2018 Bmw 5 SERIES PHEV - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2018 BMW 5 Series PHEV has not been rated for safety by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). However, it is equipped with electronic stability control as a standard feature, which is essential for enhancing vehicle stability and preventing skidding or loss of control. Additionally, it offers optional forward collision warning and lane departure warning systems, which can help alert the driver to potential hazards on the road.

Despite the safety features, it is worth noting that there have been 42 complaints and 5 recalls associated with this vehicle model. It is essential for BMW to address these issues promptly to ensure the safety and reliability of the 5 Series PHEV for its drivers and passengers.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

42

Recall Count

5

Investigation Count

2

Safety Rating

Not Rated

Search Vehicle Details

Advanced Search

The advanced search lets you search by safety ratings and features. This will return a list of vehicles that match your search criteria.

Safety Features

2018 BMW 5 Series PHEV 4 DR RWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2018 BMW 5 Series PHEV 4 DR RWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

Optional
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

Optional

2018 BMW 5 Series PHEV 4 DR RWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2018 BMW 5 Series PHEV 4 DR RWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2016 Score 2018 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2016 Score 2018 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front 5 Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear 5 Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating 5 Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2016 Score 2018 Score
Rollover Rating 5 Not Rated
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating 5 Not Rated

Complaints for the 2018 Bmw 5 SERIES PHEV

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the vehicle throws a “passenger restraint system malfunction” every 5 minutes while driving. based on discussions on bmw forums, this is a common issue among several models of bmw. the issue seems to be caused by loose wires/sensors beneath a he passenger seat."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2025-01-01

Complaint:
"bmw has had known issues with its passenger seat safety sensors failing. these are expensive repairs exceeding $2,000+ and happen frequently with the 2018 - 2020 bmw 5 series. my 2018 bmw 530e has had this sensor fail with regular usage. there hasn't been an abnormal exposure to moisture (i live in utah, a very dry climate) and so the vulnerability of this technology and the cost associated with it's upkeep and it's necessity for basic safety, means bmw should own up to ensuring that this has better and more reliable craftsmanship."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2023-07-08

Complaint:
"there is a sensor that has malfunctioned under the passenger seat. this passenger restraint sensor is meant to detect a person in the seat so the airbag can deploy. the problem is that i’m oder to fix this send the cost is over $2,000. it’s not concerned by bmw although it’s part of their safety design."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2023-06-07

Complaint:
"passenger restraint warning light continues to illuminate intermittently after services were performed to remedy. dealer diagnosis showed the seat module had moisture. dried out. worked ok for a few months then reoccurred. next mechanic diagnosed faulty cis seat box. replaced the module. worked ok for a few months then reoccurred."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2020-05-08

Complaint:
"i get the message “passanger restraint system failure” at random times."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2025-02-05

Complaint:
"the passenger restraint system warning along with the airbag warning is displayed on the screen as a defect."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2023-12-01

Complaint:
"- passenger airbag and passenger restrain system malfunction. - malfunction of passenger airbag not deploying during accident even passenger seat is occupied with recommend weight. - issues has been reported to dealer. in turn dealer responds to as "external factors" with issue could be presence of moisture in the seat. - passenger airbag light illuminates - warning was never consistent. after reporting to dealership warning stays permanent and advised to replace seat mat sensor. - this has been a know issue over a decade and 2017-2018 manufactured bmw 5 series (g30). - this is clearly a poor material and workmanship costing people life's."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2022-12-11

Complaint:
"vehicle reports "passenger restraint system malfunction" upon startup, even when passenger is not in seat. passenger airbag light turns on. in this state the vehicle defaults to deploying the passenger airbag no matter what, even if passenger weighs less than 45 lbs. bmw of north scottsdale inspected and recommends replacing the passenger seat sensor mat for $3600, not covered outside of factory warranty."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2022-06-10

BMW Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

BMW ranks 12 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

Related Vehicles

Why not check out other BMW vehicles?

2018 M3
BMW
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 6
  • Recall Count: 0
View Car
2022 X3 M
BMW
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 23
  • Recall Count: 2
View Car
2016 3 SERIES
BMW
  • Overall Safety Rating: 5
  • Complaints Count: 73
  • Recall Count: 4
View Car
2011 ACTIVE HYBRID 750I
BMW
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 16
  • Recall Count: 2
View Car