Owners filed 12 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the structure › frame and members. No safety recall has been issued.
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure › Frame and Members | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Seats | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Power Train › Driveline › Differential Unit | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Structure › Frame and Members › Underbody Shields | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Structure › Body | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Air Bags | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
REAR SUBFRAME IS BEGINNING TO SEPARATE FROM THE BODY OF THE VEHICLE, POSSIBLY CONTRIBUTOR TO UNSAFE AND UNSTABLE HANDLING. FIRST NOTICED AFTER HAVING SERVICE 2 INTERVAL DONE IN 2009, BUT UPON MORE RESEARCH ONLINE MANY Z3 OWNERS ARE HAVING THIS SAME ISSUE REGARDLESS OF MODEL OR HOW IT'S DRIVEN. BROKEN SPOT WELD UNDERNEATH THE VEHICLE. TRYING TO CATCH IT EARLY ON BEFORE IT GETS WORSE. *TR
SUBFRAME TEAR, SEPARATING OF TRUNK FLOOR FROM RAILS. *TR
THE 1999 BMW M COUPE I OWN IS SUFFERING FROM A REAR SUBFRAME FAILURE. THE DIFFERENTIAL MOUNT AND REAR SUBFRAME ARE BECOMING DISCONNECTED FROM THE FRAME. VISUAL INSPECTIONS HAVE SHOWN THE SEPARATION. THIS WILL LEAD TO THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL BECOMING TOTALLY DISCONNECTED FROM THE CAR, LEADING TO A POSSIBLE ACCIDENT. THIS ISSUE IS CURRENTLY UNRESOLVED AS THE FIX WILL BE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. THERE ARE NUMEROUS DOCUMENTED CASES OF SUBFRAME FAILURES ON BMW Z3, M ROADSTER AND M COUPE MODELS. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A MANUFACTURER DEFECT THAT HAS NO BEEN ADDRESSES BY THE MANUFACTURER. THIS PRESENTS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. *NM
THERE IS A CRASH RISK AS THE CAR'S SUBFRAME IS RAPIDLY TEARING AND THIS DESIGN FLAW COULD EVENTUALLY LEAD TO A LOSS OF CONTROL LEADING TOWARDS A CRASH. THE CAR INVOLVED IS A BMW M COUPE 1999. *NM
REAR SUBFRAME WELDS ARE FAILING. AS A RESULT, THE FLOOR IS TEARING FROM THE SUBFRAME. THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS AND PHOTOS OF MANY EXAMPLES OF THIS VERY ISSUE. HTTP://WWW.THELARGEGLASS.COM/BMW/SUBFRAME/. *JB
DIFFERENTIAL BRACKET AND SUBFLOOR ARE CRACKING AND TEARING APART AT THE WELD SEAMS AND SPOT WELDS. COULD LEAD TO UNPREDICTABLE HANDLING, ESPECIALLY DURING REGULAR DRIVING TURNS/HIGHWAY SPEEDS (INSTABILITY, ROUGH SHAKING, LOOSE CHASSIS KNOCKING). *AK
SEPARATION OF FLOOR PAN WELDS APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM IN AN UNCOMMON VEHICLE. I'M UNABLE TO PROVIDE A CAUSE, SINCE I AM THE THIRD OWNER, AND HAVE NEVER DRIVEN THE CAR AT IT'S INTENDED LIMITS. TO MY KNOWLEDGE, IT HAS NEVER BEEN RACED. SO FAR, I HAVE NOT REPAIRED THE PROBLEM.*AK
SERIOUS CRACKING ALONG MULTIPLE BODY SEAMS IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT IN STRUT TOWER AREA AND IN THE REAR IN THE LOWER SUBFRAME AREA. *AK
REAR DIFFERENTIAL MOUNT CRACKS. SUBFRAME SEPARATING FROM THE FLOOR OF TRUNK, AND TRUNK BEING TEARED OUT BY SUBFRAME. MAJOR ISSUE!!!!*AK
RECURRING AIRBAG LIGHT. *JB
SEAT SHIFTS IN DIRECTION OF DECELERATION (BRAKE) AND ACCELERATION (GAS). FEELS LIKE SEAT WILL COME OFF ITS RAILS. *JB
WHEN BRAKES ARE APPLIED THE FRONT SEATS SLIDE FORWARD APPROXIMATELY ONE HALF INCH, WHEN BRAKE PRESSURE IS RELEASED SEATS SLIDE BACK INTO PLACE. VEHICLE TRAVELING AT 60 MPH HIT A BUMP IN ROADWAY AND THE DRIVER'S SIDE, CLOSED AND LOCKED DOOR UNLATCHED AND OPEN ENOUGH FOR THE AIR TO RUSH IN AND THE ROAD COULD BE SEEN THROUGH THE OPENING. *AK *YC
12 of 12 complaints, reproduced as filed.
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.