Power Train Problems of BMW 323

Car does not move in reverse (at). No prior warning signs. Forward operation continues as good as ever.

See all problems of the 1999 BMW 323 🔎.

2000 BMW 323i. Consumer writes in regards to powertrain safety recall.

See all problems of the 2000 BMW 323 🔎.

Tl the contact owns a 2000 BMW 323i. The contact stated that the transmission would not shift into reverse. On one occasion, the failure occurred and caused a fender bender with another vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The contact spoke with an unknown BMW dealer and an independent mechanic. The mechanic informed the contact that the reverse drum failed due to defective metal. The dealer stated that the transmission needed to be replaced because the parts were no longer available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 180,000.

The car got stuck in the driveway. No reverse. Forward still working.

The car will not go in reverse.

Got in car first thing in the morning put it in reverse and nothing happened. It was like it was in neutral. Then car rolled backwards as it was on a slight incline applied breaks and put car in drive and all the forward gears worked fine, tried reverse again and same thing happened didn't move no matter how much throttle was applied. There was no indication/warning that there was a problem,before this the transmission worked great no problems at all. This is a very serious problem as it happens without warning it could seriously injure or kill someone.

The automatic transmission will not power the car in reverse. Forward gears all work normally. This was a sudden failure and after searching on the web, it appears this is a frequent failure of this gm supplied transmission in post 3/2000 Bmws with automatic transmissions.

The vehicle has a hard time reversing, I can command it to reverse but sometimes nothing happens like it is in neutral, the car is a 2000 and only has 96k miles. This past month I have spoken with BMW about the issue. I let them know I feel it poses a safety risk but they said they cannot help me. Even though it is clearly a mfg. Defect. Just hoping to have an advocate to help me. The car is stationary on a street.

The car has 86,000 miles I am original owner and it will no longer engage in reverse! only solution is a new transmission which costs more than book value of car.

The reverse gear is not working. I cannot reverse. . . This occurred with no warning and for no apparent reason.

My BMW 323i abruptly lost the ability to reverse on Saturday, August 3, 2013. The problem is apparently very common to BMW 3-series vehicles that were produced during the late 1990's and early 2000's. There is even a website devoted to it (noreverse. Org). BMW should consider doing a recall in order to correct this problem.

Like the hundreds of others on the consumer affairs website, my 2000 BMW 323i wit 71k miles failed to go into reverse. I was at church and proceeded to back out of the parking space when the car would not go into reverse. There were no warnings - ever. The car was running smoothly. I decided to check the web and was astounded that there were hundreds of BMW 2000 323i owners with the exact same problem. I contacted BMW of America via email and was given the same response as the other owners of "normal wear and tear. " many owners had less than 50,000 and BMW is not owning up to the problem. BMW had not and will not acknowledge the problem, but interestingly they are no longer using these transmissions. A class action is being discussed and rightly so. This is a rip off of thousands of consumers and definitely is a safety issue. I can see someone not being able to back up off of a train track, etc. Please issue a recall. Thank you.

Was trying to reverse n it wouldn't it periodically won't reverse until car warms up. Window won't go up without manually pulling it up.

The contact owns a 2000 BMW 323i. The contact stated that while parked the contact placed the vehicle in reverse and depressed the accelerator pedal but the vehicle would not reverse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician stated the reverse drum would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 84,000.

My BMW is one of possible thousands that received a defective transmission made by zf. The reverse drive d hub breaks leaving pieces rattling around inside the transmission and no reverse. . Read more...

I was backing out of a parking space. All of a sudden, there was no reverse gear. I pushed the car, myself. Please recall this car. I read about all of the other owners with the same problem. This is a danger to the owners and everyone around the vehicle. Not to mention, this is extremely expensive to fix. This is my first car. Please consider help with this most dangerous situation.

Picking my son up from school and no reverse. No indications anything wrong put into reverse acts like its in neutral. Absolutely no reverse. Drove home and had vehicle towed to transmission shop. Went online and shocked to see the number of no reverse failure online. The no reverse org in 2009 is no longer up but shocked how many people posted the exact problem! BMW north America or corporate says they can't do a recall and to notify NHTSA. Ethically, we both know they should fix these faulty drums they outsourced to gm and did not tell anyone. Please recall the no reverse failure for the 2000 model, thanks for recalling the sub-frame cracking. BMW service centers are a rip off and never tell the owner what's really going on. I am an original owner, have meticulous service records and feel the us needs to make them stand behind their product. Please help us. Getting stuck in a dangerous parking lot at night would not be safe? please ask BMW to fix their faulty drum.

BMW 323i 1999 I purchased this BMW today. Upon arriving home I shifted into reverse, nothing happened. Shut off vehicle with several attempts as stated in manual no change. Vehicle was test driven all day from meeting up of seller to lending institution. Upon arrival at home vehicle would no shift into reverse.

