2002 BMW 330I problems
Owners have filed 57 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 BMW 330I. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 23% of complaints. Next are lighting (18%) and electrical system (14%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 57 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 5 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 6 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 79,000 miles 32 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 | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 8 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 5 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 32 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 79,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 6 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 7th most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the BMW 330I with enough data (24 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 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.
The consumer rear-ended another vehicle at an estimated speed of 5 MPH. The air bags deployed even though there was no body damage to either vehicle. The front passenger was injured due to the passenger air bag deploying. Please provide any further information. *nlm
Possible takata inflators - my husband and I were traveling down I-40 westbound in midwest city, oklahoma at approximately 65 MPH when the driver side, side airbag and overhead airbag deployed without provocation. Plastic and debris flew in our faces/bodies, white powder filled the car, and I swerved across two lanes of traffic almost hitting another car in the process because my eyes were watering and I could not see very well, not to mention was in a daze because I had no idea what had just happened.
Jack collapsed while changing a rear tire, causing injury to consumer's arm. Manufacturer was contacted. The jack is available for analysis.
I have a 2002 330ci. I have had so many issues with the navigation system from the time I drove it home I get a popping noise when the navigation tries to mute the radio. I also cannot adjust the navigation volume at all. In addition when I turn the radio power off the navigation volume comes on at a very high volume level. I have been round after round with the BMW dealership and customer relations the executive office, etc. BMW has been useless.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 BMW 330I. He experienced a recurring failure in which the exterior lights failed. The rear passenger side exterior lights intermittently failed to function until he removed the rear lighting cover in order to shift the wires. He also intermittently received a message indicating that the turn signal bulbs were blown out. When he examined the bulbs he would noticed that they were functioning.