Problems with your 2000-01 323ci? Please help

I've had alot of problems with my 2000 323 Ci. Has anyone else experienced the following or other problems (please let me know)

1. Wrong setbelt configuration installed on drivers side
2. Sunroof broke (2x)
3. A/C broke
4. Coolant thermostat replaced
5. Plastic screw that holds jack in place broke (took me 2 hours to unscrew so I could replace a flat)
6. 4 light bulbs out in 6 months (2 left side turn signals, 1 left head light, 1 right head light

All these problems occured in less than 20,000 miles! I'm so frustrated

Are there other things i should be wary off?

Also, I have emailed, called, and written BMW numerous times and they never get back to me. Thanks

I hear ya!

I have a 2001 330 CI and I have also had alot of problems all within 4000 miles!

Subwoofer started rattling and buzzing after less than 1000 miles.

Driver's side door handle broke at about 1000 miles.

The oil light came on yesterday while I was driving and when I checked the level, it was extremely low. It was night time and it took me a while to find a place that sold the synthetic oil specified by the manual. In fact, many gas stations did not carry the synthetic oil. Now I'm wary that there is an oil leak. I'm taking it into the dealer tomorrow but it is ridiculous to have all these problems after only driving the car 4000 miles. If there is an oil leak, I am seriously thinking of selling the car and going back to a Japanese brand. I've driven Honda, Acura, and Lexus and have never had this many problems. I've also called and e-mailed BMW to complain but have also never had a reply. I guess we were unlucky and got the lemons...

Yeah, the sunroof went out in my 00 328Ci as well. Bad design. It goes into the dealer tomorrow for repair - I'm going to push them to replace the whole thing. There's got to be a recall or something out on those...

Originally posted by surfskier
I hear ya!

I have a 2001 330 CI and I have also had alot of problems all within 4000 miles!

Subwoofer started rattling and buzzing after less than 1000 miles.

Driver's side door handle broke at about 1000 miles.

The oil light came on yesterday while I was driving and when I checked the level, it was extremely low. It was night time and it took me a while to find a place that sold the synthetic oil specified by the manual. In fact, many gas stations did not carry the synthetic oil. Now I'm wary that there is an oil leak. I'm taking it into the dealer tomorrow but it is ridiculous to have all these problems after only driving the car 4000 miles. If there is an oil leak, I am seriously thinking of selling the car and going back to a Japanese brand. I've driven Honda, Acura, and Lexus and have never had this many problems. I've also called and e-mailed BMW to complain but have also never had a reply. I guess we were unlucky and got the lemons...


This is what warranties are for. Yeah, it really stinks that you guys have had those problems, but you should just take the car back to the dealer and give them hell. Remember, you are a valuable customer who they will want more business from in the future. There's also no excuse for a brand new car to act up like that. If that oil problem persists and the dealership fails to fix it, start looking into your state's lemon law.

I got my car this past may and I have already had to replace the whole clutch assembly including the flywheel, the battery in my key is dead so i have to use the spare, the cigarette lighter keeps blowing fuses in my phone charger, I got a flat (I'm still fighting with the dealer to replace it) all this stuff has happened in the last month. Despite this stuff i still love my car...at least until the 3 year lease is up

I have had so many problems with my 2000 328Ci, it makes me sick to think about it.

1. The drivers side door handle broke, they fixed it then it broke again
2. The headlights have burned out 5 times already, with 21,700miles
3. The inside door flashing padded material has fallin off (ive been waiting for 3 months to get that fixed)
4. The Sunroof button has broken 3 seperate times
5. Floormats all but dissintagrated (driver's and passenger's)
6. Passenger airbag sensor malfunction twice (resulting in a new sensor)

All these problems have happened before 20k miles

I could go on and on, but im going to start to cry.....

The worst part, my dealer could care less whether or not i was happy, they deal in so much volume it really doesnt matter whether or not i come back...

If you guys want to complain to BMW, you can fo to www.planetfeedback and send a letter through their services for free and online. Its really easy and convenient.

I have sent 3 complaint letters to BMW through planetfeedback and its easy to track and super convenient to resend the letters because BMW will not get back to you. I highly recommend doing this. Hopefully if enough people complain, BMW will finally do something to help.
Good Luck

my shift knob popped off today the dealer fixed it but it was embarassing as hell with my girl in the car

I’m with BMW of North America, LLC. I’m sorry to read about your problem with your BMW. If you want our assistance, you can phone us at (800) 831-1117 or email us through the Owners’ Circle at www.bmwusa.com.

Hi BMW NA Customer Relations,

Thanks for your reply. I have already contacted BMW through the owner's circle and have called BMW many times. No one from BMW of North America has called me to date. If you would like to talk to me, I'd really appreciate it. I will give you my phone number if you contact me at [email protected]

By the way, I am experiencing more problems:

1. cd player still does not eject properly on cold mornings

2. driver's side door sticks and I have to manually force it down every time I open my door.

