BMW M3 owners have reported 3 seat belt related problems since 1996. Table 1 shows the 1 most common seat belt problems. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's seat belt (3 problems). For details of each of the problem category, use the links in the table.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Seat Belt problems |
Unknown. I was driving home when I get a message stating “passenger restraint system malfunction”.
Parked on a slight hill, shifted out of drive and applied the ebrake by pulling up firmly. Unbucked my seat belt, opened the door, and got out of the vehicle. Left the door open to go in my house, grab my wallet, and come back. The car stayed in neutral instead of shifting into park which should have happened but multiple components of the car failed to detect me exiting (door latch sendor, software, seat sensor, seat belt sensor). Leaving the car in neutral meant the parking brake was all that was available to hold the car. As it turns out, the electronic brake was not strong enough to do so, and the car rolled down the hill hitting another car, pushing that car into a structure and causing my car to be totaled. This never happened before but due to car not shifting into park with exiting, the vehicle became a rolling hazard putting all people and property around it at risk. I did not hear or see any warning messages as I had exited the car as I had always done previously. I should not have to turn off the car (press power on/off) to engage park or there should be a "park" button like most cars. Given there is no labeled park, the system gives you no indication of what steps you have to take if autopark doesn't engage. My car has been totaled and released to copart. It may be available for inspection from them.
My car was in a collision where the driver of car 1 was making a turn into the main street , she turned too wide and could not complete the turn and decided to back up. . She slammed into my car ,damage was left front bumper ,broken parking light, damage left front fender , xenon headlight module,(causes the left head light to turn of sometimes) and the air bag light came on , diagnosis found drivers seat belt tensioner fault ,since there was the impact on the drivers side. The driver of car 1 was cited for he incident and also for driving on a learners permit alone. State farm only covered the body repair and declined the repair of the air bag and the head light. I am concerned about the safety of any one inside this car if there was any reason for the deployment of the air bag and it did not deploy at the time. My car was in perfect condition before this accident. I would like to have my car repaired and feel safe driving.