Total Complaints
6 filings
BMW E46 · model year
6 NHTSA complaints. A VIN lookup is required to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1995BMWE46 carries 6 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.
The most frequently selected component label in reports for the 1995 E46 is engine and engine cooling:engine:gasoline with 1 filings, followed by electrical system:wiring:fuses and circuit breakers (1) and visibility:glass, side/rear (1). Complaint categories reflect owner reports and intake categorization; they do not establish a defect pattern or cause.
NHTSA currently has 34 investigation files overlapping the 1995 E46. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should read the complaint-by-year trend as report volume, not a causal diagnosis. Use the related-complaint feed and the official recall lookup when researching a specific vehicle.
Total Complaints
6 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS | 1 |
| VISIBILITY:GLASS, SIDE/REAR | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM:RADIATOR ASSEMBLY | 1 |
| TIRES | 1 |
| FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY | 1 |
MY FUEL TANK SUCKED ITSELF INWARD DUE TO A DEFECTIVE VENT HOSE. BMW KNOWS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND ISSUED A SERVICE FLASH IN 1998. (16 04 97) THE VENT HOSE IS CONNECTED TO THE CHARCOAL EMISSIONS CANISTER. PRESENTLY, MY TANKS CAPACITY IS REDUCED BY A FACTOR OF OVER . FURTHERMORE, MY TANK LEAKS GASOLINE FROM A CREASE IN THE DENT, WHICH RESULTED FROM THE INWARD COLLAPSE. I HAVE PERSONALLY READ THE STORIES OF AT LEAST 30 OTHER BMW MODEL E38 OWNERS, WHO HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED THIS. IN SOME CASES, THEIR FUEL TANKS RUPTURED WITHOUT WARNING, SPILLING GASOLINE ALL AROUND THEIR VEHICLES WHILE DRIVING. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE THAT SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED BY BMW ANY LONGER. *TR
Mileage: 200,000
ON 8/13/07, I WAS TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 70 MILES PER HOUR ON NC HWY 52 NORTHBOUND (A 4 LANE DIVIDED HIGHWAY) WHEN I HAD A SUDDEN MASSIVE BLOW OUT OF A MICHELIN TIRE ON THE LEFT REAR OF MY VEHICLE, A 1995 BMW 325 IS. THERE WAS NO WARNING. THE TIRE WAS NOT LOW ON AIR PRESSURE AND DID NOT HAVE ANY PUNCTURE AS VERIFIED BY THE TIRE DEALERSHIP OWNER. THE TIRE IS A MICHELIN ENERGY PLUS MXV4, SIZE 205/60R15. IT HAS THE FOLLOWING LETTERING ON IT: DOT APTM W17X 2306. THE DEALER SAID THAT THE 2306 INDICATES THE WEEK OF MANUFACTURE. THE TIRE HAD 12,000 MILES ON IT. THERE WAS A COMPLETE SEPARATION OF THE OUTSIDE SIDE WALL FROM THE REST OF THE TIRE. WITH SOME STRUGGLE, I WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN CONTROL. FORTUNATELY THERE WAS NO VEHICLE BESIDE OF ME AS I HAD TO UTILIZE BOTH OF THE LANES IN MY DIRECTION TO REGAIN CONTROL. ON THE SAME DAY, I SHOWED THE TIRE TO THE OWNER OF C&C TIRE IN ASHEBORO, NC (336-629-6634) WHERE THE FOUR NEW MICHILEN TIRES WERE PURCHASED AND INSTALLED ON 4/14/07. NO DA
Mileage: 160,753
IN 1995 I PURCHASED A BMW 318TI. I HAVE JUST LEARNED THAT THERE HAD BEEN THREE RECALLS ON THIS BMW MODEL. I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY OF THE RECALL NOTICES. NOT ONE NOTICE FROM BMW. THE FIRST RECALL HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM. THE HEATER HAS NOT WORKED FOR 8 YEARS AND THE A/C HAS PROBLEMS ALSO. SINCE LEARNING OF THESE RECALLS I REALLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THESE PROBLEMS WITH MY CAR. *TR
THE DELAMINATION OF THE SECURITY GLASS ON MY BMW 750IL. THIS HAS BECOME A SAFETY ISSUE WITH OTHER OWNERS AS WELL. MY SIDE AND REAR WINDOWS HAVE BECOME SO CLOUDY THAT THEY LOOK LIKE MAGNIFYING GLASS. I LITERALLY HAVE TO LET MY WINDOWS DOWN WHEN APPROACHING TRAFFIC TO ENSURE MY PATH IS CLEAR. *NM
Mileage: 105,000
FAULT IN THE CONTACTS ON LIGHTING. A CONTINUING FAULT ON THE BRAKE CIRCUIT CAUSES THE WARNING LIGHTS TO COME ON AT DIFFERENT INTERVALS DURING THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE. AFTER CHANGING 4 SET OF REAR TAIL LIGHT BULBS DURING THE COURSE OF THE YEAR I HAD MY MECHANIC CLEAN THE CONTACTS. WITHIN 3 MONTHS ON CLEANING, THE FAULT LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. AFTER A DAY OR SO THE LIGHT WENT OUT AND HAS NOT RETURNED. THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM AS MY BULBS WERE CHANGED 3 TIMES LAST YEAR ON FRONT AND REAR LIGHTS. *JB
Mileage: 205,233
PROBLEMS RUNNING THE VEHICLE AND WAS TOLD HAD OIL LEAK DUE TO FAILURE OF HEAD GASKET REQUIRING $ 3000 REPAIR. *JB
Data vintage: August 2026. 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.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. This year-specific record is rendered from NHTSA ODI, recall, and NCAP rows for the 1995 BMW E46; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.