Engine and Engine Cooling › Cooling System › FanFire
Filed Aug 17, 2001VA
NEW BMW COMBUSTED -- ELECTRICAL FIRE DUE TO DEFECT IN FAN ASSEMBLY ALREADY KNOWN TO BMW. HAD I BEEN DRIVING THE CAR AT THE TIME, IT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN A FATALITY.
2001 BMW 318
Routine
Owners filed 6 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the engine and engine cooling › cooling system › fan. No safety recall has been issued.
What fails
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine and Engine Cooling › Cooling System › Fan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Engine and Engine Cooling › Cooling System | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Suspension › Front › Control Arm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsEngine and Engine Cooling › Cooling System
Filed Jun 15, 2001CA
MY CAR WAS SIMPLY IDLING IN A PARKING LOT WITH THE A/C ON FOR A FEW MINUTES WHEN I RETURNED TO FIND MY CAR WITH SMOKE BILLOWING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. I IMMEDIATELY RAN TO THE CAR AND TURNED IT OFF. I NOTICED THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE WAS ALL THE WAY TO THE RED ZONE. I THEN NOTICED RADIATOR FLUID SPILLING TO THE GROUND. I OPENED THE HOOD OF THE CAR AND NOTICED THE FLUID WAS RELEASING FROM THE RADIATOR CAP. MY CAR WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER AND THEY REPLACED THE COOLING FAN. THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. I HAVE READ NUMEROUS INCIDENTS ON THE INTERNET OF PEOPLE'S COOLING FANS FAILING AND THEIR BMW'S OVERHEATING. I'M SURPRISED BMW HAS NOT YET ISSUED A RECALL. THIS NEEDS TO BE DONE. MY CAR WAS NOT SOME CAR WAITING AT A DEALERSHIP TO BE BOUGHT. I ORDERED IT AND IT WAS ASSEMBLED IN A PLANT IN GERMANY. THEY ARE INSTALLING FAULTY FANS INTO NEW CARS. THEIR PROBLEM IS THAT THEY DO NOT KNOW WHICH FANS ARE THE BAD/FAILING FANS. THEY SHOULD RECALL ALL 3 SERIES BMW 2001 FANS AND REPLACE THEM. THIS UPSETS ME. MY CAR IS RUNNING FINE, BUT WHO KNOWS WHAT IF ANY, UNKNOWN LONG TERM DAMAGE WAS SUSTAINED IN MY ENGINE FROM OVERHEATING!!!!!. *AK
Engine and Engine Cooling › Cooling System › Fan
Filed Jun 7, 2001CA
MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS OF OVERHEATING FOR SAME MODEL DUE TO FAILURE OF AUXILIARY COOLING FAN AS NOTED ON INTERNET BULLETIN BOARD WWW.BIMMER.ORG IN RECENT WEEKS/MONTHS
Engine and Engine Cooling › Cooling System
Filed May 17, 2001MA
NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK
Engine and Engine Cooling › Cooling System › Fan
Filed May 16, 2001CA
COOLING FAN FAILURE CAUSED ENGINE TO OVERHEAT - VEHICLE UNDRIVEABLE. *AK
Suspension › Front › Control Arm
Filed Apr 20, 2001AL
AFTER HEARING UNUSUAL NOISES COMING FROM THE FRONT SUSPENSION, THE DEALER REPLACED THE CONTROL ARMS. SIMILAR NOISES ARE NOW COMING FROM THE BACK BUT THE SOURCE HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED YET. I AM CONCERNED WITH SAFETY AND RELIABILITY OF THIS PRODUCT.*AK
6 of 6 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.