2019 Bmw 330i problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Engine (7) · Power Train (3) · Exterior Lighting (3)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Bmw 330i model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (9)
Electrical System:starter Assembly:relay 2025-09-23 · campaign 25V636000 · 199,674 vehicles ⚠ PARK OUTSIDE
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2021 BMW 330i, 2019-2022 BMW Z4, 2020-2022 BMW 530i, X3, X4, Toyota Supra, 2021-2022 BMW 430i, 430i Convertible, and 2022 BMW 230i vehicles. The engine starter relay may corrode, causing the relay to overheat and short circuit.
Risk: A short circuit in the starter relay may increase the risk of a fire.
Fix: Owners are advised to park their vehicles outside and away from structures until the remedy is complete. Dealers will replace the engine starter, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 6, 2026. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov November 14, 2025.
Electrical System:software 2023-08-16 · campaign 23V584000 · 144 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2022 330i, 330i xDrive, M340i, 2022 430i Coupe, 2021-2022 430i, M440i Convertible, and 2020-2022 228i xDrive Gran Coupe vehicles. The receiver audio module control unit software may fail to properly generate audible seat belt warnings to the driver to fasten their seat belt. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
Risk: An audible chime that does not properly alert the driver to fasten their seat belt increases the risk of injury in a crash.
Fix: Dealers will update the receiver audio module software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 12, 2023. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
Seats 2023-03-29 · campaign 23V211000 · 51 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2021 330i, 330i xDrive, M340i xDrive, 2020-2021 X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i, X3M, 2021 X3 xDrive30e, X4 xDrive30i, and X4M vehicles. The seat frame may not have been welded properly to the seat rails.
Risk: An improperly welded seat frame may not properly restrain the occupant during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: Dealers will replace the seat frame and back rest, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 22, 2023. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
Back Over Prevention:software 2021-02-19 · campaign 21V096000 · 13,858 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2021 X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i, X3M, X4 xDrive30i, X4 M40i, M550i, X4M, X5 sDrive40i, X5 xDrive40i, X5 xDrive50i, X5M, X5 M50i, X7 xDrive40i, X7 xDrive50i, X7 M50i, Alpina XB7, 330i, 330i xDrive, M340i, M340i xDrive, and 8 Series Coupe, Convertible and Grand Coupe, 840i, 840i xDrive, M850i xDrive, M8, 2020-2021 530e, 530e xDrive, 330e, 330e xDrive, 745Le, 745Le xDrive, X5 xDrive45e, X3 xDrive30e, X6 sDrive40i, X6 xDrive40i, X6 x
Risk: If the driver relies on only the rearview camera image, the missing or reduced rearview image view can increase the risk of a crash or injury.
Fix: BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the rearview camera software and update it if necessary, free of charge. The recall began April 16, 2021. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
Steering:linkages:tie Rod Assembly 2020-06-15 · campaign 20V355000 · 2,779 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019 Z4 sDrive30i, 2019-2020 330i xDrive, M340i and M340i xDrive, 2020 X3M and X4M, and Toyota Supra vehicles. In certain driving conditions, such as high temperatures and rough road surfaces, a steering gear tie rod may become damaged, possibly resulting in a fractured tie rod.
Risk: A damaged or fractured tie rod may affect vehicle handling and control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: BMW and Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will replace the steering gear tie rods, free of charge. The recall began August 14, 2020. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.
Seat Belts:pretensioner 2019-12-20 · campaign 19V912000 · 135 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2020 330i and 330i xDrive vehicles. The outboard rear seat belt pretensioners may not lock as intended during a crash.
Risk: In the event of a crash, if the seat belt pretensioners fail to lock, there is an increased risk of injury.
Fix: BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear seat belts, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin February 10, 2020. Owners may contact BMW customer at 1-800-525-7417.
Engine 2019-10-15 · campaign 19V732000 · 217 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2020 330i, 330i xDrive, and 2019 Z4 vehicles. The needle roller bearings of the counterbalance shafts may have been improperly installed, potentially causing the counterbalance shaft to loosen.
Risk: If the counterbalance shaft loosens, severe engine damage could occur, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the engine, free of charge. The recall began December 13, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera 2019-09-27 · campaign 19V684000 · 257,473 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018 540d, 2018-2020 530i, 530i xDrive, 540i, 540i xDrive, M550i xDrive, M5, 530e, 530e xDrive, X3 sDrive, X3 xDrive, X3 M40i, X3 M, and 2019-2020 X4 xDrive, X4 M40i, X4 M, X7 xDrive, X7 M50i, 740Li, 740Li xDrive, 750Li, 750Li xDrive, 8 Series Convertible and Coupe 840i, 840i xDrive, M850i xDrive, X5 sDrive, X5 xDrive, X5 M50i, X6 xDrive, X6 M50i, 330i, 330i xDrive, M340i, M340i xDrive, Z4 sDrive, Z4 M40i, 740Le xDrive and 745Le xDrive, 2018-2
Risk: The lack of an image in the back-up camera display increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: BMW will notify owners, and dealers will update the back-up camera software, free of charge. The recall began November 8, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Rolls-Royce at 1-877-877-3735. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.
