AutoUtility currently tracks 49 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 BMW 4 Series. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 24 complaints (49% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 2 filings cite a crash, 2 report one or more injuries. The 2016 BMW 4 Series belongs to the 1st Generation (F32/F33/F36) platform.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 49 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (24 reports • 49% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (20), Brakes & Traction Control (3)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
49
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
2
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
0
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
2
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2016 BMW 4 Series

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 49% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

24 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#2 Problem Area 40.8% of complaints

Electrical System

20 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 6.1% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

3 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report
#4 Problem Area 6.1% of complaints

Body & Structure

3 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 4.1% of complaints

Air Bags & Restraints

2 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report 🩹 2 injury report entries
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 BMW 4 Series

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11674542
Filed: 07/18/2025

"The contact owns a 2016 BMW 428I. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle hesitated, and the contact noticed smoke coming from the engine compartment. The check engine warning light was illuminated. An independent mechanic was contacted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic..."

Incident Date: 09/15/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11663282
Filed: 05/27/2025

"The engine coolant pump on my 2016 BMW 4 Series has an open recall (#24V-608), issued in August 2024. It’s been almost a year, and the remedy is still marked as "Not Available." Recently, my check engine light came on. I used my personal OBD-II scanner and retrieved fault code U019F, which..."

Incident Date: 05/17/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11657753
Filed: 04/30/2025

"The contact owns a 2016 BMW 428I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had..."

Incident Date: 04/30/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11656235
Filed: 04/23/2025

"The contact owns a 2016 BMW 428I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (Engine and Engine Cooling, Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the..."

Incident Date: 08/13/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11653432
Filed: 04/08/2025

"The contact owns a 2016 BMW 428I. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V608000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that several dealers were contacted, and the contact was informed..."

Incident Date: 09/15/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for BMW 4 Series

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 BMW 4 Series 91 11 5 View 2015 Problems →
2016 BMW 4 Series Current Page 49 2 1 Current
2017 BMW 4 Series 23 1 2 View 2017 Problems →
2018 BMW 4 Series 34 5 1 View 2018 Problems →
2019 BMW 4 Series 16 2 3 View 2019 Problems →
2020 BMW 4 Series 3 1 1 View 2020 Problems →
2021 BMW 4 Series 19 1 7 View 2021 Problems →
2022 BMW 4 Series 7 0 5 View 2022 Problems →
2023 BMW 4 Series 0 0 4 View 2023 Problems →
2024 BMW 4 Series 0 0 3 View 2024 Problems →
2025 BMW 4 Series 7 2 1 View 2025 Problems →
2026 BMW 4 Series 0 0 1 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 BMW 4 Series

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 22 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 14 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 5 0 0 0 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 2 1 0 2 0
Engine & Cooling NHTSA category: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 2 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 2 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 2 1 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 2 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 0 0 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (49). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.