2009 BMW M3 problems
Owners have filed 54 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 BMW M3. Transmission is the most reported problem area, at 39% of complaints. After that come air bags (15%) and electrical system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 54 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Transmission 39% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 6,000 miles 47 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 | 30 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 3 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 8 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 2 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 47 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 6,000 miles. For transmission specifically, the median reported mileage is about 2,000 miles (21 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 91% 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 2009 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 7 model years of the BMW M3 with enough data (34 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 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.
Shortly after purchasing my BMW 2009 m3, I noticed a rare but very disturbing pattern on take off. I had car checked in dealer and I was told it was likely secondary to my driving style! This uncontrolled take off is like hi rev and rapid acceleration periodically alternating with deceleration for few seconds. I had this happen prob a dozen time so far(36k on car). On day of my accident, in stop and go traffic with speed less than 5 miles per hour, car literally went off on me.
My 09 BMW m3 with dct is exhibiting gear shifting slowness and power lagging problems after hard braking. The most recent incident was a near rear end collision today that required me to brake hard from 70MPH, to 40, switch lanes and accelerate to avoid being hit by approaching traffic from behind. When I attempted to accelerate, the car did not respond for what seemed like a couple seconds. The lag was long enough that the car behind me was forced to leave the road to avoid hitting me.
400 miles out of warranty, the electrical system fault warning began to come on. When this happens all gauges bottom out quickly then return to normal. Sometimes, the restraint system, edc or other warnings will start. I don't experience any problems driving the vehicle. The battery has been replaced and alternator has been tested and is performing as it should. When connected to the BMW computer for error codes it doesn't show any codes or that the warnings have gone off.
Vehicle lost power while taking a turn. I was able to restart it and drive to a nearby parking lot. I drove around slowly to test and noticed knocking noise from the engine. I also noticed engine temperature was above normal, not quite to the next marker, but close. At that point, I had the car towed to a BMW service shop. Their diagnosis was rod bearing failure which LED to crankshaft damage, resulting in an engine, with only 57k mi, that is no longer reusable. I am now facing engine replacement costs of $15-25k.