2017 BMW 3 Series
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 73 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 12th highest complaint count among 21 3 Series model years with reports.
Of the 2017 reports, 2 involved a crash. 1 person was injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
No safety recalls on file.
Representative owner complaints
73 reports, newest first.
Engine, Feb 1, 2024
The plastic oil filter housing assembly developed a crack as we all should know heat and plastic do not do well with each other. Cause my coolant at first to slowly leaked and never gave me a warning of low coolant. Driving 60+ mph then all of a sudden cars goes into limp mode so the person behind me lucky swerved to the left to avoid hitting me. So filled up coolant and same thing happens again about a week later. No visible leaks no dashboard warning of low coolant levels. So I fill up and go. Mind you my engine is already overheating when it tells me on dashboard while going into limp mode at the same time so continuously overheating engine seems to cause more problems water pumps starts leaking and pipes start developing holes. Safety comes into play while driving down a highway when car goes into limp mode causing the driving that’s not paying attention ram into you. Quite a few safety concerns. Never had a chance or opportunity to pull over to self diagnose, car goes into limp mode with no warning. There are several thousands of this reporting the same with oil filter housing assembly. As I am writing this my mechanic is in the process of taking the part off and replacing it with a metal one. This first happened around thanksgiving 2023 and progressively got worse with each week
Engine, Dec 27, 2023
Coolant Leak from oil filter housing caused a major repair. The Car has about 109,000 miles. Parked it after work on a Thursday went to drive it to a family dinner Friday, i turned the car on and immediately get a low coolant light. I drove 2 miles down the road, Suddenly the coolant started pouring out and the coolant light comes on again, i return home and have to take my girlfriends car. On the invoice it states, “entire oil filter housing part was replaced”, the plastic used to seal in the coolant had either been destroyed or broken off, not a gasket but a piece from the oil filter housing part. The dealer charged $4500 for the repairs, which they said were “optional” but the engine couldn’t hold coolant. This item is not on the recommended service list, as it’s not an item listed for “wear and tear” However the B48/58 engines are so new that finding enough over 100K miles is not easy to replicate the issue, although message boards have recently discovered this issue occurring with more regularity. Please investigate and help consumers who potentially could be left stranded by this defect.
Fuel/propulsion system, Dec 15, 2023
Cracked fuel tank. Smells of gasoline when the tank is full but the odor goes away once the fuel level gets below 3/4-1/2 a tank. Here is a walk around video of when my car was in for this issue [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Exterior lighting, Sep 13, 2023
Headlight vertical aim control malfunction, TONS of f series BMWs affected.
Other or unspecified, Aug 14, 2023
The A/C shuts off after driving 40 minutes and the temperature of 250. Blower is running but will barely force air into the cabin
Engine, Aug 7, 2023
Coolant Leak caused a major repair. The Car has about 90,000 miles. Suddenly the coolant started pouring out. As you see in the attached invoice, entire heat exchanger, water pump, and other several parts were to be replaced. The dealer first estimated the repairs at $5,400 and they agreed to do it at warranty price rates. However, we believe other BMW models have had similar recalls for Coolant leak and suspect same on this model too. Please investigate and help consumers who are ending up paying exorbitant amounts to service shops. BMW may be hiding this problem from NTSB to avoid recalls by agreeing to repair at vehicle warranty rates.
Engine, Jun 2, 2023
The contact owns a 2017 BMW 320I. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the contact stated that there was white smoke coming from the exhaust tip. The contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin: SI B11 11 16 (N20 Engine Oil Feed Line to The Turbo Charger). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 87,000.
Other or unspecified, May 26, 2023
Was driving down highway going 70mph, I heard a loud pop above me and realized the front sunroof section shattered. Luckily it was not open and shade protected from glass. Glass has gone everywhere on the highway and scratched up the roof and my windshield also cracked.
Other or unspecified, Mar 16, 2023
While driving down the interstate I-65 South, my sunroof spontaneously exploded. It sounded like a bomb explosion inside my car and could have caused grave danger to myself. There was nothing dropped on my sunroof as the screen remained intact and closed with no damage. This was an upward and out explosion of my sunroof, which I feel is a defect and should have been the responsibility of BMW. However, the car manufacturer is prepared to charge me $2,719.05 to fix. This I believe is a defect. How does a sunroof explode spontaneously? Please help.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Dec 25, 2022
out of nowhere with only 1 day warning car requested coolant refill. After refill within 10 minutes car engine ran hot and completely stopped on the expressway. I’ve read hundreds of reviews online and youtube where this exact same thing has happened to others with this same car.
