- The problem
- BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2010-2011 128i Coupe, 128i Convertible, 328i Sedan, 328i xDrive Sedan, 328i Coupe, 328i Convertible, 328i Sports Wagon and Z4 sDrive 30i, 2011-2012 135i Coupe, 135i Convertible, 335i Sedan, X5 xDrive 35i, and X6 xDrive 35i, 2011 335i xDrive Sedan, 335i Coupe, 335i Convertible, 528i Sedan, 535i Sedan, 535i xDrive Sedan, X3 xDrive 28i, and X3 xDrive 35i, 2010 X3 xDrive 30i, and X5 xDrive 30i, 2012 640i Coupe, and 640i Convertible and 2010-2012 535i Gran Turismo vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the bolts that secure the housing for the variable camshaft timing adjustment (VANOS) unit can loosen over time and may possibly break.
- The risk
- If the bolts loosen or break the engine may have reduced power or stall. An engine stall increases the risk of a crash.
- The fix
- BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the four VANOS housing bolts for both VANOS units (intake and exhaust), free of charge. In addition, owners of approximately 170,172 model year 2010-2012 BMW vehicles equipped with inline 6 cylinder engines not covered by this recall, will receive an extended warranty to address this condition. The recall began on September 24, 2014. Owners may contact BMW at 1-800-525-7417.
Engine & cooling
2011 BMW 135I Engine problems
Owners have filed 18 complaints about the 2011 BMW 135I's engine & cooling with NHTSA - 27% of all its complaints, most recently on September 26, 2024. They describe 1 crash, 2 fires and 1 injury. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.
- Complaints
- 18
- Recalls
- 1
- Crashes
- 1
- Fires
- 2
- Injuries
- 1
- Deaths
- 0
Engine recalls for the 2011 BMW 135I
Engine complaints
BMW Series 135I2011 - Engine/Vanos bolts failed/failing! When it's started, you can total tell there is an issue with it...Car is basically NON-Drivable due to this condition due to safety concerns! The vin is not being covered by the recall due to but this is a SERIOUS issue! This needs to be covered by BMW! We've taken it to the mechanic who said this needs to be towed to the dealership due to the recall and because of the specific issue but once at the dealership, where it's sitting now, they are saying due to vin not popping up, they can't cover it as well as BMW's customer service line but this is SERIOUS and needs to be covered!
the vanos bolts failed.
Sudden catastrophic engine shutdown After 3weeks of investigation came back as bad crank posisition sensor
Rod bearings failure which could cause engine seizing while driving.
Vehicle hesitates when pressing the accelerator when passing vehicles or merging into traffic on the highway nearly causing collision with other vehicles. Check engine light comes on when when vehicle is accelerating 99% of the time. When vehicle is stopped vehicle will try to surge forward. Extremely dangerous vehicle. Shame on bmw for not recalling allof these models!
On june 18th,i purchased the vehicle. On june 19th I was in route transporting my daughter to college when the vehicle began to severely smoke underneath the hood. A state trooper informed me that the vehicle could catch on fire if it was continuously driven. I had the car towed home (chicago, il). Contact was made with the dealership. The owner [[redacted]] had another tow truck pick the vehicle up. He assured me that the problem would be fixed. They called me 4 days later and stated that the car was ready....
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Within a week the car was smoking again. The dealership was notified. I was told to bring the car back in. I did so they kept the car for 2 weeks. The owner [[redacted]] then called me july 24,2019 stating that the mechanic says the vehicle is repaired and why is it that I'm bringing it back. I tried explaining to him that the car is not fixed and that there is proof (a video and pictures). He became upset when I told him that and blatantly told me that he wasn't fixing anything and next time not to buy a used car. With hanging up in my face. I would greatly appreciate the help if it is possible. Thank you, [[redacted]] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.S.C. 552(B)(6). *Tr
The car was moving at highway speed with ac running. Smoke plumed from vents and under front passenger footwell. Electrical fire stemming from blower motor final stage unit and wiring harness.
