RoadVitals

1988 BMW M3 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.
2
Latest Nov 23, 1998
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 Nov 15, 1995

What this page shows

Our database holds 2 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 1988 BMW M3. 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 1–2 of 2

Engine
Filed Nov 23, 1998

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID #93V015000 INDICATES THIS VEHICLE IS PART OF A RECALL, YET WHEN I CALLED THE BMWNA SERVICE REP. (800-525-7417) THEY SAID MY VEHICLE ISN'T PART OF THE RECALL. MY CAR EXHIBITS ALL THE SIGNS DESCRIBED IN THE RECALL NOTICE. IT HAS WHITE COOLANT RESIDUE AROUND ALL THE COOLANT HOSES AND THE RADIATOR SEAMS. I FEAR THAT THERE MAY BE A LEAK AT ANY TIME. THIS HAS EXISTED FOR SOMETIME BUT UNTIL I READ THE RECALL NOTICE I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. THE RADIATOR WAS REPLACED IN 1991 FOR LEAKAGE. BUT THE WHITE RESIDUE REAPPEARED AGAIN SHORTLY AFTER.

NHTSA ID
700839
Incident
Jan 1, 1997
Engine
Filed Nov 15, 1995

WARNING LIGHT CAME ON, ENGINE OVERHEATED DUE TO FAILURE OF COOLANT SYSTEM COMPONENT. *DSH

NHTSA ID
487855
Incident
Nov 1, 1995

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 .