2018 BMW 440i

Routine

Owners filed 7 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the electrical system. It has been recalled 1 time.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Electrical System3
000
Air Bags2
204
Unknown or Other1
000
Structure › Body1
000

1 safety recall

Part 573 reports
Seat Belts › Front17V507000
Filed Aug 16, 201767 vehiclesBmw Of North America, Llc

Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018 430i, 430i xDrive, 440i, 440i xDrive, and M4 convertible vehicles. The Emergency Locking Retractors (ELR) within the front seat belt assemblies may have been produced with incompatible vehicle-sensitive locking mechanism housings.

Risk. If the vehicle has an incompatible vehicle-sensitive locking mechanism, the seat belt may not restrain the seat occupant in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Remedy. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary replace, the front seat belt assemblies, free of charge. The recall began October 13, 2017. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

What owners reported

Newest filings
Unknown or Other
Filed May 2, 2026CA

There is already an SIB 513316 out on similar defects. Sloshing noises/water in pax compartment due to rain water intrusion that has caused damage in electronic modules in the trunk due to a defective drainage system--holes are not large enough. Failure of control units located in damaged area--which are no longer functioning such as convertible rooftop will not fuction, radio system, check engine light are just a few we have noticed togther with the recent battery replacement we made. Water is pooled in the luggage comparment and rear pax area. Poor drainage resulting from vehicle design defect. BMW needs to remove or modify the drain outlet to prevent repeat flooding. The warranty and extended warranty never checked for this-- drainholes functionality which results in electronic malfunctioning and safety concerns. 2019 SIB should have enforced extended warranty to investigate and cover this design defect in this vehicle. We are submitting complaint to the office of defects and investigation and requesting a good will repair and replacement of faulty systems and mold abatement which will require replacement of the damaged and mold in the pax and rear trunk areas. I can not give a date as this has been an ongoing concern and I have only recently been able to address. I made an approximation only.

Electrical System
Filed Dec 1, 2023CA

- My car started having intermittent electrical issues. The first warning something was wrong was always the cars instrument cluster would start flashing, and the audio system would also drop in and out. Then later other malfunctions would start to show up on the center Nav Screen, some of the warnings are listed here : ○ Audio/speakers would cut out randomly while listening to music ○ Air Conditioning instrument cluster display lights would flash going in and out ○ “Parking assistance malfunction” warnings ○ "Increased Steering effort required" warnings (one time the steering locked while driving ~30mph for half a second) ○ Transmission malfunction warning (I have the transmission ‘jerk’ suddenly 1 time when I was slowly backing up in a 3 point turn), ○ Drivetrain malfunction warning. - My safety was put at risk because the power steering locked once, sometimes the steering would become difficult, and the engine jerked while driving - I brought it into a mechanic: they originally thought it was something wrong with my alternator (Invoice 1), but they couldn't really figure out the problem since it was intermittent. The alternator ended up not fixing the problem. I brought it back to them after the alternator was replaced and the same issues were present. They ended up checking the battery and saw that the positive battery cable had come loose (Invoice 2). Once they replaced the positive battery cable the issues went away. - I did research on the NHTSA Safety database and it

Air BagsCrash3 injured
Filed Apr 26, 202236,900 milesAZ

The contact owned a 2018 BMW 440i. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the vehicle crashed into a donkey. There were no airbags deployed upon impact. The windshield glass shattered and hit the contact's face. Her boyfriend's knees hit and cracked the passenger's side dashboard, and her daughter sustained bruises on her right side from hitting the passenger's side rear door; however, no medical attention was received. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard and deemed totaled by the insurance company. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided the contact with a credit towards the purchase of another vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 36,900.

