Owners have filed 26 complaints on the BMW 335d, covering 2011–2011. The system named most often is Electrical System (7 reports). Worst years by volume: 2011; cleanest: 2011. 0 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire. On average the car was 7.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on BMW 335d
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 26 335d complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 7 Read
The vehicle continues to stahl and now the dealer said it was the high/low fuel pumps and injectors which cost more than the vehicle. I am stuck making payments this car is junk and the car needs to be recalled...... Every month I have a problem since october the vehicle has been in the shop 12 times. The injectors,…
2011 bmw 335d. Consumer writes with regard to recall campaign no. 18V-314: power supply system, and inquires when repairs will be done. *as the consumer stated the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time completing the recall repair
Received initial recall notice from bmw december 2017. As of may 27th 2018 a remedy is still not available to correct electrical issues that could cause a possible fire. Bmw is able to provide parts to produce new auto's but makes little effort to correct know issues on the autos that it has already sold
Air Bags 7 Read
- The component that has failed is the front passenger seat occupancy sensor, as indicated by an OBDII scan showing fault code 93C3, seat-occupancy detector, passenger. - The safety of any person in the front passenger seat is compromised because the passenger airbag will not deploy while this sensor is not operating…
Passenger airbag malfunction, seat sensitivity is touchy, reports an occupant when empty and gives an occasional malfunction warning, at any speed, any time
The front passenger seatbelt sensor malfunctions and sets off the warning sound as if someone is siting in the seat when nobody or nothing is in the seat. This may cause airbag malfunctions or have it not deploy. This has been happening since the first day I bought the car several weeks ago. The issue is constant…
Engine 3 Read
While driving the car the reduced power message came on, drove car for another 15 minutes home, at home in the driveway opened the hood and saw that the engine was glowing red on passenger side, very hot under the hood, within minutes flames ignited and black smoke came from under the hood. We ran for water hose and…
It started may, 2017, when my 335d was idling rough and jerked as I was driving at a slow speed. I took it into crevier bmw in santa ana. The car had 53,000 miles and they said it had carbon build up on the intake manifold and #1 & 5 fuel injector. They replaced the fuel injectors and walnut blast the manifold. Swirl…
I've had to replace the egr module to avoid catastrophic results. An identical issues resulted in a recall from bmw for diesels from other years: https://www.consumerreports.org/car-recalls-defects/bmw-recalls-diesel-cars-and-suvs-for-fire-risk/ . However, bmw has chosen not to expand the recall to cover this engine…
Steering 2 Read
Whilst driving vehicle, battery warning light, brake warning lights came on. Vehicle lost all power steering, and was impossible to drive. After visit to dealership, appears that harmonic balancer was completely broken off, in turn, taking out various belts, including the belts that power a/c and most importantly…
While coming to a stop in a parking lot the steering became difficult and the smell of burning rubber was present. Had the car been going a high rate of speed it would have been disastrous
Power Train 2 Read
Years of my 335d overheating and stalling and dealer cant figure out the issue. I’ve replaced injectors, done carbon blasting, replaced nox sensor, replaced whole battery/electrical components. Just recently replaced the all belts, hoses, and egr module to avoid catastrophic results. After removing the components you…
The 2011 vehicle with less than 65,000 miles normal runs at highway speed in a range of 2k rpms. A warning regarding the transmission immediately caused the car to rev up to 5k RPM (very high for a diesel engine sedan) and the speed reduces 30-40mph while driving. It is incredibly scary and dangerous. Assumed this was…
Fuel System 1 Read
The contact owns a 2011 BMW 335D. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed on a 6-hour trip, there was thick fumes coming into the cabin of the vehicle from the exhaust. The contact stated that he drove the vehicle to the dealer and the vehicle was diagnosed with a clogged DEF filter.…
Fuel/propulsion System 1 Read
Less than 70k miles and had to replace manifold, injectors etc due to excess carbon bmw needs to do more to address the issue of pollution on these vehicles
Tires 1 Read
I purchased 4 replacement run flat tires for my wifes bmw 335d with 40,000 mile tread wear warranty. After 20,000 miles the front tires were half worn and the rears were near bald. I contacted tire rack, where I had purchased replacement tires, and they sent out 2 rear replacement tires to their local installer; which…
335d years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Air Bags | — | 2 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 15 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.7 |
| Worst single series | 5 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.5 years |
A model average of 1.7 hides a worst series at 5. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the 335d?
By complaint volume, 2011 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which 335d years are the cleanest?
2011 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the BMW 335d have?
26 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2011–2011. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 2 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.