2003 BMW Z4 — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 460 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Steering344 (74.8%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2012–2019.
• Air bags (restraint system)32 (7.0%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2003–2007.
• Electrical system14 (3.0%)Official recall records for this system: 12, covering model years 2009–2026.
• Engine12 (2.6%)Official recall records for this system: 21, covering model years 2006–2026.
• Body & structure8 (1.7%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2023.
• Fuel system7 (1.5%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2003–2021.

Other / uncategorized: 4 classifications (0.9%) 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 (2,554 records, model years 2003–2024) are most frequently classified under: steering, air bags (restraint system) and engine.
• Safety recalls (94 records, model years 2003–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, engine and exhaust & emissions control.
• Transport Canada recalls (108 records, model years 2003–2026) are most frequently classified under: engine, powertrain (transmission & drivetrain) and electrical system.
• Manufacturer communications (2,357 records, model years 2003–2026) are most frequently classified under: equipment & accessories, electrical system and engine.

"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

Mileage reported when the issue occurred

• 357reports included a mileage
• 49,965average of those mileages

This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.

Evidence by model year

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

1. 2003 465 records for 2003 465
2. 2004 458 records for 2004 458
3. 2005 236 records for 2005 236
4. 2006 148 records for 2006 148
5. 2007 85 records for 2007 85
6. 2008 57 records for 2008 57
7. 2009 168 records for 2009 168
8. 2010 182 records for 2010 182
9. 2011 193 records for 2011 193
10. 2012 153 records for 2012 153
11. 2013 159 records for 2013 159
12. 2014 130 records for 2014 130
13. 2015 89 records for 2015 89
14. 2016 69 records for 2016 69
15. 2019 260 records for 2019 260
16. 2020 182 records for 2020 182
17. 2021 127 records for 2021 127
18. 2022 53 records for 2022 53
19. 2023 43 records for 2023 43
20. 2024 7 records for 2024 7
21. 2025 10 records for 2025 10
22. 2026 3 records for 2026 3

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

• 5mention a crash
• 1mention 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 4
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 45
• Investigations NHTSA 1
• Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 1
• Owner complaints NHTSA 414

Explore the underlying evidence records