Home · 2012 BMW 528i · Complaints

What 99 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 BMW 528i

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (99)Crash / fire / injury (5)Engine (45)Fuel system (29)Transmission & drivetrain (23)Electrical system (12)Engine & cooling (5)Airbags (4)Brakes (4)Body & structure (3)Speed control (3)Steering (3)

4 of 99 complaints match · Brakes · clear filters

Jul 16, 2022SteeringBrakesEngine

Picked up from a stop light no aggressive but normally and a few seconds after going around 20-30ish mph the car stalls and goes into neutral. I was really confused and panicking of what happened, the cars behind me almost crashed into me and I was trying to manage to pull the car over to the side of road and thankfully I did. This could have caused a serious injury to me and others. As I was able to pull off to the side of the road I try to start my car back up and it cranks and cranks for a few seconds which it normally never does and finally when it starts back up the car just starts miss firing like crazy and the check engine light comes on and the car is throwing codes all over the place like drive train malfunction, engine malfunction, low oil pressure, check engine oil, auto stop start malfunction. I was super confused so I shut it off and tried to start it again but it didn’t help at all. I drove slowly into a parking lot and got it towed to a independent repair shop to which they diagnosed the timing chain guides breaking and falling into the oil pump, clogging the oil pump then causing further damage due to no oil going to the top of the motor. I was very confused how all of this could have happened since I took care of my car . If the car had given me a service warning light I would have went and got my engine serviced for this job. Now The thing is these timing chain jobs aren’t cheap and replacing the oil pump chain is even more expensive since it requires lowering the sub frame. Now In my case the timing was so bad to where the engine did something to the cylinders as of what my mechanic said. So my engine is toast and I need a new engine. Car has a hunk of metal parked in my driveway now that I’m still paying off. Good job BMW. I really want to sue bmw for this bs. The car is poorly designed and I’m super thankful this issue did not occur on the freeway because I could have died. I looked into the bmw warranty and it’s only covering up to 100K.

NHTSA ODI 11474223

Sep 27, 2021Brakes

The contact owns a 2012 BMW 528i. The contact stated while at a standstill the vehicle stalled randomly. The contact stated that drive train failure warning message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and was awaiting diagnostic testing. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 14V627000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that they were unable to assist. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ODI 11434597

Feb 1, 2021Brakes

EARLY 528I, F10 MODELS HAVE FACTORY SOFTWARE GLITCH THAT IMPROPERLY SET FRONT BRAKE MILEAGE TO AN ERRONEOUS 3100 MILES WHEN RESET AFTER FRONT BRAKE REPLACEMENT. BMW DOES NOT TAKE OWNERSHIP OF SOFTWARE ISSUE AND PLACES SOFTWARE UPGRADE COST ON CUSTOMER THROUGH DEALERSHIP. ISSUE DOES NOT ARISE UNTIL AFTER WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED. CUSTOMERS THAT REFUSE TO PAY FOR COST OF BMW SOFTWARE MALFUNCTION CONTINUOUSLY HIT THE RESET OPTION FOR FRONT BRAKES WHICH CONSISTENTLY RESET TO AN ERRONEOUS MILEAGE OF 3100 MILES. THIS CONTINUOUS ERRONEOUS RESET APPROACH DOES NOT ALLOW FOR PROPER BRAKE WEAR ASSESSMENT BASED ON MILEAGE AND LEADS TO LOSS OF AWARENESS ON FRONT BRAKE PADS REPLACEMENT WHICH CAN CAUSE ACCIDENTS DUE TO LOSS OF FRONT BRAKES. MY WIFE KEPT HITTING THE RESET OPTION TO REMOVE THE ERRONEOUS ALARM SO OFTEN THAT SHE ACTUALLY WAS DRIVING WITH EXTREMELY LOW PADS AND ALMOST GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT ON THE HIGHWAY. THIS IS NOT SAFE AND BMW SHOULD COVER FACTORY SOFTWARE UPGRADE SINCE CUSTOMERS DO NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO ALTER OR UPGRADE SOFTWARE ON THE VEHICLES.

NHTSA ODI 11391116

Aug 17, 2018Brakes

VACUUM PUMP; EPDW, VACUUM LINES - A VACUUM PUMP IS USED TO SUPPLY A VACUUM FOR TEH VEHICLE COMPONENTS THAT REQUIRE THIS, SUCH AS THE BRAKE BOOSTER.

NHTSA ODI 11120571

Working with the data? Download all 99 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 28, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2012 BMW 528i verdict →