2000 BMW 3 Series ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
THE REVERSE GEAR STOP WORKING. *TR
THE CAR TRANSMISSION WILL NOT GO IN REVERSE. THE ISSUE HAPPENS SUDDENLY WITH NO WARNING, AND ACTS EXACTLY AS IF YOU WERE IN NEUTRAL GEAR. THERE IS A DEDICATED SITE CALLED HTTP://WWW.NOREVERSE.ORG THAT DOCUMENTS THOUSANDS OF CASES FROM BMW OWNERS THAT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. BMW NORTH AMERICA HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT ITS TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES 1999-2003 HAVE THIS ISSUE, BUT FAILS TO OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE ON THIS HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. IN NOVEMBER, I PULLED OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY NORMALLY TO DRIVE TO WORK. WHEN I ARRIVE AT WORK AND ATTEMPTED TO REVERSE INTO THE SPACE, THE CAR ACTED LIKE IT WAS IN NEUTRAL. THE VEHICLE CONTINUES TO ACT THIS WAY. ALL OTHER GEARS WORK NORMAL (MEANING IT DRIVES FINE FORWARD), IT IS JUST THAT YOU CANNOT ENGAGE REVERSE. *TR
THE CAR WILL NOT GO IN REVERSE. *TR
MY 2000 3 SERIES BMW HAS STOPPED GOING IN REVERSE. AT ALL. IT'S VERY DANGEROUS AS I WAS IN TRAFFIC YESTERDAY AT A RED LIGHT WHEN A SEMI TRUCK TURNED THE CORNER IN FRONT OF ME AND NEEDED ME TO BACK UP. I WAS STUCK BEHIND A VAN THAT WAS ABLE TO GO IN REVERSE AND OF COURSE EXPECTED ME TO FOLLOW SUIT, AND I COULDN'T! I'VE BEEN READING ONLINE AND ALL OVER THE WORLD PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS SAME PROBLEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITH THIS PARTICULAR SERIES OF BMW. I'VE ONLY HAD MY CAR A YEAR. IT HAS A LITTLE OVER 100K MILES ON IT. I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT AFFORD THE 3-5K IT WILL COST TO REPLACE IT. THERE ARE SO MANY COMPLAINTS ON THE WEB. PLEASE HAVE THIS RECALLED BEFORE IT TURNS INTO ANOTHER TOYOTA DEBACLE. IT'S NOT FAIR. *TR
REVERSE GEAR (AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION) STOPPED WORKING WITHOUT WARNING. CAR ACTS AS IF IT IS NEUTRAL, ENGINE JUST REVS. CAR HAS BEEN WELL MAINTAINED. WAS SURPRISED TO FIND IT IS A VERY COMMON OCCURRENCE WITH THIS MODEL, AND THAT THERE IS A WEBSITE DEVOTED TO THE PROBLEM (NOREVERSE.ORG). ALSO LEARNED THAT A RECALL WAS ISSUED FOR CADILLACS THAT USED THE SAME TRANSMISSION AND HAD THE SAME PROBLEM.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2000 BMW 3 Series has 5 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,POWER TRAIN complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.