Air Bags:knee Bolster 2019-05-09 · campaign 19V352000 · 5,079 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2020 230i, 230i xDrive, M240i, M240i xDrive, M2 Competition Coupe, 430i, 430i xDrive, 440i, 440i xDrive, M4, and 2019 330i xDrive Sportswagon vehicles. The driver and passenger knee air bag assemblies may have been improperly folded and assembled.
Risk: An improperly folded and assembled air bag may not deploy as intended, increasing risk of injury.
Fix: BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the knee air bag modules, free of charge. The recall began July 8, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
Service bulletins (390)
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.
Engine 2026-06-26 · B010224 · Warranty Program/Extension
the evap systems purge (vent) valve limited warranty for defects in materials and / or workmanship has been extended to 15 years / 150,000 miles as determined from the original first in-service / delivery date.
Engine 2026-05-06 · B010324 · Warranty Program/Extension
the evap systems purge (vent) valve limited warranty for defects in materials or workmanship has been extended to 15 years / 150,000 miles as determined from the original in-service date.
Structure:body 2026-03-06 · B010325 · Warranty Program/Extension
the radiator grilles lower active air flap assembly limited warranty for defects in materials and/or workmanship has been extended to 15 years / 150,000 miles as determined from the original first in-service / delivery date.
Suspension 2026-02-05 · InVeh-InApp-Comm · Over The Air
it was found that the rubber mounts of the wishbone or the tension strut were not correctly pressed in due to a manufacturing fault at the supplier's end. this can lead to an acoustic abnormality in the vehicle.
Air Bags 2025-06-11 · B720225 · 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
Structure:body 2025-05-14 · B010825 · Warranty Program/Extension
a vehicle listed above may arrive with a check control message (ccm), and/or malfunction indicator lamp(mil) illuminated. after carrying out the vehicle test, one or more of the stored faults indicate that the operation of the front bottomactive air flap is obstructed or blocked. thoroughly inspect
Showing the 6 most recent of 390 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-08-26 · Engine“on xxx approximately 2:02am my car was seen on fire parked in driveway on [xxx] . information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)…”
2026-07-23 · Engine · 110,000 mi · 🔥 fire“the contact owned a 2019 bmw 330i. the contact stated that while the vehicle was parked at the residence in the driveway, there was an abnormal cracking sound coming from outside the residence. the contact checked and became aware that the vehicle was on fire. the vehicle was unoccupied at the time. the contact stated that the residential camera sh…”
2026-07-10 · Lane Departure: Warning“kafas mid camera has software malfunction, internal fault, system does not operate as designed. takes down all driver assistance features. module unable to accept new coding/programming. bmw service information - b66 20 19…”
2026-05-12 · Engine“please update recall repair status to repaired for this vin (dealer repair invoice attached)…”
2026-03-24 · Electrical System · 81,652 mi“the contact owns a 2019 bmw 330i. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 25v636000 (electrical system); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the local dealer was contacted, but the vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of…”
2026-02-25 · Unknown Or Other · 🔥 fire“description of the problem: •component/system that failed: the engine starter, which is subject to an open recall issued september 23, 2025. the starter was not replaced during a service visit. the vehicle no longer exists due to the fire, but the vin and service records are available for inspection. •safety risk: the starter malfunction caused the…”
2026-02-24 · Power Train“vehicle shudders under acceleration no warning lights or errors . changed transfer case oil and same problem continues. no recall from manufacturer for issu…”
2026-02-18 · Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:oil/Lubrication:filter/Screen“see attached document for complaint.…”
2026-02-17 · Power Train“i am reporting a premature failure of two critical engine components: the heat management module (coolant pump/thermostat assembly) and the oil filter housing. despite the vehicle's low mileage (40,000 miles), the heat management module began leaking coolant, posing a significant risk of engine overheating and sudden loss of power while driving. si…”
2026-01-20 · Unknown Or Other“my 2019 bmw 330i has a recurring cooling system defect, including coolant leaks, heater inoperative, and risk of engine overheating. the defect began while the vehicle was under warranty and was repaired by bmw, but it recurred. bmw later instructed me not to drive the vehicle due to safety concerns, yet declined responsibility and transportation. …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.