Problems owners report
Complaints filed with NHTSA about the 2021 BMW 228i, by the system named in each complaint. One complaint can name several.
- Electrical system2
- Service brakes2
- Exterior lighting2
- Engine1
- Visibility1
- Power train1
- Fuel/propulsion system1
- Lane departure1
- Forward collision avoidance1
NHTSA ODI complaints (public domain) · updated 23 Oct 2026 · 0 injuries and 0 deaths reported
Compared with other years
NHTSA ODI complaints by model year
Fatal crashes in the US
From 2020 to 2023, 5 2021 228i vehicles were involved in crashes on US public roads in which someone died; 2 people died inside them. This is a count, not a crash rate: it grows with the number of cars on the road.
NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), crash years 2020–2023 (public domain)
Recalls
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2022 330i, 330i xDrive, M340i, 2022 430i Coupe, 2021-2022 430i, M440i Convertible, and 2020-2022 228i xDrive Gran Coupe vehicles. The receiver audio module control unit software may fail to properly generate audible seat belt warnings to the driver to fasten their seat belt. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2021 2 Series (230i, 230i xDrive, M240i, M240i xDrive), 330e, 330e Xdrive, 4 Series Coupe (430i, 430i xDrive, M440i xDrive) M4 Coupe, M4 Competition Coupe, BMW 4 Series Convertible (430i, M440i), BMW X1 sDrive28i, xDrive28i, 2 Series Gran Coupe (228i, 228i xDrive, M235i xDrive), M2 Competition Coupe, 330i, 330i xDrive, M340i, M340i xDrive, M3, M3 Competition, 530i, 530i xDrive, 540i, 540i xDrive, MINI Hardtop 2 Door (Cooper, CooperS, JCW), X2 sDrive28i, X2 xDrive28i, X2 M35i, Z4 sDrive30i, Z4 M40i, MINI Hardtop 2 Door (Cooper SE), MINI Convertible (Cooper, Cooper S, JCW), MINI Clubman (Cooper S, Cooper S All4, JCW), MINI Countryman (Cooper, Cooper All4, Cooper S, Cooper S All4, JCW All4), Rolls Royce Ghost, MINI Countryman (Cooper S E All4), Rolls Royce Phantom, Rolls Royce Cullinan, and Toyota Supra vehicles. The passenger seat belt Automatic Locking Retractor (ALR) may deactivate early, before the webbing fully retracts. As such, these assemblies fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2020-2021 228i, 228i xDrive, and M235i xDrive vehicles. If the driver initiates an automatic closure of the sunroof, and the vehicle key status is changed to "off" or "lock," the sunroof may continue to close. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 118, "Power-operated Window Systems."
Whether a recall was fixed on a particular car is known only to the manufacturer: check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
NHTSA recalls · summaries in NHTSA's own words
Service bulletins
What BMW told its dealers about the 2021 BMW 228i: known faults, fixes and updates.
| Bulletin | Summary |
|---|---|
| 10249435 | Customer complains of a musty odor or damp front footwell carpet. |
| 10249032 | The Central Information Display goes black intermittently due to resets of the Head Unit (HU-H3). FaultB7F8F9 HU-H: Reset will be stored in the HU-H3. |
| 10249027 | The electrical system of BMW vehicles has been subject to an ongoing development process over the last few years. This has led to increased demands being placed on the battery. This document covers important information for the dealer on how to handle discharged battery complaints. |
| 10249018 | At low outside temperatures (below 40 degrees F) and slow driving speeds (i.e. when parking, maneuvering)with a large steering angle, the front end can be slightly axially misaligned. This can be felt (jerking)/ heard via an acoustic acknowledgement (clunk) as seen at the 11 second mark of the video. See attached video V36 01 21. |
| 10245376 | The steering wheel heating takes a long time to achieve the desired temperature. |
| 10245372 | The paint finish on the door jamb (above the door striker) is scratched due to the inner door cavity window seal. |
| 10245365 | PRESSURE CONTROL VALVE (PCV) EXTENDED LTD WTY 15 YEARS/150,000 MILES |
| 10242874 | Customers may be experiencing one or more of these following issues with Bluetooth operation: Bluetooth cannot be switched on or off in the head unit (HU-H4) Paired mobile devices cannot be deleted Customer is unable to make phone calls or stream music with mobile device Customer is unable to connect a new mobile device via Bluetooth Mobile device does not automatically reconnect via Bluetooth in the next drive cycle (after short sleep cycle) |
| 10242694 | ?The front seat will not calibrate/initialize, and the stored faults cannot be deleted. |
| 10239611 | Headlight check control (CC) message 128 "High beam headlight failure" is displayed. The following fault codes are stored during a vehicle test: 80419A - Left high-beam headlight: Short circuit and/or 8041A5 - light outputs: Number of permitted short circuit cycles exceeded |
| 10239601 | BMW AG has issued a Delivery Stop effective June 6, 2023 on certain Model Year 2023 - 2024 BMW vehicles that were produced between October 26, 2022 and May 8, 2023. |
| 10239599 | With the introduction of the BMW Remote Software Upgrade, all Service Pack 18 vehicles and partial Service Pack 15 vehicles may receive new functionality or modifications in their features. |
| 10238086 | Upon parking and exiting the vehicle, the parking lights remain active. |
| 10238081 | Upon opening and closing the tailgate, a creaking/groaning sound can be heard from tailgate actuator. |
| 10238078 | Sudden failure of the power window(s). |
| 10236236 | Issues with the various functions of the camera-based driver assistance systems (KAFAS system) can possibly lead to following customer complaints: KAFAS camera system deactivates itself, due to system restrictions that are not clear to the customer KAFAS camera system cannot be activated due to system restrictions that are not clear to the customer Road signs are sporadically not detected. |
| 10235206 | Customer is shown an incorrect GPS location in the vehicle (i.e., Nav Map, coordinates). |
| 10235205 | The 3G network in the US has been shut down. This means that only the 4G network will be available. In the 4G network, voice calls will be transferred via the Voice over LTE (VoLTE) function. For this purpose, the SIM card must perform an IMS registration in the mobile communication network. Due to a production error, the telematics control units were delivered without an IMS configuration. The Connected Drive voice services (Concierge Call, BMW Assistance, and emergency call voice) can no longer be used regionally in the US in vehicle with telematics control units ATM-1 and TCB-4G. Voice cont |
| 10235203 | Customer states there is no audio playback (telephony, navigation, radio) and system sounds (PDC, turn indicators, acoustic signals) may also have failed. |
| 10235196 | The gear selector switch (GWS) consists of the control electronics circuit and the selector lever. The sensors for recording the gearshift lever position and for inhibiting inadvertent gearshifts are integrated in the control electronics. |
| 10235185 | While driving on rough roads, a cracking sound is heard coming from the headliner area. |
| 10233165 | The trunklid-mounted inner taillamp turn indicators (arrows) do not function. |
| 10230740 | Customer is shown an incorrect GPS location in the vehicle (i.e., Nav Map, coordinates). |
| 10230729 | Hood lever is pulled twice but the hood only achieves the pre-latch position on both sides. |
| 10230728 | While driving on rough roads, a cracking sound is heard coming from the headliner area. |
NHTSA manufacturer communications (public domain)