Audited US model-year file

2018 BMW i3

Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.

Model-year evidence is not a VIN check.

A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.

Official VIN lookup ↗

01 · Safety actions first

3 NHTSA recall campaigns

Exact model-level NHTSA results for 2018 BMW i3. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.

01
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2018-09-20

EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL

Campaign 18V652000
Summary

BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018 BMW 330e iPerformance, i3 Rex, i3 Sport Rex, X5 xDrive40e, i3 BEV, i3 Sport BEV and 2019 i8 and i8 Roadster vehicles and 2018-2019 530e iPerformance, 530e xDrive iPerformance and 740Le xDrive iPerformance vehicles. Capacitors within the TurboCord Portable Chargers may fail, possibly resulting in a shock hazard or a fire.

Consequence

An electrical shock or a fire can increase the risk of injury or death.

Remedy

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the charging cable, and replace it if necessary, free of charge. The recall began February 22, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

02
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2019-04-17

HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM

Campaign 19V310000
Summary

BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018 i3 BEV and i3 REx hybrid electric vehicles. A circuit board problem within the Electric Motor Electronics (EME) module may shutdown the supply of high voltage electrical power.

Consequence

A shut down of high-voltage electrical power would result in a loss of propulsion, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the EME module, free of charge. The recall began June 13, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

03
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2017-11-16

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

Campaign 17V720000
Summary

BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2014-2018 BMW i3 electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Unbelted, small adult, drivers may be at a higher risk of neck injury in the event of a frontal crash. These vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Consequence

During a frontal impact, unbelted, small adult, drivers could be at a higher risk of neck injury.

Remedy

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will update the Driver air bag control unit software, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin January 8, 2018. Owners may contact BMW customer service at the dedicated i3 recall number 1-855-269-3361.

02 · Owner allegations

0 NHTSA complaints

Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.

Crash mentions
0
Fire mentions
0
Injuries reported
0
Most-reported component labels

No complaint component was returned for this exact search.

Complaints across nearby BMW i3 model years

Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.

  1. 332016
  2. 512017
  3. 02018
  4. 132019
  5. 02020
  6. 02021

A dash means NHTSA holds no complaint record for that exact year, make and model. See all i3 years with specs and fuel economy →

03 · Agency review

1 NHTSA ODI investigation

An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.

DP22005
Closed 2023-08-07 · opened 2023-01-27

Pedestrian alert sounds

NHTSA source ↗

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM · Associated recall campaign 22V063000.

04 · EPA configurations

Fuel economy & specifications

FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.

EPA configurations
4
Combined economy
35–118 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
36–129 / 33–106 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
0–0.6 L
Cylinders
0–2
Fuel type
Electricity · Premium Gas or Electricity
Drive
Rear-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Subcompact Cars
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$650–2300

05 · Evidence strength

Exact identity. Explicit limits.

No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.

exact match

Recall campaigns

3 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.

verified empty

Complaints

0 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.

exact match

ODI investigations

1 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.

canonical only

Model aliases

Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.

not published

Manufacturer ownership

No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.

PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT

Identity, freshness and provenance.

The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.

Permanent public ID
https://modelyearfacts.com/vehicle/2018/bmw/i3
NHTSA make ID
452
NHTSA model ID
2178
Match key
2018 · BMW · i3 · US
Live evidence requested
EPA publication catalogue
Complaint matrix snapshot
Imported safety snapshot
nhtsa-investigations · exact match

NHTSA ODI investigations

Action number, component, subject and open/close dates from the approved bulk import; long summaries omitted.

Open official source ↗
US-market boundary

Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.

06 · Research paths

Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.

These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.

No complaint component was returned, so no component-based repair or parts search is generated.

Offers status: held

Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.