Owners have filed 26 complaints on the BMW i5, covering 2024–2025. The system named most often is Service Brakes (8 reports). Worst years by volume: 2024, 2025; cleanest: 2025, 2024. 4 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 0.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on BMW i5
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 26 i5 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 8 Read
The contact owns a 2025 BMW I5. The contact stated that while driving at 6 MPH before dawn, the brakes became inoperable while making a left turn and a right U-turn around a van. The brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard, went up the curb, made a quick right turn to avoid a major crash, and eventually crashed…
I was driving a brand-new 2025 BMW i5 electric car, just leased from dealer the day before. The car was at rest, waiting for traffic light to turn green. Then the car started to move forward, and suddenly hit the car in front with a big thrust. My foot was on the brake trying to stop the car, but I felt like being hit…
The contact's insurer owned a 2024 BMW I5. The contact stated that the insurer received notice of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V104000 (Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The contact stated that while the insurer was parking the vehicle, and the brake was depressed, the vehicle inadvertently…
Electrical System 5 Read
The dealer is refusing to remedy the recall campaign No.26V-09 stating that we need to wait for service to be due to address it. NHTSA letter says otherwise
Loss power and system reset
The vehicle listed has an unfixable defect (water valve/coolant issue) that creates a safety hazard in an electric vehicle, BMW, the manufacturer has failed to provide a remedy within a reasonable timreframe. AC Coolant valve and high voltage battery are part of the same loop which make this vehicle a safety hazard.…
Power Train 3 Read
Vehicle History & Initial Defect: I took delivery of a used 2025 BMW i5 in November 2025 (1025 mi). Upon delivery, the vehicle immediately displayed a persistent "Acoustic Pedestrian Warning" failure. This was a direct violation of FMVSS No. 141 (Minimum Sound Requirements for Hybrid and EV). Despite dealer assurances…
The car shut off unexpectedly while driving down a main road. There was first a power train warning, suggesting taking the car to the dealer and to drive cautiously. Then the car suddenly had an emergency power failure and the car shut completely off. Luckily I was able to coast into a subdivision. If I had been on a…
While driving in heavy highway traffic at approximately 5–10 mph, the vehicle suddenly displayed a red warning message and symbol in the driver’s gauge cluster indicating the car was shutting down. About 15–20 seconds later, propulsion was completely lost, although power steering and braking remained available. I…
Steering 2 Read
On May 3, 2026, while operating my 2024 BMW i5 on public roads, the vehicle suffered a sudden and complete loss of power steering with no prior warning. I could not turn the steering wheel at a stop. The instrument cluster simultaneously displayed: "Vehicle may roll. Brake manually," "Drive carefully. Changed steering…
I was driving east bound on [XXX] near the [XXX] exit and using the fully automated driving (where I am watching the road to take over if necessary but the vehicle was maintaining speed and steering) I received the following errors: (I symbol error) Reduced driver assistance, (triangle error) Forward Collision…
Forward Collision Avoidance 1 Read
During a red light stop, car took off with a massive acceleration after release of breaks and hit the car standing in front of it, causing a significant damage to the front of the car. None of the accident prevention systems, emergency breaks were triggered or activated. Car is equipped with accident record system for…
Visibility/wiper 1 Read
While driving under normal conditions at roadway speed, the panoramic sunroof glass suddenly failed with a loud explosive sound. There was no observed impact, no debris strike, and no prior damage to the glass. The failure resulted in a large central blowout with shattered glass and fragments displaced outward from…
Back Over Prevention 1 Read
While reversing my 2024 BMW i5, the main infotainment display repeatedly blacks out for 3–5 seconds, eliminating the rear-view camera image. The blackout occurs without warning, roughly once every 25-30 reverse maneuvers, leaving zero rearward visibility and forcing hard braking to avoid pedestrians and fixed objects.…
Electronic Stability Control (esc) 1 Read
The contact owns a 2024 BMW I5. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V104000 (Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Service Brakes); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair.…
i5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Electrical System,unknown Or Other | 2 | — | |
| 2024 | Back Over Prevention | 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 | 19 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.4 |
| Worst single series | 3 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 0.7 years |
A model average of 1.4 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 i5?
By complaint volume, 2024, 2025 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 i5 years are the cleanest?
2025, 2024 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the BMW i5 have?
26 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2024–2025. Of those, 4 describe a crash and 0 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.