2008 BMW 135I problems
NHTSA has received 62 complaints about the 2008 BMW 135I, and 29% of them involve fuel system. After that come air bags (23%) and lighting (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 62 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Fuel system 29% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 43,000 miles 52 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 15 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 10 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 13 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 3 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 52 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 43,000 miles. For fuel system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 21,000 miles (18 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 3 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 4 model years of the BMW 135I with enough data (27 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
An electrical fire ignited under the passenger seat and passenger floorboard. Flames came out from under the passenger seat and floorboard. The driver sustained 3rd degree burns and was taken to the hospital skin grafts. The car was moving at the time of the fire.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 BMW I35I. The contact stated that while at a stop light, another vehicle crashed into the rear end of the vehicle and the air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained knee and shoulder injuries that required medical attention. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was drivable. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted and made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000. The VIN was not available.
2008 BMW 135I and my blower motor stopped working as I was driving a few moment later and I started to hear spark and smelt burning wires so I immediately thought of the safety recall that is being done on the 3 series bmw's I instantly turned off the climate control and fan speed and shut the car off I looked over and saw a little bit of smoke coming from under the passenger side so I went into the trunk and took the negative cable off the battery I then waited a few seconds and then took the kick plate off the…
My 2008 BMW 135I started taking 10-20 seconds for the vehicle to start. The problem has been ongoing for a couple of months now. I took the vehicle to a BMW dealer and complained about it. The dealer informed me that BMW informed them that it was normal for the vehicle to do this. And told me that they couldn't change the fuel pump, which has been known to go bad on this vehicle, until a code was detected.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 BMW 135I. While driving approximately 50 MPH, the engine loss power with the illumination of the warning indicator. The vehicle restarted in the low power mode. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis. The computer software was updated and replacement of the fuel pump. The vehicle exhibited poor acceleration performance after the repair.