2012 BMW 3 Series
This year drew an ordinary 360 complaints for a BMW 3 Series — the model's median is 227. What they were about is the unusual part: 10.8% of them mention takata, against 3% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The BMW 3 Series was redesigned for 2012. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
| Complaints filed | 360 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 227 |
| Involving a crash | 12 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| EPA combined | 21.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- takata — 10.8% of this year's complaints, against 3% across the other years of this generation (3.6×). Owners wrote it as: takata, receiving, contacting, estimated.
- vanos — 8.3% of this year's complaints, against 1.8% across the other years of this generation (4.6×). Owners wrote it as: vanos, bolts, repair shop.
- took car — 6.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: took car, car dealer, dollars.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 BMW 328I. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE RECALL NOTICE FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 163V07100 (AIR BAGS) WAS RECEIVED IN APRIL OF 2016. AFTER CONTACTING THE DEALER, THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE PARTS NEEDED TO REPAIR THE…
THE RECALL NOTICE FOR NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V071000 (AIR BAGS) WAS RECEIVED IN MARCH OF 2016. AFTER CONTACTING THE DEALER AND [VIN] ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE PARTS NEEDED TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE WERE STILL NOT AVAILABLE AND NO E…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 22V119000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 23V707000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the BMW 3 Series was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2012 BMW 3 Series? What happened to yours?
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