2015 BMW I3 — Complaint #1936807
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:COMPRESSOR:MODULE (ACCM) filed October 19, 2023
NHTSA complaint #1936807 (ODI reference 11550767) concerns a 2015 BMW I3 and was filed on October 19, 2023. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 12, 2022. The vehicle had 80,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Massachusetts based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:compressor:module (accm), one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same BMW I3 cohort independently describe similar visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:compressor:module (accm) failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2015 BMW I3 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2015 BMW I3. The contact stated that after turning on the fan, there was plastic particles blowing out of the vents. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the particles were blowing out of the vents while activating the A/C or the heater. The contact stated that the failure became a recurring failure, and the vehicle was towed to the dealer. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the A/C compressor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that after the repair, the check engine warning light illuminated again. The contact had the vehicle towed back to the same dealer who diagnosed and determined that a component of the A/C system that cooled the electric hybrid battery needed to be replaced. The contact was advised by the dealer that the repair needed to be completed due to the risk of the battery overheating and catching on fi
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1936807 |
| ODI Number | 11550767 |
| Date Filed | October 19, 2023 |
| Failure Date | November 12, 2022 |
| VIN | WBY1Z4C54FV |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.