Engine, Dec 13, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 BMW 330I. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, an unknown warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that an unknown rubber hose needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the coolant light was illuminated. The contact stated that the oil housing base was replaced; however, a week later, the vehicle started to overheat. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine failed, and the cylinder and head gaskets needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.
Electrical system, Lane departure, Back over prevention, Nov 19, 2022
During normal street and highway driving operation, the whole console and digital warning systems shutdown causing safety issues while driving.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Nov 4, 2022
I received a warning on the dashboard that the tires needed inflating and that I should not drive the car over 80 miles per hour. When this happened the communication system on the car failed. I could not use the telephone or the direction feature. I do not know if other parts of the car also failed. When the tires were re inflated, these other features returned. This has happened twice. (In addition the tires needed reinflating on one or two other times.) BMW offers a courtesy service to reinflate the tires so that they don't maintain a record of the problem and they are unable to add a note to their service record to document the problem. (BMW San Francisco).
Other or unspecified, Oct 1, 2022
IN MARCH 2022 I WAS DRIVING HOME FROM WORK AND I NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER MY HOOD. I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT TO A MECHANICAL SHOP CLOSE BY. I WAS INFORMED THAT QUICK RELEASE COUPLING OF THE VENTILATION LINE O FTHE CYLINDER HEAD HAD TO BE REPLACED. BMW PART # 17129845173. AS A RESULT OF THIS MALFUNCTION ALL OF THE COOLANT DRAINED FROM THE CAR WHICH CAUSED THE OVERHEATING. IN AUGUST OF 2022 I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM BMW USA THAT STATED "DURING A RECENT QUALITY ANALYSIS IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE QUICK RELEASE COUPLING OF THE VENTILATION LINE O FTHE CYLINDER HEAD COULD BREAK RESULTING IN COOLANT LOSS. THE LETTER SAID U SHOLD BRING IT TO MY LOCAL BMW DEALERSHIP TO BE REPLACED FREE OF CHARGE. I BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY REPLACED IT WITH BMW PART # 17129845173 (SAME EXACT PART NUMBER). I ASKED IF I COULD BE REIMBURSED SINCE THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CAR. THE SALES ASSOCIATE SAID I HAVE TO GO THOROUGH BMW AMERICA WHO SAID, YES THIS IS THE EXACT SAME PART AND THE CURRENT PROBLEM IS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN MARCH BUT THEY WOULD NOT REIMBURSE ME FOR THE ALMOST 800.00 I PAID TO GET IT FIXED BEFORE I RECEIVED THE RECALL LETTER. THE BMW REPRESENTATIVE THEN PROCEED TO TELL ME " ma’am, let me remind you that you drive a luxury vehicle so next time you have a problem I would suggest pulling over on the side of the road and towing it to a dealer”. I Informed this representative that I was thinking of my safety. I am a single female, in the dark, with my car smoking on the highway and my first instinct was not to pull over on the side of the highway, wait for a tow truck, then find my own ride home from a far away BMW dealership. I HAVE ALL DOCUMENTATION THAT INCLUDES THE INITIAL WORK, THE RECALL LETTER FROM BMW AND THE WORK DONE AT THE BMW DEALERSHIP SHOWING THAT IT WAS THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. I AM SEEKING REIMBURSEMENT OF THE ORIGINAL WORK AS THIS WAS A KNOWN PROBLEM AND WAS ALERTED BY BMW INDICATING THAT THIS COULD HAPPEN TO VEHICLE AND NEEDD TO BE FIXED.
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 20, 2022
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Coolant lines How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? The car would state that it is overheating a month after oil change and fluids replaced Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Dealer confirmed that there is a coolant issue Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? It has been inspected by the dealership. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? Engine light, coolant low warning, overheat warning, I am also having issues with car start/stop controls. With my car at 58k miles on it I don’t think the auxiliary battery should be having issues like it does. I read that some starters could be the issue but there is no recall on my vehicle which is in the USA. I have only had the car for 5 months and have significant auxiliary battery issues which ping off a lot of different sensors. They are listed in the photo.
