There are 5 owner-reported air bags & restraints complaints for the 2001 BMW 3 Seriesin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND OUT OF NO WHERE THE AIR BAGS GO OFF. ENGINE IMMEDIATELY SHUT OFF AND WON'T START AGAIN.
I TOOK IT TO BMW DEALER TO FIX THE RECALL PART--AIR BAG MODULE ON MAY 01,2015, NEXT DAY I WENT TO PICKUP THE CAR, THEY TOLD ME IT IS DONE. I HAD NOT LOOK AT THE PAPER WORK. AFTER THE DAY BEFORE, I RECEIVED FINAL RECALL AGAIN, AND THEN I LOOK UP THE DOCUMENT, THEN I FOUND OUT DEALER HAD NOT CHANGE THE AIR BAG MODULE FOR ME. THE PAPER TYPE IN " DEALER IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO PERFORM RECALL REPAIRS FOR NON DEALER BRAND VEHICLE"? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY??
DEALER REFUSES TO FIX DEFECT IN REGARDS TO AIRBAG RECALL NOTICE. THE DEALER IS WEATHERFORD BMW IN BERKELEY CALIFORNIA, 735 ASHBY AVE, BERKELEY, CA 94710. *TR
I RECEIVED A SAFETY RECALL LETTER AUG-SEP 2014. THE LETTER STATED THAT I WOULD BE NOTIFIED WHEN THE AIR-BAG REPLACEMENT WOULD BE AVAILABLE. IT IS OCTOBER 24TH. I CALLED THE BMW INFORMATION NUMBER 1-800-525-7417 TODAY. A RECORDING REPEATED THE INFORMATION IN THE LETTER: THAT I WOULD BE NOTIFIED WHEN THE REPLACEMENT AIRBAG WOULD BE AVAILABLE. I HAVE ONLY ONE CAR, THE BMW. MY DAUGHTER AND I LIVE TOGETHER - I AM THE USUAL DRIVER. YESTERDAY A CAR PULLED OUT IN FRONT OF US AND I HAD TO SLAM ON THE BRAKES TO AVOID A COLLISION. LUCKILY, THE AIR BAGS WERE NOT TRIGGERED. BUT I AM CONCERNED ABOUT OUR SAFETY, SHOULDN'T BMW PROVIDE US WITH A REPLACEMENT VEHICLE UNTIL THE AIR BAG CAN BE REPLACED? THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE? *TR
CONSUMER WAS TRAVELING ABOUT 55MPH ON HIGHWAY AND ANOTHER VEHICLE VEERED INTO HIS LANE, AND DRIVER'S SIDE AIRBAG DIDN'T DEPLOY. DEALERSHIP WAS AWARE OF PROBLEM.*AK
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026