Needless to say, this is a pain and I am really disappointing given all the other problems that I have experienced. I would appreciate it if you personally or someone else from BMW north america would finally give me a call to address these issues. My dealer has called me (perhaps even at BMW's urging), but has done nothing to renew my confidence in the quality and reliability of your automobiles. They say there's nothing they can do.

Again, I really enjoy the performance of the car and want to remain a BMW customer for life, but these frustrating problems along with unsatisfactory customer service is making my BMW ownership experience miserable. Please HELP!!!!!!!!

I am requesting to speak to a customer service manager or product manager at BMW of north america. I want to understand why my car has so many problems with only 21,000 miles on it. I also want to know what I can do to be proactive about potential problems. I would like to take my BMW to the dealership and have it inspected for other known problems. I'm tired of having to go to the dealership all the time. I don't think this is an unusually demanding request.

BMW financial services is always prompt in delivering my monthly bill and its not unreasonable that they expect my payment on time. By the same token, its not unreasonable for me to expect that BMW north america would call me back in a reasonable time frame. To date, no one from BMW of north america has called me. The dealer has called, but only to tell me they can't do anything.

From this forum and other forums I've posted on, its obvious that a lot of 323, 328, 330 owners are experiencing a lot of the same problems. PLEASE CALL ME!!!! Thank you

Let me know if you ever get an answer from BMW NA. I agree with everything you said in your post. I'm very tired of taking my "new" car to the dealership. After 2 months of ownership, I feel like I own an "used" and "abused" car. I enjoy driving the car immensely but I don't know if it is enough to overcome the frustrations I have...

Its exceedingly frustrating. I really like my car too, its just the ownership experience and reliability that just kills me. After all the effort they put into the overall balance and dynamics of the car, its such a shame that reliability is such a nightmare. I wish you luck. I called BMW again today. I hope to hear from them soon.

I've also called BMW customer relations and e-mailed them many times but have never received a reply. The customer relations people only take down our complaints and pass it on to BMW. I guess BMW's sales are doing too well for them to care about people like us.

Hi Surfskier,

I recommend that you keep calling, emailing, writing letters. I called BMW again and although they have yet to call me, I have apparently been assigned to a customer service rep. I don't know what this means, but maybe they might respond to me soon. Good Luck

I have decided to start posting my letters to BMW in the hopes that someone from BMW North America will finally respond to my numerous emails, calls, and letters. I wrote this letter through PlanetFeedback.com and sent it to BMW's CEO:


Letter written 11/21/01


I am writing with a question about the customer service at BMW of North America Inc.

I have sent several complaint letters to BMW about my 2000 323ci's reliability. I have yet to get a call back from BMW of North America regarding my requests. I have emailed, called, and written letters. When can I expect a call from customer service?

Please respond to my complaints. At the very least, please give me a call back as promised. After spending $35,000 on a car, I think its reasonable for me to expect that someone from customer service would give me a call back. Especially when your site promises a response in 1 business day.

After sending an email through BMW's Owner's Circle Priority mail, this message appears: "Thank you for contacting the Customer Relations. Your comments have been received by BMW and you will receive a response within one business day."

NO ONE FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS EVER EMAILED OR CALLED ME BACK AT ALL. Please help me. Again, I don't think its unreasonable for me to expect a response from customer service. After weeks and months of no response, I have decided to started documenting my calls and letters:

Called customer service 10/22, 10/25, 11/16, 11/20
Emailed customer service 10/24, 10/31
Wrote letters through PlanetFeedback.com:
10/25, 10/31,

I emailed and called weeks and months before these records too. Last month I finally decided to start tracking my efforts.

...just a continuation of my efforts to get BMW to respond and take action:

(the below represents my documentation of my contact with BMW. I have called, emailed, and written letters prior to these dates, but finally decided that it was important to document my efforts)

Called customer service 10/22, 10/25, 11/16, 11/20
Emailed customer service 10/24, 10/31
Wrote letters through PlanetFeedback.com:
10/25, 10/31,

I also recently called on:

11/26

12/3

12/4

I spoke to someone at customer service who said that BMW was willing to look at my car, but no one has called me back to take action. I am still waiting...

I agree with you.

My friend drives the same car as you do. Her car is literally falling apart. Her bumper is coming off. Her passenger window won¡¦t roll up all the way. Her driver side door sometimes can¡¦t shut tightly. There are definitely more, but I can¡¦t remember. It¡¦s her first BMW and will be her last.

Sorry to hear about your car. You should think about complaining to BMWNA although that can be useless. Think about getting a Mercedez for your next car. For the same prize, Mercedez treats you like a King.

