1997 BMW 328i Recalls
No NHTSA recalls on record for the 1997 BMW 328i. That means NHTSA has no open safety campaign for this vehicle — it does not guarantee the absence of problems. Owners have filed 29 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.
“After seeing yet another rear end collision, I would like to make a suggestion I have had in mind for a long time. I believe we can reduce the incidence of such accidents, by flashing the stop signals whenever the brakes are on and the car is stopped ( requires a speed sensor, of course). Manual…”
“The locking device on a 1997 bmw 328i intermittently makes it impossible for occupants to exit the vehicle if it is locked while occupied. This is a safety risk, which creates a high danger and severity of risk of injury or death to consumers and/or users of the vehicle if an occupant stays in a…”
“1997 bmw 328is with 179k miles. After driving for more than 30 minutes (highway or city), my steering wheel will bind or get tight in a turn. After muscling through the turn so I don't crash, the steering wheel "pops" and returns to normal operation. This has began to happen daily and I am…”
“I was told today that my car is not safe as the front sway bar mounts have rusted through. *tr”
“1997 bmw 328i less than 80,000 miles. Driving 40mph with cruise control on. Snowing but straight level concrete road. Approaching asphalt curve entering small mountain village, I tapped brake to disengage cruise. It didn't disengage so hit it harder. Cruise started to accelerate and threw car into…”
“Tl*the contact owns a 1997 bmw 328i convertible. Due to his body stature, the contact would have to lean the seat back in order to use the seat belt effectively. He consulted three dealers for seat belt extenders, but none had them available or were not being sold. The manufacturer stated that…”
“Plastic radiator broke at upper hose connection, causing sudden total loss of coolant and engine stopping in heavy freeway traffic. This led to a very dangerous rescue by caltrans truck after an hour of exposure to high-speed traffic.”
“Sudden failure of ignition coil resulting in a shaking/vibrating vehicle. While accellerting in city traffic the car can lunge and jerk while accellerating, resulting in unpredictable accelleration. In city traffic this is very dangerous. I have investigated the ignition coils for bmw 3 series…”
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 328i as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.