2002 BMW 3 Series Electrical System
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
FROM DAY ONE , I ALREADY EXPERIECED A PROBLEM WITH THE CAR, AT FIRST THE HEADLIGHTS FLICKERING, SHELLY BMW TOOK CARE OF IT FOR OVER A WEEK , THEY SAID THERE IS A ELECTRICAL PROBLEM THAT THEY HAD TO CHANGE THE COMPUTER, AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS, THE ALARM GOES OFF WHILE DRIVING ,I TOOK THE CAR TO CUNNINGHAM BMW BECAUSE I LIVEDHERE IN SAN DIEGO IT TOOK THEM ALMOST A WEEK BUT THEY NEVER FIXED THE PROBLEM THEY'RE SAYING THAT THEYNEED MORE TIME TO FIGURE WHAT REALLY THE PROBLEM AND WHAT CAUSING THE ALARM SIREN GOES OFF WHILE DRIVING .I TOOK IT TO DIFFERENT BMW DEALER TO SAN DIEGO BMW, AFTER TWO DAYS SAME PROBLEM OCCURED ALARM SIREN GOES OFF EVERY 4 MINUTES OF DRIVING. NEXT PROBLEM IS THE BRAKE LIGHT COMNES ON , THEY CHANGED THE BRAKEPAD AND ROTOR, THEY KEPT THE CAR FOR THREE , THEN A DAY AFTER THE DSC LIGHT COMES ON , THE EML LIGHT COMES ON , THE BRAKE LIGHT COMES ON, AND THE CAR HAVE NO POWER NOT RESPONDING, ITS FEEL LIKE THERES SOME BLOCKING ON THE WHEEL WHEN I ACCELERATE, SO I TOOK IT AGAIN TO THE DEALER , THEY KEPT IT FOR THREE DAYS, THE DAY AFTER THE ENGINE SERVICE LIGHT COMES ON STEADY . I AM VERY FRUSTRATED AND DISAPPOINTED WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS CAR AND YET IT'S NOT EVEN A YEAR SINCE I BOUGHT THIS CAR. PRESENTLY THE CAR HAS 34,000 MILAGE.IT HAS 20,000 MILAGE WHEN I FIRST BOUGHT IT.
A/C BLOWS EXTREMELY HOT WHEN SET ON MAXIMUM COOLING POWER ABOUT 40% OF THE TIME (INTERMITTENTLY). PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE INHERENT IN THE MODEL...BMW SAYS IF THEY CANT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM AT A SERVICE CENTER IN FRONT OF A TECHNICIAN, THEN IT MUST NOT EXIST. *JB
ELECTRICAL HARNESS FAILURE
APPARENTLY MY CAR HAS A PROGRAMMING DEFECT WITH THE COMPUTER. IT ONLY RELATES TO 2002 325XI'S WITH SPORT PKG, MANUAL TRANS. AT ONE TIME I WAS TOLD THERE WERE ONLY 4 WITH MY SET UP IN THE US. ALL CARS WITH MY EXACT COMPUTER SET UP I'M TOLD ARE HAVING THIS FAILURE. THEY CLAIM TO BE WORKING ON MY PROBLEM IN GERMANY BUT I REALLY FEEL MY CAR IS UNSAFE. WHAT HAPPENS IS THERE IS A 1 SECOND DELAY WHEN WHEN YOU STOP ACCELERATING TO WHEN THE CARE STOPS ACCELERTATING. LOW GEARS AT HIGH RPM'S THE CAR BASICALLY GOES OUT OF CONTROL FOR A SECOND. I THINK BECAUSE SO FEW CARS HAVE MY SET UP THAT BMW IS NOT RESOLVING THIS QUICK ENOUGH. TWO E-MAILS TO THE BMW ON LINE CUSTOMER CARE SITE. MY CAR HAS BEEN DRIVEN BY THE REGIONAL AFTER MARKET REP FROM BMW WHO CONFIRMED THE PROBLEM. WHERE ELSE DO I TAKE THIS TO GET MY CAR OPERATING SAFELY?*AK
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2002 BMW 3 Series has 29 Electrical System complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.