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What 50 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 BMW I3 Phev

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 (50)Crash / fire / injury (4)Steering (11)Body & structure (10)Electrical system (7)Transmission & drivetrain (6)Airbags (3)Fuel system (3)Brakes (2)Electronic Stability Control (esc) (2)Speed control (2)Visibility & wipers (2)

2 of 50 complaints match · Visibility & wipers · clear filters

Sep 29, 2025Visibility & wipers

The contact owns a 2017 BMW I3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the windshield wiper fluid failed to function as intended. The contact's husband checked the windshield wiper reservoir; the hose had rodent teeth marks, and part of the tubing was missing. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, the failure persisted. The contact's husband checked the reservoir and found that rodents had eaten the tubing again and had built a nest inside the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact's husband repaired the vehicle. Upon further investigation, the contact found out that the manufacturer had added soy to all the plastic tubing in the vehicle, which was an attractant to the rodents. The failure persisted. The vehicle remained at the dealer pending the repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 32,000.

NHTSA ODI 11690435

Mar 30, 2017Visibility & wipers

THE FRONT WINDSHIELD IS IRREGULAR, WHICH CAUSES EXTREME DISTORTION OF THE VIEW. DRIVING IS DANGEROUS AS THE DISTORTION CAUSES DIZZINESS. THE IMAGES I SEE ARE SEVERELY DISTORTED WITH THE CAR STOPPED OR IN MOTION BUT IT GETS WORSE WHEN MY CAR AND THE CAR AHEAD ARE IN MOTION AS BOTH THE ROAD AND THE CAR AHEAD ARE SHOWING VARIOUS DISTORTIONS AS THEY MOVE. THE BRAIN CAPTURES THESE DISTORTIONS WHICH ARE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FOR EACH EYE AND THAT IS CAUSING THE DIZZINESS AND DANGER. THE CAR HAS JUST 400 MILES AND DRIVING UNDER THESE CONDITIONS IS HAZARDOUS. THE DEALER STATES THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. I LEFT THE CAR WITH THEM FOR ONE WEEK AND ACCORDING TO THE MILES IN/OUT, THEY DID NOT DRIVE THE CAR TO PERFORM A REAL INSPECTION OF MY COMPLAINS. THE DEALER WAS BRAMAN BMW, THE SERVICE PERSON WAS MARUF DIB MUCHALLAH AND HIS EMAIL IS MARUFM@BRAMANMIAMI.COM, 305-203-6184. I AM AFRAID THIS MAY BE A DEFECTIVE BATCH THAT MAY BE PUTTING OTHER LIVES AT RISK AS WELL. I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE 3/5/2017 AND ON ALL THE DAYS (NOT MANY) THAT I DROVE IT, I EXPERIENCED SEVERE DIZZINESS.

NHTSA ODI 10969462

Working with the data? Download all 50 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 25, 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 2017 BMW I3 Phev verdict →