BMW 320I 2012–2018 — technical service bulletin
Bulletin B120918 · NHTSA communication 10149573 · issued Oct 1, 2018
Technical service bulletin
communication type
Engine and Engine Cooling
component
2012–2018
model years
40
vehicle entries
Official summary
NOISE FROM ENGINE WHEN STARTING. Noise when starting the engine. Engine making a rattling/grinding noise near the 12 volt starter motor. The following fault has been stored in the DME fault memory: * 21A511 - Start system, pinion starter motor: Timeout The following faults are also possible: * 21A504 - EGS, separation clutch: jammed open * 21A50A - Start system, pinion starter: Timeout successively occurred multiple times * 21A510 - Start system, EME: Timeout Consequential damage to flywheel (Torsional vibration damper) and automatic transmission may have also occurred. The starter motor is br
Vehicles covered
- 2013 BMW 320I
- 2014 BMW 320I
- 2015 BMW 320I
- 2016 BMW 320I
- 2017 BMW 320I
- 2014 BMW 328D
- 2015 BMW 328D
- 2016 BMW 328D
- 2017 BMW 328D
- 2012 BMW 328I
- 2013 BMW 328I
- 2014 BMW 328I
- 2015 BMW 328I
- 2016 BMW 328I
- 2016 BMW 330E
- 2017 BMW 330E
- 2017 BMW 330I
- 2012 BMW 335I
- 2013 BMW 335I
- 2014 BMW 335I
- 2015 BMW 335I
- 2016 BMW 335I
- 2016 BMW 340I
- 2017 BMW 340I
- 2018 BMW 530E
- 2017 BMW 530I
- 2018 BMW 530I
- 2018 BMW 540D
- 2017 BMW 540I
- 2017 BMW 550I
- 2017 BMW 740E
- 2017 BMW 740I
- 2016 BMW 740LI
- 2017 BMW 740LI
- 2016 BMW 750LI
- 2017 BMW 750LI
- 2013 BMW Activehybrid 3
- 2014 BMW Activehybrid 3
- 2015 BMW Activehybrid 3
- 2017 BMW M760I
What a TSB means. Technical service bulletins are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls, and repairs are not automatically free (warranty extensions are an exception worth checking). The full document is available via NHTSA’s vehicle lookup.