BMW i3 reliability by year
8 recall campaigns and 180 owner complaints across 6 model years. Best year to buy: 2016. Year to avoid: 2014.
Worst model years to avoid → — the single year to avoid for every model line we track, ranked side by side.
At-a-glance: every year color-coded
Each cell shows the last two digits of the model year and its 0–10 reliability score from NHTSA data. Click any year to see the full record. ★ best year · ✕ year to avoid.
Year-by-year reliability 6 model years · newest first
Per-year recall counts add up to 16, more than the 8 campaigns above, because a single NHTSA campaign often covers several model years and is counted once in each.
Common trouble spots across the i3 aggregated across 6 model years
Common questions
What's the best year to buy a BMW i3?
Based on NHTSA complaint volume and severity weighting, the 2016 BMW i3 scores 8.0/10 — the strongest in the 2014–2019 range. 33 complaints on file, 2 active recalls. Reliability scores reflect the federal complaint record, not subjective owner reviews.
Which BMW i3 year should I avoid?
The 2014 BMW i3 scores 7.4/10 — the weakest in the lineup. 49 owner complaints with NHTSA, 4 active recalls. That doesn't mean every 2014 is a problem — it means failure rates run higher than peer model years on the same platform.
Which years of the BMW i3 should I avoid?
No BMW i3 model year currently rises to an "avoid" or "high-risk" verdict on the NHTSA data — either the record is clean or sample sizes are still too thin for a confident call. The year-by-year breakdown below shows what's on file regardless.
How many years of the BMW i3 are tracked?
6 model years (2014 through 2019) with NHTSA records on file. Total across the lineup: 8 distinct recall campaigns and 180 owner complaints. Those campaigns land on 16 model-year entries in total, because one campaign often covers several years at once — which is why per-year recall counts add up to more than the campaign count.
What's the most-reported problem on the BMW i3?
steering is the most-reported category — 41 complaints across 4 model years. Average shop repair runs about $700.