Owners have filed 19 complaints on the BMW 640i, covering 2012–2019. The system named most often is Electrical System (4 reports). Worst years by volume: 2014, 2013, 2015; cleanest: 2012, 2019, 2015. 2 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 4.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on BMW 640i
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 19 640i complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 4 Read
My instrument cluster went blank at 52k miles no data nothing. For such high priced car to have an instrument cluster to go bad after 3 years is a disgrace to bmw. Called bmw and they denied the repair due to the fact the car is out of warranty due to the miles 2800 over. This is a safety issue and needs to be…
To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to formally report a vehicle fire that occurred on [XXX] at approximately [XXX] in Alabama State University. The vehicle involved is a 2012 BMW 640i Coupe (black) with the license plate number [XXX]. The fire started while driving. Within a matter of minutes, the fire rapidly…
On 9/27/19 I left the gas station with full tank of gas and stopped at a red light on a busy road in rush hour traffic. The light changed green my vehicle shut off and would not restart creating a safety hazard. I put the gear in neutral and pushed out of the road. A light came on "auto start/stop disengaged."…
Wheels 3 Read
This car has bridgestone potanza s001 tires that are summer tires and are not safe for winter, I learned that driving on a snow day in town. Not drivable
The tires blew out while on a road trip at app 11,000 miles, separation right under the rim. Tires are still under warranty. However, goodyear dunlop won't be square with warranty, making the warranty of no value. In fact they lied about the cause at first. Still have the tire for review
The rear tire was leaking causing an unsafe road condition. When the tire was inspected it was found that the wheel had a crack in the support due to a defect in design. The dealer states that many of the 5 and 6 series with this wheel have issues and offered me a "warranty package" for them for $1700. When doing…
Structure 3 Read
The car is leaking from the third rear brake light (at the rear roof of the car). It appears the seals and possible clips/fasteners have failed and water is entering the car during rain or water immersion from the rear brake light, to the back seat, trunk, and rear floor. There is now visible mold in the car
Both doors will not open without using the power door lock button. The driver side was the first side to fail and about four months later the passenger side is now doing the same thing. This is very concerning due to if the vehicle was to get in a major accident and the battery become disconnected I could not get out…
Driver door occasionally does not unlock with the door handle. Standard operation is to pull handle twice to unlock and open the door. This does not always work, and I can't get out of the car, without finding the keyfob, or using the central locking button on the dash. This is a safety issue. If the battery were to…
Air Bags 2 Read
2014 bmw 6401. Consumer writes in regard to airbag deployment failure after accident. *as
Warning light that the front passenger airbag was not working
Back Over Prevention 1 Read
The contact owns a 2019 BMW 640i. The contact stated that after purchasing the vehicle, he noticed that the Back Over Prevention camera was inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be inspected. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle was not equipped with the reverse camera and that there was…
Tires 1 Read
The contact owns a 2015 (na) bmw 640i equipped with dunlop sp sport maxx et (na) tires, size: 245/35/r20 (na). While the vehicle was at a local dealer for routine repair, the technician diagnosed that there were bubbles around the sidewall of the front driver side tire and it needed to be replaced. The tire was…
Engine 1 Read
Unknown
Service Brakes 1 Read
The contact owns a 2013 bmw 640i. While the vehicle was stopped at a red light, the engine would not auto econo restart and had to be pushed off the road. The vehicle was towed to tom bush bmw jacksonville (9875 atlantic blvd, jacksonville, fl 32225, (904) 371-4790) where the battery and brakes were replaced. The…
640i 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Back Over Prevention | — | — | |
| 2015 | Structure | — | — | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2012 | Electrical System | — | 1 |
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 | 17 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.1 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.7 years |
A model average of 1.1 hides a worst series at 2. 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
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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 640i?
By complaint volume, 2014, 2013, 2015 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 640i years are the cleanest?
2012, 2019, 2015 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the BMW 640i have?
19 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2012–2019. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 1 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.