2018 Bmw I3 BEV - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2018 BMW I3 BEV has not been rated for safety by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The car comes equipped with electronic stability control as a standard feature, which enhances its ability to maintain control during sudden maneuvers or slippery road conditions. It also offers forward collision warning as an optional feature, providing an extra layer of safety by alerting the driver to potential frontal collisions. However, lane departure warning is not available in this model.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the vehicle has received 10 complaints and has been subject to 3 recalls. A single investigation has also been conducted. These factors should be taken into consideration when evaluating the overall safety and reliability of the 2018 BMW I3 BEV.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

10

Recall Count

3

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2018 BMW I3 BEV 5 HB RWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2018 BMW I3 BEV 5 HB 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.

No

2018 BMW I3 BEV 5 HB RWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2018 BMW I3 BEV 5 HB 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 2018 Score 2021 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2018 Score 2021 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

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

Test 2018 Score 2021 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated Not Rated
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated

Complaints for the 2018 Bmw I3 BEV

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:
"on two occasions the power steering failed while i was driving, once several months ago and again last wednesday. fortunately i was driving on surface streets close to home. i parked the car for twenty minutes and upon starting it the problem seemed to be gone. after the first occurance i went to the dealer and they said they knew nothing about the problem. i also called bmw usa.... again they knew nothing. the second time, last week, i took the car to the dealer again and they located a software update. without actually acknowledging the problem, bmw had a software update and after initially asking me to pay for it, they agreed to pay."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2025-04-06

Complaint:
"hello , i am owning a bmw i3rex (2018). recently like many other users experienced multiple times the loss of power steering after starting the vehicle. while previous events like this were short lived and resolved with stopping, turning off and on the vehicle, this time it was on entering a highway, where the car suddenly lost its power steering and could not be driven properly. i had to exit , switched the car off and restart after a couple of minutes, which resolved this problem completely. i am reporting this to you, as i see this as a major safety risk for the bmw i3, which as it seems also other driver experiences and so far no solution has been found by bmw (please see https://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5065) ?"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2022-11-06

Complaint:
"it's my 7th month driving brand new 2018 i3 bev. after got off the work today, the july 25th, 2019, the car started pulling to the left. i had no problem i thought i had a flat so i checked the tire pressure monitor and it was just fine. i realized that the steering wheel got heavier than usual and quite difficult to turn. it wouldn't stay center but kept moving to the left while being really heavy. even on the flat pavement. i checked online and there are a lot of people complaining about this very issue with i3. most of them said turning the car off and turn it back on usually fixes the problem but it's not always the case. drivers with the same issue also say that it's a software problem as the i3's steering wheel is completely assisted by electrical motor, not a conventional way of how power steering wheel is operated. i feel disconcerted as this is directly related to the operation of the vehicle and safety. some claimed that software upgrade may fix the problem but i feel strongly that bmw should step up and proactively fix the issue! this is dangerous!"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-01-07

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

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