2011 BMW 135i US

Routine

Owners filed 4 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the engine. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Engine2
000
Power Train1
000
Electrical System1
000

What owners reported

Newest filings
Electrical System
Filed Nov 10, 2017KY

POSITIVE CRANKCASE VENTILATION (PCV) VALVE HEATER

Engine
Filed Mar 22, 201530,000 milesTX

VEHICLE WILL "JOLT" FORWARD. THIS ISSUE HAS HAPPENED TO ME OVER 100 TIMES. THE ISSUE IS BEST DESCRIBED LIKE THIS. I WILL DRIVE THROUGH A FAST FOOD DRIVE-THRU LINE AND THERE WILL BE 1 OTHER VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME. I WILL PULL UP AND BRAKE TO A COMPLETE STOP TO ORDER. THE OTHER VEHICLE IS AT THE RESTAURANT WINDOW PAYING SO THAT CAR IS ONLY ABOUT 20 FEET IN FRONT OF ME. SINCE THE GAP BETWEEN ME AND THE OTHER CAR ARE SO CLOSE I WILL NOT GIVE MY VEHICLE ANY GAS, I WILL ONLY LIFT MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE AND MOVE FORWARD AT IDLE SPEEDS. ONCE I REACH THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME, I PROCEED WITH PRESSING THE BRAKE (USUALLY "PULSING" THE BRAKE PEDAL TO SCOOT FORWARD SAFELY ONCE I'M VERY CLOSE). AT THAT POINT MY VEHICLE WILL JOLT FORWARD AS IF I PRESSED THE GAS PEDAL ALL THE WAY IN AND OUT QUICKLY. SINCE MY FOOT IS ON THE BRAKE "SCOOTING" SAFELY, MY VEHICLE DOES NOT HAVE A CHANCE TO REALLY MOVE. THIS DRIVE-THRU EXAMPLE HAS HAPPENED COUNTLESS TIMES. I'VE ALSO BEEN PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE WITH A SIDE WALK IN FRONT OF IT. WHEN PULLING INTO THE SPACE WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE AND MOVING AT IDLE SPEEDS MY VEHICLE TRIED TO JUMP FORWARD AND SOMEONE HAPPENED TO BE WALKING BY AND THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO HIT THEM IN MY CAR.I'VE HAD THE ISSUE HAPPEN IN REVERSE GEAR AS WELL. THIS PROBLEM IS CONSISTENT ON BMW FORUMS SUCH AS WWW.BIMMERPOST,COM AND WWW.1SERIESONLINE.COM AND I'VE TALKED WITH BMW DEALERSHIPS AND THEY HAVE NO FIX FOR IT AND CLAIM THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY VEHICLE. THE PROBLEM FEELS

Power Train
Filed Jul 1, 201438,600 milesMD

UNINTENDED ACCELERATION BECAUSE OF DUAL-CLUTCH TRANSMISSION (DCT); CAR WAS IN DRIVE SLOWING TO STOP SIGN. ALMOST AT STOP CAR LURCHED 2 TO 3 FEET INTO THE INTERSECTION BEFORE I COULD SLAM ON BRAKES. IN EARLIER SPUTTER AND LURCH SITUATION WITH THE DCT, CAR WAS SLOWING DOWN TO ACCELERATE THROUGH INTERSECTION IN TRAFFIC. DRIVER PUSHED ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO SPEED UP AND IT SPUTTERED FOR COUNTS OF ONE THOUSAND, TWO THOUSAND, THREE THOUSAND. ON COUNT OF FOUR THOUSAND IT ENGAGED AND STARTED TO MOVE AHEAD AS THE DRIVER DESIRED. I HAVE COMPLAINED TO TWO BMW SERVICE DEPARTMENTS ABOUT SPUTTER AND LURCH TRANSMISSION. BOTH TEST DROVE 135I BRIEFLY AND DECLARED IT FINE. NO WORK TO BE DONE UNDER WARRANTY, THEY SAID. *TR

Engine
Filed Aug 26, 201317,000 milesPR

I PURCHASED MY CAR WITH 2 YEARS OF USE AND 16,000 MILES ON IT, BACK IN DECEMBER 2012. SINCE THEN, I'VE BEEN ONLY HAVING TROUBLES WITH THE CAR. MY FIRST ISSUE WAS BACK IN FEBRUARY WITH A BLOWN CHARGEPIPE. THE CAR JUST LEFT ME STRANDED 50 MILES FROM HOME AND IT HAD TO BE TOWED BACK. ON JULY IT LEFT ME STRANDED AGAIN, IT WAS A BROKEN VANOS BOLT IN THE ENGINE. DURING THIS VISIT, I TOLD TO THE SA THE HARD TIME MY CAR WAS HAVING WHEN CRANKING EVERY MORNING FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS. I GOT THE CAR BACK, AND IT SEEMED THAT EVERYTHING WAS FIXED, BUT THE BATTERY. I WAS TOLD THAT THE BATTERY WAS DISCHARGED DUE TO OVER CRANKING WHEN I GOT STRANDED. TWO WEEKS LATER, THE CAR GAVE ME AN ENGINE WARNING YELLOW LIGHT. IT RESULTED TO BE THAT THE INTAKE VANOS MODULE FAILED. THEY DID A ROAD TEST THIS TIME TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING WAS WORKING ACCORDINGLY. WHEN I WAS DRIVING BACK HOME I NOTICED A HEAVY WHITE SMOKE COMING FROM THE ENGINE BAY, AND A BURNING SMELL. I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED THE VEHICLE. FOR MY FORTUNE IT WASN'T A FIRE, IT WAS JUST BURNING OIL. THEY TOOK THE CAR BACK IN AGAIN, AND FOUND OUT THAT THE GASKET WAS NOT PROPERLY REINSTALLED WHEN THEY WERE WORKING WITH THE VANOS. WHEN I GOT THE CAR BACK, THE ROAD FELT REALLY SOLID, THE NEXT MORNING I CHECKED THE TIRE PRESSURE AND GUESS WHAT? 50PSI ON ALL FOUR TIRES WHEN COLD! APPARENTLY THEY DID A COURTESY FILL UP WHEN THERE. 1 WEEK AFTER, MY CAR LEFT ME STRANDED AGAIN. A REALLY STRANGE CLICKING NOISE WAS COMING FROM RIGHT UNDER THE DASHBOARD. I HAD

4 of 4 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.