Problems · by component
2011 BMW 335I Xdrive engine problems
47 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2011 BMW 335I Xdrive cite engine, 28% of all 168 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
47
28% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
1
Reported by owners
What owners say about the engine
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“I was in the middle of driving on the freeway and my motor started to get loss in power. Moments later a malfunction engine sign popped up. The codes I was able to pull from the vehicle were pointing towards a recall that already exists for BMW but for some reason my vehicle was not a part of the recall. The recall I am reffering to is 23V707000. It shows that there are 11 open recalls for 2011 335i including the vanos bolt recall. I called the dealer and according to my VIN, the vanos bolt recall is not covered. There are multiple reports online where the dealer is refusing to cover the recall for vehicles within a certain production date. There is clearly a safety issue going on as this has happened to plenty of people. Someone with the same motor as I could get covered for the recall due to the production date and I am in a position where BMW knows that this is an issue but will not cover it.”
“2011 BMW 335i COUPE E92 My vehicle has broken vanos bolts which caused the engine to shut off while driving. This was a terrifying experience in which i was on the freeway doing around 70mph and lost power steering and power brakes. This is a known recall with these vehicles and my vehicle fits the criteria for BMW Recall 23V-707, including year, make, model, production date and engine. My vin does not show up as a recalled vin and the dealer refuses to fix my vehicle for that reason although it is confirmed the vanos bolts have snapped.”
“I bought a BMW on November 3rd and within 48 hours on the 5th of November at 6:30 the engine seized while the car was driving when I took it to BMW they did a carfax on it, it said the car had 197,000 miles on it and the car was listed with 97,790 miles and the odometer still says 97,000 and the transmission is also slipping because it had 197,000 miles on it and the font headlights won't work.”
“BMW has made their early 2011-13 engines(n55) a defective engine, the problem I’ve been experiencing with these engines is there new engine system called the valvetronic system. If the something in the valtronic system goes bad and most likely does when you listen to bmw recommendation of changing oil every 10,000 it becomes very annoying to fix and can also lead to damaging the car ecu/dme so they built a car that would have problems and would also take out your car ecu which would make costly repairs”
“Without any warning, the vehicle experienced a major engine failure while I was driving at about 70 mph on the highway. The vehicle immediately lost power and went into limp mode, making it impossible to safely maintain speed on a busy highway. Vehicle was towed to the dealership and it was determined that it had experienced a VANOS bolts failure on the intake side. Inspection of the failed VANOS bolts revealed that they were of the old design that BMW had issued a Recall for. Even though the Recall status for the vehicle in regard to the VANOS bolts indicates that it was completed, it appears the wrong components had been used in the repair. I have been informed that BMW has denied my request to have the recall done properly with the proper components.”
“2011 BMW 335i Sedan: Please attempt to get my car included in the current recall. I have contacted BMW USA and my local dealership. Both said that my car does not qualify for repair. On a weekly basis, the car produces large amounts of smoke from the engine compartment and enters the passenger compartment through the vents. BMW has stated that there is a fire risk for this year, make, and model but will not address it for my car: [XXX] The check engine light turns on while engine smokes. The BMW Dealership will not inspect the car unless it appears on the recall list. In addition, occasionally, the entire electrical system dies preventing all electronics including the starter from working.”
Showing 6 of 47 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 28, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.