2003 BMW 330I problems
Owners have filed 92 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 BMW 330I. Lighting is the most reported problem area, at 32% of complaints. Next are air bags (27%) and electrical system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 92 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Lighting 32% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 5 and 6
- Injuries and deaths
- 16 and 6
- Typical mileage
- 82,000 miles 70 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 | 11 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 10 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 13 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 10 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 12 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 6 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 70 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 82,000 miles. For lighting specifically, the median reported mileage is about 87,000 miles (26 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a crash; 6 complaints mention a fire; 16 injuries reported; 6 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 90% 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 2003 ranks 9th most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the BMW 330I with enough data (18 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 car was being driven by my house and the transmision started slipping as well as it catching and breaking one of the axles leaving the car to be stuck not being able to move period surely the most important thing this resulted in the car getting hit and the fuel tank exploding my aunt want not able to make it out of the car to get out of the way and again this car didn't allow the air bags to deploy the location is unkown
Intermittent failure of driver and passenger side tail light assembly due to burnt connector pins and connector housing. Inadequate connector/wire rating. Should be subject of a recall from a responsible car manufacturer. Unsafe to drive in the dark. Blemish on the ultimate driving machine. Intermittent failure of the mostly passenger side head light. Occasional failure of the driver side head light.
Please note that this incident happened prior to the date and mileage noted above as the previous owner had to also deal with this problem. I report the dates as when I received the car when it came into my ownership only. Driver's door lock failed to electronically and mechanically unlocked from the inside. The door can only be opened from the outside with a key. This poses a potentially grave safety concern as no one can open the door from inside - essentially passengers may become locked-in.