Engine and engine cooling, Aug 26, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 BMW 330I. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the check engine warning light and "Stop Immediately" message was displayed. The contact pulled off the highway and noticed white smoke coming from underneath the hood. The contact safely placed the vehicle in park(P), turned the vehicle off, exited the vehicle, and lifted the hood. The contact stated that a large amount of white smoke was coming from the engine. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the expansion tank hose had ruptured. The expansion tank hose was replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact received a technical service repair notice from the manufacturer after the failure had occurred which had detailed information about the failure of the expansion tank hose and to set an appointment with a dealer as soon as possible. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.
Structure, Aug 5, 2022
The contact owns a 2017 BMW 330E. The contact stated that the driver's and passenger’s side door handles were sticky, soft, and melting. There was also an unknown residue on the door handles. The contact attempted to clean the door handles but they continued to leave black residue on the occupant's hands. The local dealer was contacted but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.
Vehicle speed control, Other or unspecified, Engine, Aug 3, 2022
When I was driving on suburban roads with speed limit of 45 mph, I received a waring from my vehicle saying "engine high temperature, drive moderately". After sometime, it said "engine overheated stop carefully". During the first warning, I felt loss of acceleration power and during the second warning I felt completely no power in acceleration that too when I was yielding for a left turn which was life threatening, luckily the oncoming traffic slowed down. Otherwise I would have ended up in life threatening crash. During both warnings, I checked the engine temperature gauge in the instrument cluster and the engine temperature was not even 50% of the maximum temperature in the gauge. After the warning, I slowly made it to a nearby parking lot and opened the hood and did not physically feel any excessive heat for an engine not to function. I regularly service my vehicle and my vehicle is not due for any kind of service for the next 2000 mile as per the onboard vehicle status. The next day I started the vehicle to help it to climb the tow truck ramp and at that time, for the very first time I received a warning saying engine coolant is very low. I have never received this warning since I have owned the car until then. I have two concerns, 1. The temperature gauge did not show a high temperature, only 24 hours after the electronic engine high heat notification, the low coolant warning came in which is weird and my vehicle isn't due for any service. 2. None of the above should result in a sudden loss of acceleration power which could have resulted in a fatal crash in my case. I'm a mechanical engineer with a strong background in automotive occupant safety (airbags/seatbelts) and that's why I see this a very serious incident that needs to be looked into so that it doesn't occur for anyone else in the future.
Air bags, Wheels, Service brakes, Jul 25, 2022, crash
The brakes wouldn’t work and car kept going even though I tried to brake several times and with all my strength The car stopped when crashed another car and I was able to shut down the car but the brakes did not work. The crash was very severe and airbags didn’t deploy. A faulty airbag message was shown on my car screen.
Power train, Other or unspecified, Fuel/propulsion system, Jul 9, 2022
We had a 2017 bmw 330i x-drive. It had approximately 67000 miles. The car stalled while driving about 6 times. The first time was in 3/2021. The diagnostics were for a faulty high pressure fuel pump. We replaced the HPFP. It stalled again while driving. The diagnostics were for a faulty low pressure fuel pump. We replaced this. The car then stalled while driving 2 more times. The car stalled again in 10/2021, and we towed it to the dealer, who diagnosed a problem with the electric fuel pump control unit., which the dealer replaced. We brought the car home for one day, and we had the same problem again. We brought the car back to the BMW dealer, who diagnosed a problem with the VANOS system. The BMW Peabody dealer directed us to BMW corporate for evaluation of available warranties and rebates given the nature of the problem (VANOS) being warranted under the California SULEV emissions standards and the fact that they dealer had diagnosed a separate problem the day before. We sent the diagnostics and the SULEV warranty info to Sean, as everyone at BMW seemed unaware of its existence and who was responsible for following it. He took weeks “looking into it,” and the dealer repaired the VANOS during this time without a final answer from corporate. A car stopping while driving is clearly dangerous to the occupants and surrounding vehicles. BMW did not honor the SULEV warranty, which clearly covers the VANOS and the fuel pumps until 70000 miles. The car was traded to BMW Peabody, as we no longer felt safe driving it. We do not know if the replacement of the VANOS fixed the problem.
