BMW Z3 owners have reported 3 unknown or other related problems since 1996. Table 1 shows the 1 most common unknown or other problems. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's unknown or other (3 problems). For details of each of the problem category, use the links in the table.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Unknown Or Other problems |
I have subframe damage, in the trunk it's most visible with the carpet out, I can see the spot welds have popped, cracked, broke free, whatever. Thus can cause a massive risk to as if anymore pop the differential could possible tear next the bracket that holds it up.
At 86k miles on my 1998 BMW Z3, the thin sheet metal bracket holding the rear differential up in place welded to the chassis split in half causing the rear end to hang. This is the second time it has happened, also at 93,500 miles, just 8 months later. The clutch is still original and the car has never been abused, or raced. I always baby the car because gas is so expensive, and this seems to be a problem with alot of other Z3's that I have seen online. This is clearly a manufacturing flaw. BMW claims the car must have had some rear end impact, even though this is clearly not the case. I would like to see them replace this part with thicker, or stronger metal as it can be a very serious problem if the differential falls out at high speeds.
I turned the key to start the vehicle. It started normally. I put the car in neutral (5 speed trans. ) to allow it to warm-up for about 2 minutes while I checked my voice mail on my phone. As I put the car in gear and looked out the windshield to pull out of my parking space, I saw dense white smoke rolling out from under the hood on the driver's side. I looked at the dash for any warning or indicator lights; there were none. I immediately turned the car off, popped the hood, and got out of the car. I wanted to wait until the smoke was no longer rolling out before actually opening the hood, as I was afraid of introducing a rush of air if something was on fire. As the smoke rapidly increased and progressed to black smoke, I called my facility security from an emergency call box while also calling 911 from my cell phone. During the 911 call, flames became visible from under the hood. Four fire engines arrived to put out the fire. All four levels of my facilities parking deck were filled with toxic smoke which was evacuated by the fire department. The car was a total loss. The fire dept. Told me that night that the car was too badly burned to determine the cause. They supposed it was electrical. After inspecting the car, the insurance investigator did not believe the fire to be from electrical origin, but instead fuel / engine related. The car had been maintained on a regular basis. No service had been recently performed. I had not been experiencing any issues with the car's performance.