2004 BMW 325I — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 146 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (56 complaints · 38.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 5
  • Fires 11
  • Injuries 4
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2003 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution AIR BAGS appears in 56 of 146 owner complaints (38.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 56 complaints, 38.4% of reports AIR BAGS 56 · 38.4% · 1 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 38 complaints, 26.0% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 38 · 26.0% · 5 fire reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 12 complaints, 8.2% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12 · 8.2% · 4 fire reports VISIBILITY: 6 complaints, 4.1% of reports VISIBILITY 6 · 4.1% ENGINE: 4 complaints, 2.7% of reports ENGINE 4 · 2.7% · 1 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 2.7% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 4 · 2.7% · 1 crash reports STRUCTURE: 4 complaints, 2.7% of reports STRUCTURE 4 · 2.7% SERVICE BRAKES: 3 complaints, 2.0% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 3 · 2.0% STEERING: 2 complaints, 1.4% of reports STEERING 2 · 1.4% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 27 complaints, 18.5% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 27 · 18.5% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
AIR BAGS 56 38.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 38 26.0% 0 crashes · 5 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12 8.2% 0 crashes · 4 fires
VISIBILITY 6 4.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 4 2.7% 0 crashes · 1 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 4 2.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 4 2.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 3 2.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 2 1.4% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 27 18.5% 1 crashes · 1 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jul 2004. 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2010-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2011-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2011-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2012-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2012-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2012-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2013-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2014-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2015-Q1: 13 owner reports 13 2015-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2015-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2015-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2016-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2016-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2016-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2016-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2017-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2017-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2020-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2022-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 2004 Apr 2025 Investigation DP09002 ● Investigation DP09002 Investigation PE09036 ● Investigation PE09036 Investigation EA09019 ● Investigation EA09019 Investigation PE14016 ● Investigation PE14016 Investigation EA15001 ● Investigation EA15001
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2006-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 2
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 2
2009-Q3 Owner reports 2
2009-Q4 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q3 Owner reports 2
2010-Q4 Owner reports 4
2011-Q1 Owner reports 2
2011-Q2 Owner reports 2
2011-Q3 Owner reports 6
2011-Q4 Owner reports 5
2012-Q1 Owner reports 7
2012-Q2 Owner reports 6
2012-Q3 Owner reports 1
2012-Q4 Owner reports 3
2013-Q1 Owner reports 2
2013-Q2 Owner reports 1
2013-Q3 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 4
2014-Q3 Owner reports 3
2014-Q4 Owner reports 7
2015-Q1 Owner reports 13
2015-Q2 Owner reports 3
2015-Q3 Owner reports 2
2015-Q4 Owner reports 6
2016-Q1 Owner reports 6
2016-Q2 Owner reports 5
2016-Q3 Owner reports 8
2016-Q4 Owner reports 4
2017-Q1 Owner reports 2
2017-Q2 Owner reports 5
2017-Q3 Owner reports 2
2017-Q4 Owner reports 3
2018-Q1 Owner reports 1
2018-Q3 Owner reports 1
2018-Q4 Owner reports 1
2019-Q1 Owner reports 1
2019-Q4 Owner reports 2
2020-Q1 Owner reports 3
2020-Q3 Owner reports 1
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q1 Owner reports 1
2021-Q2 Owner reports 2
2022-Q2 Owner reports 1
2025-Q2 Owner reports 1
Defect investigation 1 DP09002
Defect investigation 1 PE09036
Defect investigation 1 EA09019
Defect investigation 1 PE14016
Defect investigation 1 EA15001
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 146 complaints · page 1 of 6

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources