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What 78 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 BMW 5 Series Hybrid Sedan 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 (78)Crash / fire / injury (6)Airbags (35)Seat belts (24)Seats (14)Electrical system (12)Engine (8)Engine & cooling (3)Body & structure (2)Transmission & drivetrain (2)Brakes (1)Fuel system (1)

2 of 78 complaints match · Seat belts · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Apr 11, 2025Seat belts1 injury

The seatbelt/passenger seat fails to recognize a passenger is occupying the seat and turns off the airbag. This issue has been reported many times to BMW and on vehicle forums. This is an expensive fix ($2800) that should be issued a recall by the manufacture and not passed onto the owner of the car.

NHTSA ODI 11654120

Feb 9, 2025Seat beltsSeatsCrash1 injury

Constantly pops up a message for passenger restraint system malfunction. I had an accident where I swerved off the road into a ditch at about 60 mph. I the driver was not hurt and the passenger wouldn’t have been hurt either if it was for the passenger seat belt not locking correctly at first and then repeatedly locking and unlocking the entire time hurting his chest.

NHTSA ODI 11641549

Working with the data? Download all 78 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 19, 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 2018 BMW 5 Series Hybrid Sedan Phev verdict →