2010 BMW 535I — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 55 complaints · 1 recalls
Most-reported system: FUEL SYSTEM (28 complaints · 50.9%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 3
  • Fires 3
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2009 →
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 FUEL SYSTEM appears in 28 of 55 owner complaints (50.9%) in this vehicle snapshot. FUEL SYSTEM: 28 complaints, 50.9% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 28 · 50.9% ENGINE: 8 complaints, 14.6% of reports ENGINE 8 · 14.6% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 5 complaints, 9.1% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 · 9.1% · 2 crash reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 2 complaints, 3.6% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 · 3.6% · 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 2 complaints, 3.6% of reports POWER TRAIN 2 · 3.6% SEAT BELTS: 2 complaints, 3.6% of reports SEAT BELTS 2 · 3.6% AIR BAGS: 1 complaints, 1.8% of reports AIR BAGS 1 · 1.8% STEERING: 1 complaints, 1.8% of reports STEERING 1 · 1.8% STRUCTURE: 1 complaints, 1.8% of reports STRUCTURE 1 · 1.8% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 15 complaints, 27.3% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 15 · 27.3% · 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)
FUEL SYSTEM 28 50.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 8 14.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 9.1% 2 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 3.6% 0 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 2 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 2 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 1 1.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 1 1.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 1 1.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 15 27.3% 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 Jan 2010; the first recall shown was reported in Sep 2013. 2010-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2010-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2010-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2013-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2019-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2019-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2020-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2021-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2025-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jan 2010 Jan 2025 Recall campaign 13V407000 ◆ Recall campaign 13V407000
  • Campaign 13V407000 was reported 211 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2010-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 5
2010-Q3 Owner reports 7
2010-Q4 Owner reports 2
2012-Q3 Owner reports 1
2012-Q4 Owner reports 2
2013-Q1 Owner reports 2
2013-Q4 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 3
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q1 Owner reports 2
2016-Q3 Owner reports 2
2016-Q4 Owner reports 1
2017-Q1 Owner reports 2
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2018-Q4 Owner reports 2
2019-Q2 Owner reports 4
2019-Q3 Owner reports 2
2019-Q4 Owner reports 1
2020-Q1 Owner reports 3
2020-Q2 Owner reports 2
2020-Q3 Owner reports 2
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2021-Q1 Owner reports 1
2021-Q2 Owner reports 1
2022-Q2 Owner reports 1
2025-Q1 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 13V407000
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (1)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 13V407000

    Report date
    Component:
    EXTERIOR LIGHTING
    Consequence:
    Intermittent light operation reduces the ability to warn other motorists of the driver's intentions, increasing the risk of a crash.
    Remedy:
    BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear lamp bulb carriers free of charge. Owners may contact BMW customer relations at 1-800-525-7417 or email BMW at CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
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 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 55 complaints · page 1 of 3

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 2026-08-21
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