Owners have filed 44 complaints on the BMW 650i, covering 2012–2015. The system named most often is Engine (13 reports). Worst years by volume: 2012, 2013, 2014; cleanest: 2015, 2014, 2013. 0 reports describe a crash, 3 a fire. On average the car was 5.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on BMW 650i
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 44 650i complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 13 Read
The contact owns a 2013 bmw 650i. The contact stated that while driving at 75 mph, there was a sudden vibration and the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact turned the vehicle off and restarted it to correct the failure. The vehicle was taken to tom bush bmw of orange park, located in jacksonville florida…
While driving, the car will have a sudden shake, an immediate loss of power and the engine light comes on. The main radio screen displays a drivetrain malfunction, reduced power, immediate service. During this time the car has significant and sustained shaking and loses nearly all forward power. The car must come to…
I've had several problems with this car, which have been quite disappointing. Drivetrain malfunction light popped up just around 52k miles, it had a rough idle, multiple cylinder misfires and would go limp often. Went to the dealership in kalamazoo, michigan, where they told me after diagnostics they were not sure…
Power Train 8 Read
Vehicle is exhibiting an intermittent vibration that appears to be coming from under the vehicle and can be felt in both the driver, passenger seat and center console while driving at highway speeds. Took vehicle in to the dealer to diagnose problem. General manager as well as shop foreman drove vehicle to confirm…
During routine service last month, local bmw dealer found the drive shaft rear guibo/flexible disc was cracking and recommended immediate action. It's the same problem as was recalled on other bmw models (see recall campaign 17V-067). I reported it to bmw but bmw refused to take any action or to assist. Cost to fix is…
When vehicle is in motion, accelerating, 'drivetrain malfunction' light pops on, vehicle loses all power, runs rough, and stalls. This has happened on a highway while driving twice, and vehicle becomes instantly disabled. This has happened with several other 2012 ' 2015 bmw 6-series coupe/convertible owners as well.…
Electrical System 3 Read
I was driving and the vehicle started to shaking and vibrating and smoking like hell. Vehicle information displayed stated drive train malfunctions drive moderately. I call up the dealer and they advised me to drive the vehicle to the dealer which was like 2 miles away. When I reach to the dealer location I see smoke…
While driving my passenger seat back burnt my wife's back and was smoking. I turned the seat cooling off and it stopped
So the issue I'm experiencing happens while in motion randomly (driving) with my 2013 bmw 650 xi grand coupe. ! As I'm driving , the dash board and the bmw idrive displays all major malfunctions with my 2013 bmw 650xi grand coupe . Then my bmw proceeds to shake , slows down and then your unable to accelerate pass…
Wheels 3 Read
Rim's cracking I purchased this car in august of 2018 according to the odometer in had just a little more than 28000 miles other than the rims I've been very please with the car I took the car back to the place where I purchased it they access the damages and said that they could be repaired less than 2 months later…
Bought this car new on 6/10/14 in illinois. At the time of purchase the dealer tried to sell me 10k worth of additional warranties. I asked which one(s) I really needed and they said you need the tire warranty. The car has 12k miles on it. Have had three separate incidents of broken tires. Two in summer of 2014 and…
Bmw 650 n63 engine issues aka drivetrain malfunction (dtm) error has been a very common issue in these cars. If you do your research people with brand new cars with less than 100 miles have these issues as well. Long story short bmw, na offered to buy back my car after spending more than 5 weeks in the shop for 2nd…
Tires 2 Read
Goodyear eagle ls 2 run on flat tires (245/40r19) developed sidewall bubbles on 3 tires over 9kmiles. No rim damage, not even a scratch. I did not hit any major potholes. The online customer reviews also cite terrible experience with side wall bubbles.(see tirerack reviews of this tire). The NHTSA complaint form only…
The run flat tire sidewall failed after driving over a very small pot hole. This is the ninth (9th) tire to be replaced in less than 14 months. 8 of the 9 were goodyear eagle ls-2. Bmw refused to take responsibility for this defective car. They blamed the goodyear tire. I changed the entire set of tires to bridgestone…
Fuel/propulsion System 2 Read
Driving 20 mins at 65-70 mph, upon coming to a stop or slowing down car vibrates and stumbles,warning lights appear.. Fuel system, drive train malfunctions lights come on vehicle display and car shuts loses power. Only allowing to coast or become dead in the road.very hard to clear lanes of traffic due to lose of…
BMW voluntarily came out with an extended warranty for faulty fuel injectors (not a recall). Warning of drive train malfunction came on, vehicle would barely run. Dealer determined that #8 fuel injector was the problem and was replaced. The fuel injection shuts down during DT malfunction so all fuel is not being…
Service Brakes 2 Read
The contact owns a 2012 bmw 650i. While driving 70 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and the front end of the vehicle began to vibrate violently without warning. The failure was persistent. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the rotors and brake pads failed and needed to be replaced. The…
The brakes present with a vibration or "judder" (as described by bmw) on application at all speeds. The vibration increases at higher speeds - thus the major safety issue. This was a result of rotor warping under normal driving conditions (all 4 rotors and pads???? - this is incredulous). I contacted bmw usa and they…
Air Bags 2 Read
Receive a "passenger restraint system" failure. Bmw el cajon dealership diagnosed problem as passenger occupancy seat mat sensor. This is a very serious issue. The front passenger seat occupant detection mat determines if and how the passenger frontal air bag should deploy in a crash. This know bmw issue develops…
A warning light for the passenger side front airbag is on. Bmw wants to charge me $1500 to replace the faulty airbag. How can it be damaged if it's never been used? How is this repair my responsibility? Additionally, this bmw burns oil. It seems to be a problem with all 8 cylinder models as they age. I have to add a…
650i 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 2014 | Forward Collision Avoidance | — | — | |
| 2013 | Electrical System,engine,fuel/propulsion System | — | 1 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags,engine | — | 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 | 36 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.2 |
| Worst single series | 4 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.5 years |
A model average of 1.2 hides a worst series at 4. 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 650i?
By complaint volume, 2012, 2013, 2014 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 650i years are the cleanest?
2015, 2014, 2013 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the BMW 650i have?
44 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2012–2015. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 3 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.