Electrical System
Filed Apr 23, 2022DC

My husband bought a BMW through the military sales program, had it delivered to the United States, and we took it with us to Germany where we currently live. The car is made to U.S. specifications and I had been driving the car weekly in Germany to keep the battery running while he is away on a deployment. On April 11, 2022, as soon as I pressed the ignition button, the dashboard flashed a strange indicator light which I didn't have time to examine because my attention was immediately diverted when a metal bar next to the right rear headrest deployed from inside the seat and punched through the windshield. It sounded like someone threw a brick into the car. The check engine indicator also lit up but deactivated after a few minutes. According to the owner's manual, the metal bar is one of a set of two rollover protection rods which are designed to deploy in the event of a sufficiently serious accident or if the car's longitudinal axis is tilted excessively (i.e. if the car flips over). But there was no accident... All I did was turn the car on. The car remained in park the entire time. We can't find any evidence of this type of misfire occurring with this model car. The car is currently in the shop for repairs after being towed to a local BMW dealership. They investigated the incident, wrote me an email saying they did not notice any technical defects, and refuse to pay for repairs or take responsibility for this incident. Something like this is dangerous and should not happen

Air BagsCrash1 injured
Filed Nov 16, 2021TX

I was rear ended. My airbag did not deploy. I do not think my seatbelt restrained me because I was not sore in that area, but do not remember. My head hit the stearing wheel. I spent 3 months in a neuro-recovery program and still deal with post-concussive syndrome. The car is available for whomever would like to see it. I incurred a closed head injury with significant effects. No one has tried to reproduce the issue, and I'm actually scared that if there is a problem and another accident it's like I don't have airbags. I went to the BMW dealership and they just said that my VIN was not under a recall and I would have to deal with BMW legal for any further information. The car has been repaired from the rear end collision. There were no warning lights or anything. Other than this, I love the car. I want to make sure that if anyone in my family is driving and is hit their head will be protected from the steering wheel. the doctors have told me that if I get another concussion it could be devasting. Please let me know how to proceed. Thank you.

Structure › Body
Filed Nov 9, 202052,300 milesNY

WHILE DRIVING ON A LOCAL PARKWAY, OUR SUNROOF SPONTANEOUSLY EXPLODED. WE WERE NOT PASSING UNDER ANYTHING AND NOTHING OF ANY NOTICEABLE SIZE STRUCK THE CAR OR THE SUNROOF. THERE WAS A VERY LOUD BANG, AND WHEN WE PULLED OVER, WE DISCOVERED A LARGE HOLE IN THE SUNROOF. THERE WERE SHARDS OF GLASS SITTING ATOP THE SUNROOF COVER, WHICH HAD WE NOT HAD CLOSED, SOME OF THE GLASS WOULD HAVE FALLEN INTO THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. A SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH MAKES CLEAR THAT EXPLODING SUNROOFS ARE A REAL DANGER.

Electrical System
Filed Jun 5, 2018900 milesIN

I HAVE DRIVEN THE CAR NOW ABOUT 900 MILES. AT NO TIME HAS THE FRONT END COLLISION/PEDESTRIAN WARNING SYSTEM GIVEN ME ANY WARNING EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NEARLY REAR-ENDED THE CAR AHEAD AND EVEN THOUGH I HAVE IT SET FOR THE EARLIEST WARNING POSSIBLE. BMW N.A. ASSIST CUSTOMER CARE STATES THAT I SHOULD RECEIVE BOTH VISIBLE AND AUDIBLE WARNINGS BUT ALSO STATES I HAVE TO RELY ON WHAT DEALER SAYS. THE DEALER- DREYER & REINBOLD - STATES THE SYSTEM IS WORKING AS IT SHOULD. THIS CANNOT BE TRUE. SINCE MY 2015 BMW 535I HAD A PROPERLY WORKING FRONT END COLLISION WARNING THAT FREQUENTLY APPEARED ON MY INSTRUMENT PANEL AND HEADS-UP DISPLAY, I KNOW HOW THE SYSTEM IS SUPPOSED TO WORK. THE CURRENT CONDITION OF MY VEHICLE CREATES A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE ELSE TO TURN. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).' *PM

7 of 7 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2018
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20200100Routine
20194300Routine
2018 — this page7100Routine
20175200Routine

Compare every 440i year →

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.

Recall repairs are free for as long as the recall stands. Check whether a specific car still has open work at NHTSA's VIN lookup.

Most recent recall on file: Aug 16, 2017. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.