Table 1 shows two common exterior lighting related problems of the 2000 BMW 328.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Headlights problems | |
| Brake Light Switch problems |
Crash - no injuries. Xenon headlights of a 328i 2000 BMW. Low flat beam noted to be a problem - I came up upon four vertical sticks in the center of the road, a rural 2 lane country road, on a dark night. When I was approximately 150 feet from them, the light reflecting from the road, illuminated the underside of a deer. Luckily I had slowed enough that I was able to stop in time. I asked the BMW dealership about this problem ,and was told that the lights should not be raised because the xenon lights would blind oncoming drivers, and they were at the correct height. One year later, my son was driving on a residential street, and hit a parked pickup truck. Conditions - night, recent snow plowed streets caused the pickup to park a foot and a half from the curb. The truck was a dark green four wheel drive, farm pickup (high bumper)(mid bumper measures 27" off pavement). My daughter was a passenger in the right front seat. Neither seen the pickup until the last second. My daughter spotted it first and screamed. My son looked over at her and looked back just as they hit it. I do not believe he even hit the brakes. However, he started to swerve to the left. The bumper of the car went under the bumper of the truck , hitting only the truck's spare tire and driver side rear wheel. The truck's bumper did hit the radiator and valve cover of the engine. The BMW was totaled - the right shock tower was moved back by about 5 inches. The airbags never went off - dealership states that is because, "the bumpers did not hit". The truck had minimal damage - bent bumper, truck bed was elevated and did dent the back of the cab/drivers side. I believe that the xenon lights probably did not illuminate the parked truck adequately because they did not shine high enough. Has this been a problem for other drivers of Bmws and mercedes.
The contact owns a 2000 BMW 328i. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, the air bags inadvertently deployed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The mechanic stated that the air bag control module would have to be recalibrated and referred the contact to an authorized dealer. The air bags were replaced. There was a recall under NHTSA campaign id number 02v223000 (air bags:side/window), that may be related to the failure. The dealer was made aware of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure occurred a second time. In addition, the contact was made aware by a police officer that the brake lights were not illuminating. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostics. The technicians stated that the bulbs would have to be replaced. The failure continued after replacing the light bulbs so the brake light assembly was then replaced. The failure continued. There was a recall under NHTSA campaign id number 00v048000 (exterior lighting:brake lights:switch), that may be related to the failure. The dealer was made aware of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in this recall either. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 54,000. Updated 01/04/lj.