1997 BMW 318 Recalls
No NHTSA recalls on record for the 1997 BMW 318. That means NHTSA has no open safety campaign for this vehicle — it does not guarantee the absence of problems. Owners have filed 6 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the engine and engine cooling. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Complaints by component
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.
“Steering wheel is locked. It won't budge. You can crank the car..no problem, but the wheel is locked. *tr”
“Consumer was traveling about 55mph on highway there was a flying tire on the road, and tire hit vehicle. Vehicle rolled over on the shoulder, and dual airbags didn't deploy. Dealership was aware of problem.*ak”
“Converter failure at <20000 miles seems unusaul. In talking to two dealers, both service departments indicated that the "318's had a problem with the converters that year". Seems to me that if they had a problem, they should fix rather than waiting for it to break, then my having to take time off…”
“Catalyic failure at <20000 miles seems unusaul. In talking to two dealers, both service departments indicated that the "318's had a problem with the converters that year". Seems to me that if they had a problem, they should fix rather than waiting for it to break, then my having to take time off…”
“Air bag safety light keeps going off. The manual states the system malfunctioned, could prevent system from responding to a high intensity frontal impact occurring within normal response range. Dealer was contacted three times and cannot duplicate the problem. *ak”
“The vehicle's gas and brake pedals are too close together, when thinking of stepping on the brakes driver is actually stepping on the gas pedal. *ak”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1997 BMW 318 as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.