WATER PUMP AND MUCH MORE
ASD
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 bmw 135i. While driving 60 mph, the vehicle overheated and lost power. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that there was a water pump failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 90,000.
The vehicle is a 2011 bmw 1m coupe. While passing another vehicle on a rural 2 lane country road outside of houston, tx, engine completely lost power in the middle of the pass, almost causing what would have been a major accident. It took almost two hours for a tow truck to pickup the car and temperatures were in the mid 90's with heat index of over 100 degrees, and I had no water or access to water or shade resulting in a very dangerous situation. The preliminary indication from the dealership is that this was...
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a failure of the charge pipe, and this is the third time this component has failed in less than 32k miles. This is an ongoing issue and failure suffered by most if not all owners of this particular model, and is most likely to occur during periods of hard acceleration, such as when passing another vehicle, and as such result in a potentially dangerous situation for the driver and other vehicles.
The car has stalled over 600 times in 4 years. The car has failed to start 4 times. Bmw failed to replace the battery cable for 2 years -- even after the battery caught on fire at a gas station pump. The car can only be moved with wheel trollies, since you cannot put the car in neutral or even open the trunk (battery in trunk) due to no manually key override tumble for either. Bmw has charged me for labor and two batteries, even though they admit to failing to honor the recall and performing said repairs. The...
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car is dangerous, and my wife is afraid to drive the car. The car chugges between 4,000 to 6,000 rpm, and bolt forward uncontrollably if the engine stall does not occur upon pressing the accelerator. I have almost hit several pedestrian, and have been sworn at and honked at due to crazy behavior of the accelerator. Bmw 2011 135i m sport is a dangerous car. I am a senior mechanical engineer and work at spacex on the raptor rocket engine for mars. I am designing the valves that throttle the rocket engine, and in the past I consulted at the steering gear division at another automotive manufacturer in tennessee. I am not interested in money; I want them to be held accountable to the law and fix the problem before more people get hurt. I am researching this matter, and I've found incident where people have been hurt. I am putting together a video of the stalls, and the bmw repair invoices showing the failed and absent repairs over 4 years. Thank you... Sincerely, [[redacted]] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.S.C. 552(B)(6). *Tr
Vehicle will "jolt" forward. This issue has happened to me over 100 times. The issue is best described like this. I will drive through a fast food drive-thru line and there will be 1 other vehicle in front of me. I will pull up and brake to a complete stop to order. The other vehicle is at the restaurant window paying so that car is only about 20 feet in front of me. Since the gap between me and the other car are so close I will not give my vehicle any gas, I will only lift my foot off the brake and move forward at...
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idle speeds. Once I reach the vehicle in front of me, I proceed with pressing the brake (usually "pulsing" the brake pedal to scoot forward safely once I'm very close). At that point my vehicle will jolt forward as if I pressed the gas pedal all the way in and out quickly. Since my foot is on the brake "scooting" safely, my vehicle does not have a chance to really move. This drive-thru example has happened countless times. I've also been pulling into a parking space with a side walk in front of it. When pulling into the space with my foot on the brake and moving at idle speeds my vehicle tried to jump forward and someone happened to be walking by and thought I was going to hit them in my car.I've had the issue happen in reverse gear as well. This problem is consistent on bmw forums such as www.Bimmerpost,com and www.1Seriesonline.Com and I've talked with bmw dealerships and they have no fix for it and claim there is nothing wrong with my vehicle. The problem feels to be a fault in the dct transmission. When my vehicle jolts forward, it almost seems like its trying to shift up and then shift down quickly causing it to jolt forward. The problem worsens if I have my a/c on at all. *Tr
Vehicle will "jolt" forward. This issue has happened to me over 100 times. The issue is best described like this. I will drive through a fast food drive-thru line and there will be 1 other vehicle in front of me. I will pull up and brake to a complete stop to order. The other vehicle is at the restaurant window paying so that car is only about 20 feet in front of me. Since the gap between me and the other car are so close I will not give my vehicle any gas, I will only lift my foot off the brake and move forward at...
