Total Complaints
2 filings
BMW 540IT · model year
2 NHTSA complaints, and 1 active recall for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2000BMW540IT carries 2 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2000 540IT is power train:driveline with 1 filings, followed by seat belts:rear/other (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 1 active recall campaign, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 34 investigation files overlapping the 2000 540IT. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
2 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE | 1 |
| SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER | 1 |
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS:SWITCH
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. THE BRAKE LAMPS IN THESE VEHICLES ARE CONTROLLED BY A SWITCH ACTIVATED BY THE MOVEMENT OF THE BRAKE PEDAL. THIS SWITCH COULD FAIL INTERNALLY, CAUSING IT TO REMAIN EITHER IN THE "BRAKE LAMPS OFF" POSITION OR IN THE "BRAKE LAMPS ON" POSITION.
BOTH REAR SEAT BELTS HAVE FAILED. THE MECHANISMS HAS NOT ALLOWED THEM TO MOVE IN OR OUT, EFFECTIVELY MAKING THEM USELESS. THE FIRST WAS UNDER WARRANTY, BUT NO PARTS WERE IN STOCK AND WE DID NOT LEAVE THE CAR. ABOUT A MONTH LATER, THE OTHER SIDE BROKE. WE HAD NOT BEEN USING THE CAR AND FINALLY TOOK IT IN AND HAD TO LEAVE IT FOR TWO WEEKS TO GET PARTS AND HAVE THE SEAT BELTS REPLACED AT A COST > $500. *NM
WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH VEHICLE VIBRATED FROM IN THE REAR. CONSUMER HEARD A KNOCKING NOISE COMING FROM THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. CONSUMER TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP, AND MECHANIC DETERMINED THAT REAR DRIVELINE FAILED. *AK
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.