2001 BMW 325 problems
The 2001 BMW 325 has 38 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (32%) concerns cooling system. Next are air bags (18%) and stability control (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 38 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Cooling system 32% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 9
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 165,000 miles 13 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 | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 1 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 4 |
What the data shows
Of the 13 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 165,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 9 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 94% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2001 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 5 model years of the BMW 325 with enough data (21 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 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.
Front right collision at 25-30 MPH, neither airbag deployed. Consumer suffered injuries to face. Damage to vehicle was over $ 20000.00.
After driving 15 miles and parking vehicle in garage, she smelled an electrical/burning smell. Consumer restarted vehicle and backed it out of garage. When vehicle was outside of garage consumer noticed smoke coming from hood, and could see fire in engine compartment when she looked through grill. Fire company and insurance adjuster determined that engine fan was component responsible for fire. Please provide any additional information/attachments.
Day after purchasing vehicle engine cooling fan failed, allowing engine to overheat. This resulted in a fire, 8" flame in engine compartment. Dealership replaced engine cooling fan. However, fan failed again, and engine coolant was found to be all over the engine compartment , unknown if a fire occurred in the second incident. Please provide any additional information / attachments.
Recall date: 09-28-2001 units potentially affected: 1,550 NHTSA campaign number: 02v138000 defective part or component: engine and engine cooling:cooling system:fan description: on certain passenger vehicles, the engine auxiliary/cooling fan operation, including variable speed, is electronically controlled. Failure of the fan motor can cause the electrical circuitry of the fan control unit to overload and fail, causing the fan to stop operating.
Tl*the contact owns a 2001 BMW 325 wagon. The contact stated that the air bag light on the dashboard illuminated whenever someone was seated in the front passenger seat. A local mechanic informed the contact that there was a recall regarding the air bag light. The manufacturer informed the contact that his year, make, and model vehicle is not related to the recall. The contact stated that the vehicle should be a part of the recall since the later model 3 series has the same platform as the 2001 model.