRESSING HARDER DOES NOT STOP CAR. YOU FEEL LIKE YOU LOST CONTROL OF THE BRAKES. CAR WILL ROLL AND SLOWLY DECELERATE, BUT NOT ENOUGH. AFTER A FEW FEET OF SLOW DECELERATION, BRAKES KICK IN AND PROVIDE A LARGE BITE WHICH STOPS THE CAR. *TR

NHTSA ID
10543185
Incident
Aug 1, 2013

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.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .