2015 Bmw I3 - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2015 BMW I3 received a "Not Rated" overall safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This means that there is insufficient data available to provide a comprehensive safety assessment for this vehicle. The BMW I3 comes equipped with standard electronic stability control, which can help drivers maintain control in challenging driving conditions. In addition, it has an optional forward collision warning system to alert the driver of potential front-end collisions. However, it does not have a lane departure warning system to help prevent unintentional lane drifting.

It is worth noting that the BMW I3 has received 42 complaints and has been subject to 3 recalls. These numbers indicate a higher than average level of consumer concerns and necessary manufacturer actions to address potential safety or performance issues. It is important for BMW to address these complaints and recalls promptly to ensure the safety and satisfaction of their customers.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

42

Recall Count

3

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2015 BMW I3 5 HB RWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2015 BMW I3 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

2015 BMW I3 5 HB RWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2015 BMW I3 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 2015 Score 2017 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 2015 Score 2017 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 2015 Score 2017 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 2015 Bmw I3

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:
"power steering malfunctioned causing steering to be very stiff. this happened whenever the car exceeded about 25 mph, and returned to normal at low speeds. the car wanted to veer out of the lane and required force to keep it in the lane. after turning the car off and back on, the car steering returned to normal. this event happens sporadically, about once a month. while the steering can be overpowered to keep the car on course, this can be very dangerous if you are not expecting it."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-05-07
Complaint:
"steering becomes lopsided, it's loose to turn one way, and hard to turn the other way, as if one of the front tires is flat. the car will tend to veer left or right, and i have to pull hard on the steering wheel to keep it going straight. there is no consistency as to whether it veers left or right, and the direction changes intermittently. this problem happens also intermittently, sometimes every few days or every couple of weeks. turning the car off and then back on resolves the problem, but then the same problem eventually occurs again sometime later. this is most likely a software issue. there are many complaints about this same behavior on i3's online and on nhtsa website. this is clearly a serious safety issue, and bmw should address it right away. *tr"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2020-01-06
Complaint:
"intermittently while driving, it feels like there are two flat front tires, but they are of proper inflation. steering pulls one way or the other with no center feel. feels like you are driving an old truck with loose steering linkage. unsettling at high speeds or curvy roads. sensors alert on the dash: pedestrian warning, stability control, and others. this happened once before, and dealer looked at the steering angle sensor, and did an alignment, which resolved for two months."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-06-02
Complaint:
"steering became notchy and felt like loss of power steering at speeds above 25 mph. it also felt like it was pulling to the left while on city streets driving straight. the car is currently at bmw of las vegas. i read online where many other i3 owners were experiencing similar issues. many have reported that the issue may be software related and difficult to reproduce as it happens intermittently and shutting off the car can reset it giving a false sense of security until the next time it happens."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2020-08-02
Complaint:
"my 2015 i3 rex just had the steering get really heavy as if i had a flat and it pulled to the left. it was difficult to center the steering as if the power steering had failed. this is a known issue on various internet forums for this model, but it is intermittent and therefore hard to duplicate for the service department. after letting the car sit for a while, it was back to normal the next time i drove it."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-05-01
Complaint:
"my 2015 i3 just had the steering get really heavy as if i had a flat and it pulled to the right. it was difficult to center the steering as if the power steering had failed. this is a known issue on various internet forums for this model, but it is intermittent and therefore hard to duplicate for the service department. after letting the car sit for a while, it was back to normal the next time i drove it."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2020-06-09
Complaint:
"in last 4 weeks, on two occasions steering became very stiff a & hard to turn. both times the steering was very stiff immediately when car started to move forward. in first occurrence, after leaving parking lot under 10 miles/hour, i drove 25-30 miles/hour in city traffic (straight streets), then drove up to 65-70 miles/hour on interstate 95 (mostly straight ahead driving). in the second occurrence, after starting the vehicle, i reversed straight out of the drimveway at about 5-10 miles/hour. i didn't hit any manhole covers or significant uneveness in either case."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2020-03-08
Complaint:
"on several occasions, after powering-up the car, the steering has been very heavy and pulled to either the left or right. the car resisted being driven in a straight line and it felt as though some self-driving feature was trying to wrest control. on all occasions, except for one, parking the car, powering-off, pausing for a few seconds and powering back on has resolved the problem. if this situation were to occur on the highway it could easily throw the car into oncoming traffic. an online bmw i3 forum has many similar complaints going back to 2014. i took the car to the dealer twice and they can find nothing wrong. it would seem to be a firmware issue and i fear bmw is waiting for a few fatalities to see if it worth addressing."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-05-06
Complaint:
"the i3's power steering went out causing the car to pull to the left resulting in me driving into oncoming traffic and almost off the road. (low speed, 15mph). using force, i was able to turn the steering wheel, without the usual power steering assistance, straightening out the vehicle's direction and got me on the correct side of the road. the car was very difficult to steer. additionally, the steering wheel was also moving by itself causing the car to drift to the right. straighten out the wheel again and it would turn itself to the right again. the i3 was immediately powered down and restarted/rebooted and the issue went away. since this occurred at low speed, the risk of an accident was reduced. however, it this were to occur at highway speeds, it could be disastrous. no errors codes were ever displayed. i will be installing a dash camera to record the next time that this happens. a simple internet search results in many owners reporting similar dangerous situations."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2020-02-06
Complaint:
"while driving on highway or side streets multiple episodes of intermittent heavy, sluggish, or loose steering has occurred requiring the vehicle to be stopped, shut off and restarted to fix the problem."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2020-08-04

Recalls for the 2015 Bmw I3

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"bmw of north america, llc (bmw) is recalling certain 2014-2018 bmw i3 electric and hybrid electric vehicles. unbelted, small adult, drivers may be at a higher risk of neck injury in the event of a frontal crash. these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard (fmvss) number 208, "occupant crash protection.""
Consequence:
During a frontal impact, unbelted, small adult, drivers could be at a higher risk of neck injury.
Remedy:

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will update the Driver air bag control unit software, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin January 8, 2018. Owners may contact BMW customer service at the dedicated i3 recall number 1-855-269-3361.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > FRONTAL
Date of incident: 2017-11-16

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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