What breaks most · 2007 to 2013 model years
BMW 135i problems by year
Owners have filed 127 safety complaints with NHTSA about the BMW 135i across model years 2007 to 2013. Three years stand out: 2008 for air bags complaints, 2009 for fuel system complaints and 2011 for air bags complaints. The quietest years are 2007 and 2010.
- Years to check closely: 2008, 2009, 2011
- Fewest complaints: 2007, 2010
- Complaints on file
- 1272007 to 2013, all trims
- Worst year
- 200844 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 54 fires · 2 injuries · 0 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 24kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 26Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Fuel system (1) | |
| 44 | 3 | 4 | Air bags (11) | |
| 25 | 0 | 4 | Fuel system (13) | |
| 15 | 1 | 4 | Fuel system (7) | |
| 18 | 1 | 6 | Air bags (6) | |
| 13 | 0 | 6 | Powertrain and transmission (6) | |
| 11 | 0 | 2 | Air bags (7) |
What fails on the 2008 BMW 135i
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air bags | 25% |
11 | 2 | Check recalls for air bags on NHTSA.gov |
| Fuel systemFuel pumps and injectors | 23% |
10 | 0 | Shop fuel system parts for the 2008 BMW 135i |
| Fuel systemFuel pumps and injectors | 16% |
7 | 0 | Shop fuel system parts for the 2008 BMW 135i |
| Wheels | 11% |
5 | 0 | — |
| Exterior lightingHeadlights, tail lights and bulbs | 9% |
4 | 0 | Shop exterior lighting parts for the 2008 BMW 135i |
| Electrical systemAlternators, starters and ignition | 7% |
3 | 0 | Shop electrical system parts for the 2008 BMW 135i |
| EngineEngine gaskets and seals | 5% |
2 | 0 | Shop engine parts for the 2008 BMW 135i |
| Seat belts | 5% |
2 | 0 | Check recalls for seat belts on NHTSA.gov |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
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My bmw 135i has 16,000 miles on it and i have had to high pressure fuel pump failures. The car is unreliable and dangerous.
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2009 bmw 135i high pressure fuel pump failure. This has been a bad problem with 3 model years (2008, 2009, and 2010) of bmw 135i cars. Luckily my car was fixed due to long start cranks before the common symptom of engine dying during driving conditions.
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 30, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which BMW 135i years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 2008, 2009, 2011 carry the most filings on the BMW 135i. The 2008 alone has 44 complaints, led by air bags.
What is the most common BMW 135i problem?
On the 2008 model year, the most-reported component is air bags with 11 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do BMW 135i problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all BMW 135i complaints that include mileage is about 24,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.