Owners have filed 24 complaints on the BMW 740Li, covering 2011–2015. The system named most often is Engine (5 reports). Worst years by volume: 2011, 2013, 2012; cleanest: 2015, 2014, 2012. 2 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire. On average the car was 5.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on BMW 740Li
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 24 740Li complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 5 Read
The contact owns a 2011 bmw 740li. While the vehicle was stationary, the water pump failed. The contact stated that the wire of the auxiliary that connected to the water pump melted. The contact purchased a new auxiliary wire for the water pump, but complained of a burning odor inside the cabin of the vehicle even…
While stopped at light car will shut off. You have to restart
Ii was on florida turnpike late night around 10.30pm with my wife going south and all of sudden we hear loud noise from our car and the car started to shut off by itself in the middle of the highway . I was going on 70 miles per hour and was very lucky that there was only few cars on the road I was able to steer it to…
Power Train 5 Read
The contact owns a 2013 bmw 740li. While driving 60 mph, the contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the front of the vehicle. Afterwards, the vehicle shifted into first gear and veered to the shoulder of the road. The contact turned the vehicle off and on while the driveshaft warning indicator illuminated. The…
Drivetrain signal came on light in car started to turn on and off gearshift became real cold started to slow down only allow to go 50 mph
The contact owns a 2012 bmw 740li. When the contact attempted to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated and then lunged forward. The failure occurred often. During the failure, the "power train malfunctioning" message appeared on the instrument panel. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not…
Electrical System 3 Read
Walking out of the grocery store I noticed my car had moved, hit the curb and damaged my bottom front bumper. I started and turned on my car and then noticed the shifter was on neutral and not parked. Shifter would only shift to any gear except for the parking gear. I drove my car home and tried parking my car in the…
Vehicle is equipped with soft closing doors. Passenger door actuator malfunctioned which prevented the passenger door from locking. That malfunction short circuited the entire vehicle locking system. It created a unsafe driving condition which locked the driver side door from the inside and outside of the vehicle.…
Electric water pump failed. While driving, engine overheated and warning light illuminated. I immediately pulled over and my car was towed in for repairs. Why wasn't the N54 engine not included in the recall campaign#11V-521? Also, my fuel line was found to be leaking when this car was towed in for the electric water…
Air Bags 2 Read
Tell us what happended: I was traveling east bound on a 3 lane road, when a moving truck pulled out of a shopping center in a non signaled drive attempting to cross road to head west bound, what seemed to be last moment as I was continuing east bound the truck suddenly pulled out a cross road, leaving me minimal time…
My wife has had surgery and needs a seat cushion. When we use it on the front passenger side the air bag off light goes on. Bmw offers no solution. "you may not use a non bmw authorized cushion" on you passenger seat. I asked for an authorized bmw cushion, they said non exists. We are afraid to drive our car in that…
Wheels 2 Read
The contact owns a 2014 bmw 740li. The contact noticed that the rear passenger rim fractured and the air pressure warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted at 800-831-1117 and stated that the VIN was not included in…
Two wheels have cracked after approximately 33,000 miles of normal driving
Firerelated 1 Read
The contact owns a 2012 BMW 740LI Sedan. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 mph when the vehicle backfired which resulted in the vehicle exploding. The drive train malfunction warning light was illuminated. There was black smoking coming from the rear passenger side of the vehicle and caught fire. The…
Seat Belts 1 Read
The contact owns a 2014 bmw 740li. The contact stated that the front driver's seat belt female connector would not latch. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the female connector failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the…
Fuel System 1 Read
The contact owns a 2013 bmw 740li. While driving approximately 50 mph, the fuel compromised warning light illuminated, the vehicle shut off, and the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing and the fuel pump was replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The…
740Li 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 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2012 | Engine | — | 1 | |
| 2011 | Electrical System | 1 | 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 | 20 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.2 |
| Worst single series | 3 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.8 years |
A model average of 1.2 hides a worst series at 3. 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 740Li?
By complaint volume, 2011, 2013, 2012 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 740Li years are the cleanest?
2015, 2014, 2012 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the BMW 740Li have?
24 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2011–2015. Of those, 2 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.