I was picking up my daughter from school around 4:30pm on April 17, 2012 and when I put the car into reverse to back into a parking spot. . . The car had no power. The transmission just revved up like it was in neutral. I could not get the car to back up. I thought maybe I had it in the wrong gear but no it was in reverse. I put the car back into drive and went around the corner to wait for her. When I tried to reverse out of the parking spot it still didn't have any power. Thankful the car rolled back far enough to get out of the parking spot. Once I got home I had to be pushed into my parking stall because once again the reverse was not working. I haven't had any major problems with my car, the miles are low 125,000 and it gets regular maintenance check ups.

The reverse gear does not work this morning when I tried to back the car from the parking lot. The forward gear is good though. My car has a dual transmission.

The car had been running fine. Went to leave a friends house and iti would not go in reverse. Had to be pushed backwards, put into drive and foward gears worked fine. Drove about 11 miles, stopped and put it in reverse, and it worked. Couple days later I went to back out of the driveway, and reverse stopped working again. The reverse works on and off. This is extremely dangerous because a traffic situation could arise where reverse is needed to avoid a serious accident. Research has shown that this is an extremely common problem with these cars, yet BMW has failed issue a recall. Please help with this.

I have a 2000 BMW 323i that all of a. Sudden won't engage reverse. I was reading on pine and saw. I wasn't the only one with this issue. I called north houston BMW and they said I need a new transmission. I was looking at about $6000 for the transmission. I'm very upset and want to know if BMW recalled this issue and could I take my vehicle to them for the repairs at no cost to me.

The transmission will not go in reverse. There are so many BMW's with this problem.

One day I was leaving target to take my son to his dr. Appt. And my car would not reverse. Reverse acted as a neutral. It was only me and my son I had to ask someone to push me backwards. Embarrassing!!!!! after that I didn't have the problem again until a few weeks later and now it is non stop. Its a major safety hazard. What if someone was to try and rob me when I leave work and I needed to back up quickly. I was told there is a crack in the rear drum and that it is 2,500-3,500 to fix. I am a single mom I cannot afford that. This shouldn't happen there is only 112,000 miles on this car and BMW refuses to acknowledge this problem. Something needs to be done.

The contact owns a 2000 BMW 323i. While driving approximately 70 mph the contact attempted to accelerate further but the vehicle would not accelerate. The vehicle stopped responding to the accelerator pedal and rolled to a stop. The vehicle was shut off and upon restart the failure continued. The vehicle was towed to the contacts residence. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed and was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 138,000.

My 323i has the reverse gear is broken. . . . . Found this from noreverse. Org cost me 3k to fix.

The reverse in my 2000 BMW 323i doesn't work as often as it should. . . My younger sisters had to help me push it or it would of hit another car beside it. . . There are millions of other people with this same problem so even if the car is maintained correctly it still gets messed up. . . . BMW out sourced there transmission to gm and I think they should pay for there mistakes and help out a lot of unhappy customers who didn't buy these cars for cheap. . . . When you buy a luxury car you expect it to at least reverse or at least if its a know issue get some kind of compensation. . . Another unfair thing is that most people don't even know that the transmission was outsourced to another company who may have done a [xxx] job on purpose just to screw its competition over. . . . . BMW in the past has never had these issues so its obvious what happened. . . Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I had no major problems with my 2000 BMW 323ci until today. Went to reverse out of a parking space, car would not move. Put the car in park and tried reversing again, nothing happened. Turned the car off, waited a few minutes, turned it back on, put it in reverse, nothing happened. Had to push it out of the parking spot and drove forward with no problems. Made it back to my work, parked in the spot and tried reversing to see if it worked, and it did. Random, weird. Called my auto mechanic and he said that this is typical of Bmws when the transmission is going bad. Researched other similar occurrences and it seems that this a common issue for Bmws ranging from late 90s to early 2000s.

I have a 2000 BMW 323i with zero accidents. There are 88,000 miles on it, and suddenly the reverse gear is not working. After doing some research online, I have found that this is a common occurrence for this very make and model. I contacted BMW immediately and not only did they say that there is no recall for this transmission, but that there was nothing they would do about my situation. This is a ridiculous problem to have at only 88,000 miles. I would like to submit formal notice of BMW's defective transmission.

My BMW 323i was working fine yesterday and I get in it this morning and it refuses to do reverse. When I put it in reverse it just sounds like it's in neutral and I am revving up the engine. I have to get a new transmission or th part repaired but it's still going to cost 2000.

The contact owns a 2000 BMW 323i. The contact placed the gear into reverse to back into the driveway. Suddenly, the engine began to rev, but the vehicle did not move. He placed the gear back into drive and the vehicle moved forward. He placed the gear into reverse again and the engine revved. The contact exited the vehicle and pushed it into the driveway. The dealer stated that the snap ring failed out of the clutch drum, preventing the vehicle from moving in reverse. The vehicle has not yet been repaired. Through online research, the contact found numerous complaints on the same defect. He believes this should be repaired by the manufacturer. The current and failure mileages were 90,450. Updated 6/9/08.