I don¡¦t own a Mercedez, but my boyfriend does. His car costs less than mine because it¡¦s a C series and I drive a 5 series. But every time he takes his car in, he is the KING. As for me, I don¡¦t get that treatment at all.

This is BS!!!!! These guys are completely liars!!!!!! Just jealous BMW non-owners!!!

BTW: my brother and mom own 323ci….Guess what no problems at all!!!!
:flipa:

Hey Technodrome
When you get a BMW ya can talk ya rassclot little boy. i have a 2001 330ci and don't get me wrong i love my car but there have been some little pain in the ass problems(see previous posts). Between my cousin and i we have driven a Honda, an Acura, Benz, a lexus, and an Audi. Of all of them BMW has some of the worst customer servive people in the business not to be confused with there service department those guys are cool as sh!t. When my lease is up in a year I intend to get an M3 because I am more then willing to put up with little problems because to me they are just temporary. Again i love my car because it looks badass and hauls ass...despite the problems.
P.S. BMW has yet to replace my flat

Hey bounty330ci
I don't lease cars I own them.... I've been driving BMW since 1986 and my family driving and owning BMWs since 1972...

Current I drive 2002 330 ci coupe Black (Hamann Motorsport styling)
I also owned:
Audi S4 1998-2002
BMW M3 97" 1996-1998
BMW 328 is 1995-1996
1993-1995 VW Corrado G60
BMW 318is 1992-1993
BMW 1989-1992 M3 (Euro-Alpine)
1985-1989 BMW 325is

You are such a newbie to me!!!!!!

Get you BMW at you local dealer!!!!!!!

Hey tech i am not here to flame with you. you started this sh!t saying people were lying. I don't own because I can completely write off up as many cars as I want per year leasing and I like get a new car almost every year straggering the leases. Gov't gets nosy when you try to write off a 50 thousand dollar car you bought. The only thing I own are houses and condos. I apologize for any insults I dont like being called a liar. i like this forum so dont call people liars just because you have had a plesant experience with your cars. I have had my clutch/flywheel replaced and a bunch of other little things the dealer has replaced everything but the flat tire. To me this not a major problem Next time I'll just go down to Miami and get that M I been wanting. take my girl to the clubs on southbeach and chill on the beach ya feel me! Tech I have seen your other posts you seem cool as f!ck so no worries. so, drink some 30year old scotch or smoke some :bandit: however you get down peace

P.S. I am no newbie my family is from jamaica the land of skylines, lancers and stis those are the cars my brothers drive in races at the track at dover. Next time you go on vacation you have got to go to jamaica sweet races and a tropical paradise what more can a person whant from life. cool

Until now I had to replace the thermostat, and my passenger door doesn´t open with the battery key, only manually!
And my floorcarpet on the driver side (is the standard carpet) has worn out!. Before I bought the 323Ci I had a 318i-99. The problems with that car were: The drivers heat seat mechanism didn´t work properly and the door didn´t close easily! Finally an irritating noise from the plastic surounding the instruments(kilometers, temperature etc).
I had to go all the way to the boss of the Bmw dealer I have bought
the car and forced him to take the whole thing apart and fix the problem! I love my car but sometimes i wonder wy BMW have these small but irritating quality problems! When you buy such an expensive car you demand superior quality in every detail! Don´t they test their cars properly? Don´t they have high quality demands on the producers that produce the different parts of their car?

Hi Alexander,

I totally agree. It seems that BMW doesn't spend much time on the details, which is a shame because they get most everything else right.

But still their customer service is miserable. I finally got a call from my dealership regarding my problems (but BMW Customer Service has yet to call me back per my countless requests). The service manager said he had to check with BMW to see if he could examine my car "for no reason." Unfortunately, that means more waiting...

I will continue calling and writing with the hope that one day they will take finally take some kind of action.

I'm considering buying a 325i or used 323i for my wife this Spring. I have had German cars in the past (911's, etc.) and had similar experiences. I've bought Japanese without any major problems and considering going that way again. I like the 3-series, but don't know if I can get used to crappy service again! Any advice?

Hi tmr,

Another front headlight bulb went out in my car the other day (that makes a total of 5 burned out in 1 year's time in addition to numerous more serious problems). I spoke to the service manager who has not be very helpful in this matter. I am convinced that this is either a product or service issue (what else could it be?), but he is not convinced and seems to think its bad luck.

Given my poor experience with both BMW's product and customer service, I would highly recommend another car. My previous 95 vw golf and 87 acura integra were entirely trouble free and I never even had to replace a single lightbulb. My family has owned over 5 hondas/acuras and they have all been trouble free.

I think the 3 series is a good car, but unless you are willing to deal with a lot of potential problems (my car has 22,000 miles), I would recommend another option.

I would be happy to tell you more about all the problems I've had if you have any specific questions. Good Luck.