2009 BMW 3 Series problems
The 2009 BMW 3 Series has 74 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (20%) concerns air bags. Next are fuel system (15%) and electrical system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 74 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 5 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 10 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 70,000 miles 57 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 | 9 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 7 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 10 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 11 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 13 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 57 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 70,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 10 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2009 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the BMW 3 Series with enough data (32 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
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.
None of the airbags deployed in our car accident. We were at a stand still, or moving very slowly and another car hit us in the rear driver side panel near the tire, at high impact.
While attempting to make a right turn the steering wheel locked and at that time the brakes became unresponsive as well. This resulted in a motor vehicle accident as my car only stopped by hitting another car waiting at the opposite light. It can be compared to sliding on a patch of ice, but there is no option to move the wheel to try and regain control of your car. I am very thankful that I was not on the interstate when this occurred.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while applying the brakes, the vehicle accelerated and crashed into the rear of another vehicle. Two passengers suffered neck injuries and the front and side air bags deployed. The contact stated that the vehicle continued to accelerate while the brakes were applied. The contact called the manufacturer and filed a complaint. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 30,000.
I own BMW 320d 2009, my problem with the car is exactly the opposite, as my car suddenly accelerate by its self, as I go down from say 75 MPH and release the brakes, suddenly the car speeds up again. This is happen to me several times and BMW says this was nothing I was assuming this, after complained and complained, finally an iginuer looked at my car and kept it for a day, but only to say nothing is wrong.
Noticed a very slight tapping when the car was first cranked--but no engine warning lights. After driving it for a few miles, a warning light indicating "charging malfunction" flashed on, and the battery symbol appeared. Because I was the passenger, I googled "BMW 328I charging malfunction" and the first result that came up read "bmw/ january 2013/ recall campaign no. 12v-550: engine belt idler pulley bolt" for mys 2009-2012 BMW x5 xdrive 35s savs.