2003 BMW 745LI — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 48 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: SERVICE BRAKES (9 complaints · 18.8%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 1
  • Fires 0
  • Injuries 1
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2002 →
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 SERVICE BRAKES appears in 9 of 48 owner complaints (18.8%) in this vehicle snapshot. SERVICE BRAKES: 9 complaints, 18.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 9 · 18.8% AIR BAGS: 7 complaints, 14.6% of reports AIR BAGS 7 · 14.6% ENGINE: 5 complaints, 10.4% of reports ENGINE 5 · 10.4% POWER TRAIN: 5 complaints, 10.4% of reports POWER TRAIN 5 · 10.4% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 6.3% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 · 6.3% FUEL SYSTEM: 3 complaints, 6.3% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 3 · 6.3% STRUCTURE: 3 complaints, 6.3% of reports STRUCTURE 3 · 6.3% SEAT BELTS: 2 complaints, 4.2% of reports SEAT BELTS 2 · 4.2% TIRES: 2 complaints, 4.2% of reports TIRES 2 · 4.2% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 19 complaints, 39.6% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 19 · 39.6% 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)
SERVICE BRAKES 9 18.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 7 14.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 5 10.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 5 10.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 6.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 3 6.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 3 6.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 2 4.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
TIRES 2 4.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 19 39.6% 0 crashes · 0 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 2003; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 2003. 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2010-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2011-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2011-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2012-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2012-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2013-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2017-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2019-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2020-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2022-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 2003 Jul 2022 Recall campaign 03V240000 ◆ Recall campaign 03V240000 Recall campaign 03V324000 ◆ Recall campaign 03V324000 Investigation PE11025 ● Investigation PE11025 Investigation EA12002 ● Investigation EA12002
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 2
2004-Q1 Owner reports 1
2004-Q2 Owner reports 2
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2007-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q2 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 4
2010-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 3
2011-Q1 Owner reports 2
2011-Q2 Owner reports 2
2011-Q3 Owner reports 2
2011-Q4 Owner reports 1
2012-Q2 Owner reports 3
2012-Q3 Owner reports 2
2012-Q4 Owner reports 1
2013-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q1 Owner reports 1
2014-Q2 Owner reports 1
2014-Q3 Owner reports 1
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 2
2016-Q1 Owner reports 1
2016-Q3 Owner reports 1
2016-Q4 Owner reports 2
2017-Q1 Owner reports 1
2017-Q4 Owner reports 1
2019-Q3 Owner reports 1
2020-Q4 Owner reports 1
2022-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 03V240000
Recall campaign 1 03V324000
Defect investigation 1 PE11025
Defect investigation 1 EA12002
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 03V240000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    IN THOSE CASES, THE DRIVER MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE. DEPENDING ON THE LEVEL OF ENGINE ROUGHNESS, OR STALLING, AS WELL AS TRAFFIC CONDITIONS AND THE DRIVER'S REACTIONS, THIS COULD LEAD TO A CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPROGRAM THE DIGITAL ENGINE MANAGEMENT CONTROL UNIT. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN JULY 8, 2003. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT BMW AT 1-800-831-1117.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 03V324000

    Report date
    Component:
    Not available in the source record
    Consequence:
    IF A LARGE AMOUNT OF OIL LOSS OCCURS, ENGINE DAMAGE MAY RESULT. DEPENDING ON THE EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE, A CRASH COULD OCCUR.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE TORQUE OF THE OIL FILTER DRAIN PLUG AND, IF NECESSARY, RETIGHTEN THE DRAIN PLUG WITH THE CORRECTLY SPECIFIED TORQUE. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2003. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT BMW AT 1-800-831-1117.
    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 48 complaints · page 1 of 2

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