2016 Bmw 740i problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Vehicle Speed Control (2) · Seat Belts (2) · Engine (2)
Safety recalls (0)
No recalls on record for this model year (campaigns announced since 2010).
Service bulletins (25)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Suspension 2026-03-27 · B010522 · Warranty Program/Extension
the front and rear air suspension strut assemblies limited warranty for defects in materials or workmanship has been extended to 8 years /80,000 miles as determined from the original in-service date.
Seats 2026-02-11 · B720125 · Warranty Program/Extension
a situation may occur where the front passenger seat is not occupied; however, a “fasten seat belt” warning and a front passenger seat air bag deactivation message appears. if the situation is currently present, sit in the seat and move the seat to a slightly different position. the pol (passenger o
Electrical System 2025-10-29 · B720125 · Warranty Program/Extension
a situation may occur where the front passenger seat is not occupied; however, a “fasten seat belt” warning and a front passenger seat air bag deactivation message appears. if the situation is currently present, sit in the seat and move the seat to a slightly different position. the pol (passenger o
Air Bags 2025-06-10 · B720125 · Warranty Program/Extension
the supplemental restraint systems (srs) front passenger’s seat occupancy capacitive interior sensor (cis) mat for defects in materials and/or workmanship that causes a false seat occupancy alert to occur has been extended to 10 years / 120,000 miles as determined from the vehicle's original in-serv
Air Bags 2025-05-01 · B720125 · Warranty Program/Extension
a situation may occur where the front passenger seat is not occupied; however, a “fasten seat belt” warning and a front passenger seat air bag deactivation message appears. if the situation is currently present, sit in the seat and move the seat to a slightly different position. the pol (passenger o
Electrical System 2025-04-18 · B720125 · Warranty Program/Extension
the supplemental restraint systems (srs) front passenger’s seat occupancy capacitive interior sensor (cis) mat for defects in materials and/or workmanship that causes a false seat occupancy alert to occur has been extended to 10 years / 120,000 miles as determined from the vehicle's original in-serv
Showing the 6 most recent of 25 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2024-06-28 · Seat Belts“blind spot warning randomly works. passenger seatbelt phantom seatbelt warning while driving alone!…”
2022-11-09 · Suspension · 52,000 mi“the contact owns a 2016 bmw 740i. the contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the front air suspension failed to perform as designed, causing the front end of the vehicle to remain lowered, making the front driver’s and passenger’s side tires touching the inner wheel well. the vehicle was taken to the local service center who diagnosed tha…”
2022-09-08 · Engine“active air flap fault, upper and lower actuator is not working and that is why engine is overheating. bmw has extended this warranty to 10 years/120k miles for 750 and 550 series manufactured up to aug 2019. but they have not done that on 740 series. my vehicle has the same problem and should be covered under the same in order to avoid engine damag…”
2020-11-08 · Structure:body · 75,100 mi“not really sure if this would be considered a safety complaint, but it could lead to problems if not corrected. the upper radiator shuttle will not function properly. this can cause restricted climate control in the vehicle interior, reduction of engine performance and possibly engine overheating. this appears to be a common problem with mode…”
2020-08-03 · Unknown Or Other · 29,000 mi“on july 30, i was driving at 35mph on a major road in pinetop/lakeside, arizona when the sunroof, that was in the vent position, exploded inward showering me and a passenger in shattered glass. it was not struck by any object prior to the explosion. due to extensive damage to the sunroof cassette, the repair is about $7,000.…”
2018-09-26 · Seat Belts · 12,000 mi“on two occasions a false fasten seat belt from passenger side has come up when the seat was not occupied. the car was sent for repair. on the first occasion it was indicated the wiring is loose for the seat belt harness so it was tightened. on the second occasion the car was sent to dealership it was diagnosed that the harness wiring track could co…”
2018-09-26 · Engine · 25,000 mi“i got engine malfunction light on two separate occasions on my bmw; on each occasion the car was sent to dealership for repair to find that the upper and lower radiator blinds are at fault and this required replacement. the 2016 bmw 740i is equipped with a front grille where the vents are covered by blinds that open when the car is started and clos…”
2017-04-15 · Unknown Or Other · 2,696 mi“active pdc fails on multiple occasions. a technical service bulletin was released in march 2017 by bmw and new software was downloaded. despite the new software downloaded to vehicle there continues to be incidents post that when the active pdc fails to activate. bmw continues to claim the feature works as designed but there is never any explanatio…”
2017-03-08 · Electrical System · 1,924 mi“audio control system freezes on the bmw 740i. it happens that audio is gone completely, system does not respond to any of the following to raise volume: 1. gesture commands to raise volume (the system does not even show gesture is involved on the dash display) 2. from the power button by manually adjusting higher, there is no response from sys…”
2017-02-20 · Vehicle Speed Control · 1,339 mi“the problem is centered around adaptive cruise control system of bmw 740i 2016. bmw 740i can't detect vehicles from the right corner or left corner when two lanes merge into one and the bmw is approaching the other vehicle where the other vehicle is either at front right or left right. there are multiple symptoms of this problem: first symptom, …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.