Fuel/propulsion system, Jun 22, 2022
Hi, my vehicle has a recall, 21v586, for high pressure fuel pump. I suggest this recall should be elevated to a mandatory recall. When my fuel pump failed it immediately lost power while driving. I was fortunate to maneuver the car across traffic to a safe location. I consider myself a defensive and conscious driver. Had this been my wife or someone else I'm not real confident that they would be able to safely maneuver the vehicle as there was no warning. Moreover, my car has been unavailable since 5/19 when this occurred. This pump had a such a catastrophic failure that it sheared a mounting bolt holding it to engine. Metal fragments were displaced throughout the fuel system. Most recent estimate to replace fuel tank, fuel lines, low pressure pump and high pressure pump stands at $14,000+. I was just informed on 6/21, that the engine will need to be removed to extract mounting bolt of the high pressure fuel pump. At this point, I don't know when my car will be returned to me.
Engine, May 16, 2022
My BMW had a pinhole in the radiator caused by driving on the highway and being impacted by a small foreign object. Apparently a foreign object (rock?) impacted the radiator creating a tiny leak. BMW repaired the vehicle (new radiator) and installed a "Rock Guard" without discussing this new Guard with me. Rock Guard Part # 17-11-8-185-042. This $1,900 repair is a known defect in the design which is why BMW adds the Rock Guard when replacing radiators. After the repair, research indicates this is a common issue for this model car. Loss of coolant could have resulted in an overheated engine leading to vehicle damage or possible failure of the engine while driving. There were not any warnings provided by the vehicle's systems due to the loss of coolant from the pinhole in the radiator. The symptom that lead to the discovery was the air conditioning system stopped cooling. The loss of the ability to cool the engine stops the AC from working. Taking the car in for service for the AC is what lead to the discovery of the leak in the radiator.
Power train, Vehicle speed control, Engine, Apr 24, 2022
Water pump keeps going bad 2nd time replacing in 2 years rough idle and failed part problems that BMW service team does not understand. Vehicle has stalled at 0 rpm I'm thinking there is an issue with the engine also reported by previous owner and I also have the same complaints, as well the foot release which I was was told was an option never worked. Please search vin [XXX] for all incident reports with this vehicle. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Seat belts, Apr 10, 2022
After day to day use the seat belt stopped functioning. The mechanism to lock the seat belt is stuck and will not unlock to latch the seat belt properly. Ultimately the driver and passengers are unable to latch the seat belts at anytime.
Other or unspecified, Apr 5, 2022
Failed component: Failure for a motor vehicle to signal the intention to perform a U-TURN maneuver. Safety at risk: U-TURN maneuvers often result in accidents that cause material damage, severe injuries and death of motorists, passengers, motorcycle riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians. These accidents usually happen due to the inability of drivers to properly signal or warn others of the intention to execute a U-TURN maneuver because of the non-existence of a U-TURN signal in motor vehicles. Problem reproduced/confirmed? Yes, this problem occurs every day on the public roads/streets of our Nation. Has vehicle/component been inspected? NO, the U-TURN signal has not been added under the NHTSA; therefore, no regulations exist for manufacturers, police, insurance, or others to inspect. Warning lamps/messages? NO, to this day, there is no official warning signal method to alert motorists of the intention to perform, and execution of a U-TURN maneuver. THE SOLUTION: Include U-TURN Signal devices and methods as part of the FMVSS No. 108. An effective/productive/economical and financial U-TURN Signal solution can be attained by the implementation of Patent # US 10,919,442 B1; Devices and methods for motor vehicle U-TURN signaling. The U-Turn signal solution offered under Patent # US 10,919,442 B1 is highly achievable at a low cost to implement. The patent uses a combination of existing and approved lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment, such as headlamps, reverse lamps, turn-signal lamps, and side lamps modules used in concert to generate a universally applicable signal that communicates to other travelers that a U-TURN maneuver is intended and under execution. The signaling device can be implemented via the use of a U-TURN signal switch that activates the light modules of a vehicle that correspond to the direction of the U-TURN maneuver. WE NEED TO ACT NOW TO REDUCE TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS/INJURIES/DEATHS RESULTING FROM THE LACK OF U-TURNS WARNING SIGNAL