2004 BMW 745I problems
The 2004 BMW 745I has 41 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (22%) concerns electrical system. Next are drivetrain & axles (20%) and engine (20%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 41 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 22% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 84,000 miles 33 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 | 3 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 6 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 6 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 33 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 84,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 5 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 95% of model years in our database.
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.
On july 15, 2015, I was driving on far left lane of highway 65 headed toward I80 to sacramento when I started smelling hair burning and felt intense heat on my lower back which was pressing against the driver seat back. Quickly smoke started coming up between by left arm and across my body. I was unsure of what was happening so attempted to move across highway to far right lane pull over onto highway shoulder.
Tl* the contact owned a 2004 BMW 745I. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact heard an unusually loud noise and the front end of the vehicle exploded into flames. The contact's clothes caught on fire. The failure occurred in front of a fire station where the fire was extinguished. The vehicle was destroyed and towed to a tow yard. Both fire and police reports were filed. The contact sustained minor injuries, but did not require medical attention.
The electric parking gear shift slipped out of park on it own. When I stepped out of the car and the gear was placed in P park position, I got out the car was completely in park and not moving, I went to open my garage and planned to come back and drive car in garage. The car automatically with no one driving slipped into another gear on its own, I looked up as I was opening garage the car was driving towards me and pinned me in between the garage and car.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 BMW 745I. The contact was driving approximately 45 MPH when the brakes were applied. The brake pedal had become increasingly difficult to depress and resulted in an abnormally significant increase in braking distance and time. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the technician stated that the brake vacuum pump needed to be replaced. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired three times for the same failure.
I have driven 2004 BMW 745I for the past 10 years. It has 44000 miles on the odometer. Recently, it stops while driving. Each time it stops, the gear is shifted to neutral. When I tried to start engine, it won't start. After using cell phone to request for help, the engine starts. It happened more than five times.