Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

BMW 3 Series

What it says about you

Opinion

You will mention, unprompted, that it is rear-wheel drive. You have opinions about the last generation that you will share with anyone who gestures vaguely toward the topic. You are not a bad driver — you may well be a very good one — but you have never once merged without believing you did it correctly.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

22 model years on record, 9,239 complaints filed.

The years to look at closely: 2014 (bmw 328d), 2013 (timing chain), 2011 (328i contact), 2008 (bmw 328xi), 2007 (lock), 2006 (bmw 325i). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • 330i 2017, 2020 peak 45.1% of that year's complaints
  • takata 2005, 2012 peak 23.8% of that year's complaints
  • 325i 2005, 2006 peak 23.5% of that year's complaints
  • bolts 2011, 2012 peak 16.8% of that year's complaints
  • situation 2016, 2020 peak 10.8% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2026 nothing on record 0 complaints
  2. 2025 nothing on record 4 complaints
  3. 2024 nothing on record 20 complaints
  4. 2023 1 recall 22 complaints
  5. 2022 0 recalls 10 complaints
  6. 2021 0 recalls 35 complaints
  7. 2020 0 recalls 51 complaints
  8. 2019 0 recalls 80 complaints
  9. 2018 0 recalls 177 complaints
  10. 2017 0 recalls 213 complaints
  11. 2016 0 recalls 279 complaints
  12. 2015 nothing on record 526 complaints
  13. 2014 bmw 328d 917 complaints
  14. 2013 timing chain 742 complaints
  15. 2012 2 recalls 360 complaints
  16. 2011 328i contact 1,672 complaints
  17. 2010 3 recalls 544 complaints
  18. 2009 2 recalls 388 complaints
  19. 2008 bmw 328xi 690 complaints
  20. 2007 lock 1,039 complaints
  21. 2006 bmw 325i 1,243 complaints
  22. 2005 0 recalls 227 complaints

What does a BMW 3 Series say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.