23V707000
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
Loose or broken VANOS unit bolts can result in an engine stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
2012 BMW 3 SERIES
3 safety recall campaigns, 1 defect investigation, 11 owner complaints filed with NHTSA.
The record
Recall campaigns3
Park it0stop driving until repaired
Investigations1
Owner complaints11
Complaints citing a crash0
Complaints citing a fire0
Complaints are reports from owners of this model year, not findings about any particular vehicle, and a model that sold in large numbers will collect more of them. They are counted here as filed; nothing is inferred from them.
Recall campaigns 3 of 3
22V119000
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CRANKCASE (PCV)
An electrical short can cause the PCV valve heater to overheat, increasing the risk of a fire while driving or, soon after driving when parked.
12V176000
SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:HEAD RESTRAINT
IN THE EVENT OF A VEHICLE CRASH, THE HEAD RESTRAINT MAY UNEXPECTEDLY MOVE DOWN SLIGHTLY IF IT WAS ADJUSTED TO THE FULLY EXTENDED POSITION, INCREASING THE RISK OF PERSONAL INJURY.
What owners report most
- 3ENGINE
- 2FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
- 1STEERING
- 1STRUCTURE:BODY
- 1UNKNOWN OR OTHER
- 1AIR BAGS
- 1VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
- 1SEATS
This page is about a model, not a car
Two 2012 BMW 3 SERIESs can have entirely different histories, and a recall campaign usually covers a build-date window rather than a whole model year — which a VIN does not encode, so only the door-jamb label settles it. Scanning the VIN adds the decode, the crash tests, the fuel economy and the complaints matched to that exact engine, trim and assembly plant.