KnownCarProblems2002 BMW 3 Series Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 26 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 BMW 3 Series, most often about the electrical (23% of complaints, typically around 123,000 miles). It is 10th of 14 3 Series model years by number of complaints.
Most common 2002 BMW 3 Series problems
Electrical
6 complaints · 23%Half of these problems showed up before 123,000 miles.
I have intermittent problems on hot days unlocking my car doors. My key button does not always open the door. I have to manually open the door. The real problem is when I'm inside the car, the unlock button does not work, even when I manually pull on the door handles from inside the car, the doors continues to be…
Using key fob to unlock doors, sometimes only driver door unlocks. Sometimes no doors unlock/lock. Interior master lock switch sometimes works sometimes does not. Replaced switch twice. Been in car and unable to unlock any doors to get out of vehicle using electric systems and even manual ie. Door handles. In a non…
Air bags
6 complaints · 23%Was driving on a cloverleaf ramp in baton rouge, la. (hwy 61 & florida blvd.) when passenger side air bag deployed causing me to veer to the right. I then hit a drain on the curbing and blew out both right side tires and bent rims. Outside temp was 90* with no rain. ( not sure of exact vehicle mileage b/c car is in…
The BMW dealership in san francisco keeps cancelling my appointments for my airbags to be replaced. I have been waiting since june. They cannot offer any assistance to helping me get my airbags replaced.
Suspension
3 complaints · 12%Parts named most often: front.
Rattling noise coming from my BMW convertible 325cic, by the passengerside. Car has been in the 3 different authorized BMW dealerships for fix and plus a final attemped fix at another authorized BMW dealership where the car was bought from. Total of more than 8 times in the dealer ship with one attemped from BMW field…
Premature wear of right front steering control arm. Arm was so worn at less than 30,000 miles that it needed replacement. Wear substantially affected steering response and vehicle control.
Transmission
3 complaints · 12%I purchased this vehicle 2 weeks ago. One night while driving on the beltway about 70 MPH the car started losing power. Almost all the sensors were illuminated on the dash board. I barely made it over to the emergency lane. To make matters worst BMW roadside assistance stated they are not allowed to assist anyone on…
BMW 325 ci: I have experienced so many problems with my 325ci BMW, I bought the car in november, the car is not even 1 year old and I have taken to service four times already. My car is a 2002 and at this moment it has 10,660 miles. The car has a major computer problem. My ABS seems to be malfunctioning as well as my…
Other or unspecified
3 complaints · 12%I purchased this vehicle 2 weeks ago. One night while driving on the beltway about 70 MPH the car started losing power. Almost all the sensors were illuminated on the dash board. I barely made it over to the emergency lane. To make matters worst BMW roadside assistance stated they are not allowed to assist anyone on…
The car stalls when you accelerate from a stop and you are making a left or right hand turn. This has happened several times over the years and happens without warning. Today it stalled in a parking lot but the last few times it has stalled in an intersection creating a potentially very dangerous situation. We have…
Lights
3 complaints · 12%Tail light, brake light and turn signal on passenger side of the vehicle has repeatedly failed. Bulbs and wires have been changed repeatedly, however these changes have not solved the issue. Far too many experiences where collisions have almost occurred due to the failed rear exterior lamps.
Stability control
3 complaints · 12%I was driving along and 3 dash lights came on indicating a problem. I checked and the lights meant the stability control wasn't working (first time this ever happened). Took the car to BMW and was told one of two computers wasn't making this safety feature work. Cost of one was $1700.00 but they could not guarantee it…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2002 BMW 3 Series recalls
NHTSA lists no recalls for this model year.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Rear lamp illumination
Summary
In a letter submitted to the office of defects investigation (odi) dated august25, 2011, bmwindicated that it will conduct a voluntary recall campaign to remedy the subject vehicles.the issue involves the rear lamps in the vehicles body panel.through normal vehicle use over time, the rear lamps ground wiring and associated 8-pin connector can experience an increase of the resistance at the electrical contact points.this can lead to intermittent or permanent loss of the rear lamp functions which include tail, brake, and turn signal operation.the recall consists of modifying the rear lamps in the vehicles body panel by adding a secondary ground connection in parallel to the existing primary gr
Rear lamp illumination
Summary
Odi has received complaints from consumers stating that their tail light assembly is not properly illuminating.the tail light assembly consists of a turn signal lamp, a tail lamp and a brake lamp.the complainants have indicated that the issue is with an 8 pin connector and associated ground wiring.these components are allegedly overheating and melting due to excessive electrical current that runs through the system.bmw issued a technical service bulletin (tsb) sib-630306 on february 2007 to address the condition by adding supplementary ground wiring to the tail lamp assembly.odi is upgrading to an ea to further investigate the issue.
Rear lamp illumination
Summary
In march 2009, the office of defects investigation (odi) received a petition from mr. Mark peters requesting an investigation of rear lamp failure in model year 2002-2005 bmw 3-series vehicles.an information request letter was sent to bmw in april 2009, and odi received bmw's response in june 2009.the tail lamp assembly contains lighting for the brake lamps, tail lamps, and turn signals.a technical service bulletin (tsb) was issued by bmw in january of 2007 instructing service technicians to examine an 8 pin electrical connector for heat-related damage and to incorporate additional ground wiring to the connector.complainants have alleged that significant thermal damage to the connector and a
Inadvertent side-impact air bag deployme
Summary
The subject vehicle's air bag electronic control module contains programmable logic for deploying the side-impact air bags.bmw revised the module several times over the span of the model years 1999 through 2002 (identified as mrs2.ca, mrs2.bb, mrs3, mrs3+ and mrs4).although model year 1999.5 vehicles with version mrs2.bb had 6.5% of the subject population, it accounted for 29% of the total reports received.the mrs2.bb exposure adjusted report rate was almost 4 times higher than other 3 series air bag module versions.in august 2002, bmw initiated a recall campaign for 20,500 model 323i and 328i vehicles with version mrs2.bb (NHTSA recall # 02v223000).in addition to experiencing a lower rate o
Questions about the 2002 BMW 3 Series
- What are the most common problems with the 2002 BMW 3 Series?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: electrical (6 complaints, typically around 123,000 miles); air bags (6 complaints); suspension (3 complaints).
- How many recalls does the 2002 BMW 3 Series have?
- NHTSA lists no recalls for the 2002 BMW 3 Series. Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls in case one is issued later.
- Is the 2002 a bad year for the BMW 3 Series?
- It is 10th of 14 3 Series model years by number of complaints, with 26 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.