BMW · NHTSA safety record
Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.
Owners have filed 36 safety complaints about the 2011 BMW 535I US with the US government. Of those, no death is recorded. No recall campaign has been matched to this year, make and model.
The most complained-about system is the tires, named in 18 complaints, 50% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 7,309 miles, the median across the 32 complaints that gave an odometer reading.
Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers April 2011 to May 2019 · How this is counted
36
Complaints
0
Describe a crash
0
Mention fire
0
People injured
0
Deaths
A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.
No recall campaign was matched to this year, make and model. That is not the same as a clean vehicle: recalls are issued against production ranges, and the only reliable check is your own VIN.
One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 36.
By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2011 at 13.
This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2011 to 2019.
NHTSA has not crash tested the 2011 BMW 535I US. Its New Car Assessment Program tests a selection of each year's vehicles and does not reach motorcycles, heavy trucks, motorhomes or most low-volume models, so an absence here says nothing about how the vehicle would perform. It is not a low score.
What owners have reported about this vehicle is below, and it is a different question: a crash test measures what happens to the people inside in a controlled impact, while a complaint records what broke during ordinary use.
Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.
towed · 115,000 miles
I PURCHASED THIS CAR 2 MONTHS AGO. TODAY MY WIFE WHEN OUT WITH MY 14 AND 4 YEARS OLD DAUGHTERS AND THE CAR LOST POWER AND SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING AT AROUND 60 MPH IN THE HIGHWAY. THANKFULLY THEY ARE OK. BUT THE CAR HAD TO BE TOWED. IT STARTS BUT DIES WITHIN SECONDS NO IDEA WHAT THE PROBLEM IS BUT I FOUND THAT LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM.
NHTSA complaint 11015263. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
74,943 miles
I HAVE HAD SEVERAL PROBLEMS. 1. BOTH HEAD LIGHTS BECAME FILLED WITH CONDENSATION/WATER. I TOOK IT TO A BMW DEALERSHIP. THEY PERFORMED A BMW DIAGNOSIS. I WAS TOLD THAT THE MOST LIKELY CASE WAS THE COLD AIR. THEY CHECKED FOR EXCESS AIR LEAKS IN BOTH HEAD LIGHTS BUT DID NOT FIND EXCESS AIR LEAKS. (SEE ATTACHED STATEMENT) THEY ALSO REPLACED A GASKET, OIL FILTER HOUSING. THE OIL FILTER HOUSING WAS ALLOWING OIL TO LEAK OUT FROM THE ENGINE 5.8. THEY PERFORMED REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF THE OIL FILTER HOUSING GASKET AND WASHED DOWN THE ENGINE OF THE OIL RESIDUE. THE INCIDENTS WERE DIAGNOSED AND REPLACE ACCORDINGLY ON JAN. 24. 2019. JUST RECENTLY, ABOUT 5 DAYS AGO TODAY, MY CAR STARTED MAKING A
NHTSA complaint 11210575, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
76,000 miles
MY BMW HAS ABOUT 75K MILES ON IT. I WAS DRIVING IT ONE DAY AFTER WORK AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE CAR STALLED ON THE HIGHWAY. CAR DID NOT SHUT DOWN OR ANYTHING BUT LOSS OF POWER, IT'S LIKE MY VEHICLE WENT INTO NEUTRAL GEAR, I STEPPED ON THE GAS AND THE CAR WILL NOT MOVE. THIS ALMOST RESULTED IN A FATAL CRASH. 'DRIVETRAN MALFUNCTION' CAME ON THE DASHBOARD. THIS IS VERY WEIRD FOR A CAR THAT ONLY HAS 75K MILES ON IT. I HAVEN'T HAD ANY ISSUES PRIOR TO THIS, CAR COMPLETELY STALLED WHILE I WAS DRIVING IT, I THANK GOD I WAS IN THE PROCESS OF EXITING OFF THE HIGHWAY, OTHER WISE I WOULD'VE HAD A VERY FATAL CRASH.
NHTSA complaint 11061260. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
CAR SHOWS ERROR OF DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION AND THE CAR STARTS TO SHAKE.
NHTSA complaint 11043150. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
THERE ARE WIRES ON THE ENGINE THAT ARE CRACKING AND WAS TOLD BY THE BMW DEALER THAT THIS CAN CAUSE A FIRE.
NHTSA complaint 11043149. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
94,712 miles
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 BMW 535I US. WHILE DRIVING OVER 40 MPH, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO SHAKE. THE CONTACT REMOVED HIS FOOT FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO BRING THE SPEED DOWN TO 30 MPH, BUT THE SHAKING BECAME AGGRESSIVE. THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL, BUT THE SHAKING CONTINUED. THE CONTACT ALSO MENTIONED THAT HE HEARD A CLICKING NOISE COMING FROM THE WHEELS, BUT COULD NOT DETERMINE IF IT WAS THE FRONT OR REAR WHEELS. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN A RECALL AND INFORMED THE CONTACT TO CALL NHTSA TO FILE A COMPLAINT. THE APPROXIMATE
NHTSA complaint 11015366, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
Complaints on file, same model year.
Every BMW on this site — 257 vehicles.
If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.
A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes
Independent developer and analyst