2011 BMW 328I problems
NHTSA has received 804 complaints about the 2011 BMW 328I, and 46% of them involve engine. After that come electrical system (16%) and air bags (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 804 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 46% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 31 and 35
- Injuries and deaths
- 33 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 87,000 miles 367 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 | 33 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 26 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 43 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 51 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 61 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 66 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 44 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 14 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 15 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 7 |
| 200k+ miles | 7 |
What the data shows
Among the 367 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 87,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 101,000 miles (171 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 31 complaints mention a crash; 35 complaints mention a fire; 33 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2011 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 15 model years of the BMW 328I with enough data (128 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 7 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.
I was on the street. When I got into a car accident on may 28 2017. My airbags deployed after I slammed someone in the back because my brakes were not propyl working. My airbags also shot out some metal fragments cutting my hand up.
My son's BMW (2011 BMW 328I xdrive) spontaneously combusted on sep 4 2017 while he was driving back from work at 4 am on sunrise highway ny. Luckily he noticed sparks and smoke and pulled over and got out. The car fully burnt within 30 minutes.
Twice while driving the car, the driver's car door flew open. There was no indication the door was not latched, nor did any alarms sound. This occurred as I was turning into heavy traffic on a busy 4 lane highway in town, and accelerating to 50 MPH. I took the car into my BMW dealership and they told me it was a faulty actuator that was not covered under warranty, incurring a cost to me of $622.00. I am appalled that this is not covered as a huge safety issue so feel this needs to be reported....
The contact's son owns a 2011 BMW 328I. The contact stated that while her son was driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle stalled in the middle of the road. The contact's son attempted to restart the vehicle numerous times, but the vehicle would not start. The contact stated that her son was not aware of any warning lights being illuminated. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the VANOS bolts and VANOS unit needed to be replaced.