Read the full complaint
idle speeds. Once I reach the vehicle in front of me, I proceed with pressing the brake (usually "pulsing" the brake pedal to scoot forward safely once I'm very close). At that point my vehicle will jolt forward as if I pressed the gas pedal all the way in and out quickly. Since my foot is on the brake "scooting" safely, my vehicle does not have a chance to really move. This drive-thru example has happened countless times. I've also been pulling into a parking space with a side walk in front of it. When pulling into the space with my foot on the brake and moving at idle speeds my vehicle tried to jump forward and someone happened to be walking by and thought I was going to hit them in my car.I've had the issue happen in reverse gear as well. This problem is consistent on bmw forums such as www.Bimmerpost,com and www.1Seriesonline.Com and I've talked with bmw dealerships and they have no fix for it and claim there is nothing wrong with my vehicle. The problem feels to be a fault in the dct transmission. When my vehicle jolts forward, it almost seems like its trying to shift up and then shift down quickly causing it to jolt forward. The problem worsens if I have my a/c on at all. *Tr
I purchased my car with 2 years of use and 16,000 miles on it, back in december 2012. Since then, I've been only having troubles with the car. My first issue was back in february with a blown chargepipe. The car just left me stranded 50 miles from home and it had to be towed back. On july it left me stranded again, it was a broken vanos bolt in the engine. During this visit, I told to the sa the hard time my car was having when cranking every morning for the past two weeks. I got the car back, and it seemed...
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that everything was fixed, but the battery. I was told that the battery was discharged due to over cranking when I got stranded. Two weeks later, the car gave me an engine warning yellow light. It resulted to be that the intake vanos module failed. They did a road test this time to make sure everything was working accordingly. When I was driving back home I noticed a heavy white smoke coming from the engine bay, and a burning smell. I immediately stopped the vehicle. For my fortune it wasn't a fire, it was just burning oil. They took the car back in again, and found out that the gasket was not properly reinstalled when they were working with the vanos. When I got the car back, the road felt really solid, the next morning I checked the tire pressure and guess what? 50Psi on all four tires when cold! Apparently they did a courtesy fill up when there. 1 Week after, my car left me stranded again. A really strange clicking noise was coming from right under the dashboard. I had to manually get it into neutral and push the car all the way down the parking lot so the tow truck could take it away. I complained about this 1 month ago, and was told that the battery was in perfect shape. Come on, the car had a dying battery symptom, and it was completely ignored back then, until it left me stranded, again! Way to go bmw. *Tr
The vehicle hesitated when the light turned green and I was hit in the rear. Starting to believe this is what cause the accident and still the dealership can't fix it and lies about what they are doing and I'm really close to the lemon law I think. Bmw n america customer service won't let me pass anyone other than the call center. Don't know where to go from here. Also I have asked for a factory representative 3 times and they will not comply. The dealership only fixes things I never asked them to fix and can't fix what wrong. The rear window defroster also still does not work. *Tr
Crossing the street---i had the gas peddle all the way to the floor (twice yesterday) and the car literally did not move and traffic was approaching. The car eventually moved forward. Problem---hesitation in the engine when applying the gas as I pull out to cross the intersection, slow down to make a turn, or just try to move forward with traffic after stopping. Also, as I applied the brake, when approaching a stop light, the car surges forward toward the car in front of me. These two characteristics happen...
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frequently and are very scary. I do not trust the cars response to either the acceleration or the braking. It has been in the repair shop several times and I continue to be told "car is performing normally". This cannot possibly be correct. *Tr
Engine acceleration lag. The car hesitates when the gas pedal is pushed down. This occurs when it is moving at a slow speed of 5 to 10 mph and at a halt. It creates a dangerous situation if you are merging with traffic or trying to enter traffic from a side street. When the gas pedal is depressed it can be as long as 2 to 3 seconds before the engine accelerates. *Tr
BMW 135I engine complaints by year
135I engine problems, every yearSource: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data