1998 BMW Z3 — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 43 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Seats8 (18.6%)
• Electrical system6 (14.0%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 1999.
• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)4 (9.3%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 1999.
• Suspension4 (9.3%)
• Air bags (restraint system)3 (7.0%)
• Equipment & accessories3 (7.0%)

Other / uncategorized: 1 classifications (2.3%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

• Owner complaints (410 records, model years 1996–2002) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), seat belts and seats.
• Manufacturer communications (128 records, model years 1996–2002) are most frequently classified under: engine, fuel system and electrical system.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

1. 1996 45 records for 1996 45
2. 1997 63 records for 1997 63
3. 1998 52 records for 1998 52
4. 1999 53 records for 1999 53
5. 2000 47 records for 2000 47
6. 2001 26 records for 2001 26
7. 2002 11 records for 2002 11

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

• 2mention a crash
• 2mention a fire
• 2mention an injury

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

• Safety recalls NHTSA 1
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 21
• Owner complaints NHTSA 30

Explore the underlying evidence records