There are 5 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2008 BMW 3 Seriesin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP WHICH WAS RECALLED AND REPLACED IN 2011 IS PROBLEMATIC AGAIN. WHEN PUSHING THE GAS PEDAL HARDER, THE CAR STUTTERS AND DOES NOT RESPOND TO THE EXTRA POWER REQUESTED BY FLOORING THE GAS PEDAL AND MAKES PUT ME IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION. THE 'SERVICE ENGINE SOON' LIGHT CAME UP AS WELL. I PULLED THE CAR OVER WHEN I COULD, STOPPED AND STARTED THE ENGINE AGAIN AND THE "SERVICE ENGINE" LIGHT DISAPPEARED. THIS IS THE SAME ISSUE BACK IN 2011 AND RECURRING AGAIN. I SUSPECT THIS HAS BEEN THERE FOR A LONG TIME, BUT AS MY WIFE DOES NOT PUNCH THE GAS AS HARD AS ME, SHE NOTICED THIS ONLY ON FEW OCCASIONS. I NOTICED THIS TWICE IN THE LAST MONTH AND SO, CALLED THE STEALERSHIP AND LOGGING A COMPLAINT HERE. IN 2011, THEY SAID BMW EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO 10 YEARS AND SO, THIS SHOULD BE COVERED NOW AS WELL, BUT THE STEALERSHIP ABVIOUSLY WOULD NOT ACKNOWLEDGE. HOPE OUR GREAT PRESIDENT TRUMP SHOW GERMANY THEIR PLACE, AND HOPE BMW PAYS FOR THE TERRIBLE ENGINEERING TILL ELON MUSK MAKES THEM GO BANKRUPT.
WHILE THE CAR WAS TRAVELLING AT A RATE OF ABOUT 45 MPH, IT DID SOMETHING I NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE. IT STARTED TO SHAKE, SPUTTER AND LOSE POWER WHILE ASCENDING A ON A PAVED CITY STREET THAT HAD ABOUT A 20 DEGREE UPHILL GRADE. THE VEHICLE BEHIND ME DIDN'T EXPECT MY SUDDEN SPEED CHANGE AND NEARLY REAR ENDED ME.. THE ENGINE ICON APPEARED ON THE DASH AND I SPUTTERED ALL THE WAY HOME.
WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT APPROXIMATELY 75 MILES/HR, THE ENGINE SUDDENLY DROPPED DOWN SPEED DRASTICALLY (FELT LIKE SOMEONE DOWN SHIFTED THE CAR) AND STARTED TO SHAKE AND RUMBLE. TRY TO STEP ON THE GAS, BUT THE CAR WON'T RESPOND IN SPEEDING CAR; TRY TO STEP ON THE BREAK, THE CAR WON'T STOP EITHER. COMPLETELY LOST CONTROL OF THE CAR FOR ABOUT 5 SECONDS. THEN, THE CAR SUDDENLY SHIFTED BACK IT IT'S NORMAL GEAR AND WAS ABLE TO DRIVE NORMALLY. READ THE TEMPERATURE OF THE ENGINE OIL, THE TEMPERATURE WAS ON "0". THIS IS THE 2ND INCIDENT. *TR
THIS IS THE 1ST INCIDENT. DRIVING LIKE USUAL, UP A HILL AT APPROXIMATELY 45 MILES PER HOUR THEN LET GO OF GAS AND BRAKE TO LET THE CAR GO DOWN THE HILL ITSELF. SUDDENLY, THE CAR SOUNDED LIKE IT HAS SHIFTED AND AT THE SAME TIME SPEED UP BY ITSELF. THOUGHT I SWITCHED TO MANUAL DRIVE, SO TRY TO SWITCH BACK, BUT NO SWITCHES WAS MAD. TRY TO STEP ON THE BRAKE, THE CAR WOULD NOT STOP. SO, TRY TO SWITCH FROM AUTO TO MANUAL DRIVE, CAR STILL HAS NO REACTION. STEP ON THE BRAKE FORCEFULLY TO HAVE THE CAR STOP. THANK GOODNESS THIS WAS LATE AT NIGHT SO NO CAR WAS BEHIND OR IN FRONT OF ME. *TR
AS AN EXAMPLE, WHEN ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE THE VEHICLE ONTO A MOVING TRAFFIC SITUATION THE CAR HESITATES/LAGS/DELAYS BEFORE THE ENGINE CATCHES, THEN IT TAKES OFF LIKE A RABBIT WHEN YOU DON'T EXPECT IT. THIS VEHICLE BEHAVIOR HAS CAUSED NEAR MISS ACCIDENTS MORE THAN ONCE WHEN I WAS DRIVING. IT'S NOT A DELAY WHICH DECREASES A TRANSIENT SURGE. IT INCREASES THE TRANSIENT SURGE AS THE CAR DOES NOT RESPOND TO THE THROTTLE FOR A HALF SECOND THEN BOLTS FORWARD WITH AN AWKWARD LURCH AND A SLAM. IT'S MUCH ROUGHER THAN A NORMAL TAKEOFF WOULD BE. IT'S NOT AT ALL SMOOTH. SOME HAVE DESCRIBED IT AS BEING REAR-ENDED. THE HAS BEEN HAPPENING SINCE I PURCHASED THE CAR IN NOVEMBER 2010 MANY BMW OWNERS HAVE REPORTED THE PROBLEM TO BMW AS I HAVE. THE ANSWER I GOT AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS FROM BMW WAS, "IT'S NORMAL". *TR
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