Home · 2020 BMW 5 Series Hybrid Sedan · Complaints

What 13 owners told NHTSA about the 2020 BMW 5 Series Hybrid Sedan

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 (13)Crash / fire / injury (5)Electrical system (4)Engine (4)Airbags (2)Brakes (2)Lights (2)Fuel system (1)Steering (1)Suspension (1)

2 of 13 complaints match · Lights · clear filters

Mar 6, 2024Lights

The car’s instrument cluster has no indicator light to inform the driver whether or not low beam headlights are active. I took the car into BMW to get this addressed early on after purchasing the vehicle and BMW service technicians informed me that these cars don’t have such a light. Even though the manual includes documentation for the light. This poses a safety hazard as a driver may put the headlight switch in the wrong position and would have no indication they’ve done so. Daytime running lights may confuse them to thinking they have their headlights on. This poses a safety risk as tail lights would also not illuminate reducing visibility for other drivers and could increase the likelihood of a collision.

NHTSA ODI 11575917

Jan 24, 2022Lights

There is a light sensor in the digital instrument cluster that dims the brightness during the day that it makes the instrument cluster un-readable.

NHTSA ODI 11448632

Working with the data? Download all 13 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 14, 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 2020 BMW 5 Series Hybrid Sedan verdict →