2016 BMW 328I problems & reliability
56 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2016 BMW 328I, alongside 1 safety recall campaign. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
5 complaints report injuries (6 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2016 BMW 328I vehicles were involved in 20 fatal crashes with 14 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical System → | 21 | 38% |
| Engine → | 15 | 27% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling → | 13 | 23% |
| Unknown OR Other | 13 | 23% |
| Power Train | 8 | 14% |
| Service Brakes | 8 | 14% |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 4 | 7% |
| Steering | 3 | 5% |
| Air Bags | 2 | 4% |
| Electronic Stability Control (esc) | 1 | 2% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 28,500 miles (middle 50% between 14,375 and 53,250 miles), based on 20 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“When the fuel gauge reads 1/4 of a tank or less the car stalls sporadically and comes to a jerking stop. This causes the cars behind us to either slam on their brakes or swerve to avoid hitting us. We reported this to our local BMW dealer and were told this is a known issue on many models, including ours. However, our…”
Fuel/propulsion System · filed Jul 22, 2026
“My vehicle was stolen. Dent on right back fender . Footage needs to be pulled from Gull Aire Village 34677. Witness was [XXX] . First dent. Sunpass has image. Reported to CLWR pd. Accident photos sent. Not same car. Allstate Insurance. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C…”
Unknown OR Other · filed Nov 10, 2025
“The contact owns a 2016 BMW 328I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted, and it was confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated…”
Engine and Engine Cooling · filed Sep 11, 2025
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Federal defect investigations
- Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
Engineering Analysis EA21002 · opened Sep 17, 2021 · open
Technical service bulletins
387 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2016 BMW 328I. The 10 most recent:
Evap system purge (vent) valve ext ltd wty (elw) 15/150
B010224 · Warranty Program/Extension · issued May 2, 2024
The basic conditions for initializing the power windows are not met.
B510819 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 16, 2024
The electrical system of BMW vehicles has been subject to an ongoing development process over the last few years. This has led to increased demands being placed on the battery. This document covers important information…
B611305 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jan 11, 2024
Diesel fuel injectors: ltd wty extension to 10 years/120,000 miles
B010919 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Nov 16, 2023
Pressure control valve (pcv) extended ltd wty 15 years/150,000 miles
B011423 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Nov 13, 2023
After programming the head unit (HU-H2), activating the FSC (German word Freischaltcode) Enabling Codes repeatedly fails.
B651523 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 1, 2023
Upon opening and closing the tailgate, a creaking/groaning sound can be heard from tailgate actuator.
B514616 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 1, 2023
The 3G network in the US has been shut down. This means that only the 4G network will be available. In the 4G network, voice calls will be transferred via the Voice over LTE (VoLTE) function. For this purpose, the SIM…
B840822 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 1, 2023
Exterior rear lights do not work.
B630917 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 1, 2023
After an automatic engine start (MSA start), the transmission intermittently goes into the Park "P" or Neutral "N" position without any customer influence.
B122519 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Dec 1, 2022
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2016 BMW 328I has 1 NHTSA recall campaign — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2016 BMW 328I?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 28,500 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.