Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure on the 2006 BMW 325I
When ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure gets reported
Owners of the 2006 BMW 325I report ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure at a median of 60,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles, from 14 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 11th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 115,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 73,160 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
7% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42,940 miles | 55,000 miles | 60,000 miles | 75,000 miles | 116,100 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 3 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2004, at a median of 55,000 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 100,000 miles.
By volume the 2006 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I was at the store when the car locks jammed. The only way to get into the car was by manually using the key. The key fob would not unlock the door. The real issue was that the only door that could be opened was the drivers side using the manual key. All the others were jammed shut. There would be no way for those doors to be opened in case of an emergency. This is a very common problem with this make. Its attributed to a faulty design. See threads and youtube video. Http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3080752 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v04l-isycs the consequences are that if there is an accident, there is no way to get to passengers, also, fire situations would be deadly, submerging in water could also prove to be a disastrous. The only repair is replacement with the same actuator, but the problem is only a temporary fix. Over time it will reoccur. It is a design flaw. Employee: kennedy space center space shuttle program (united space alliance) safety, quality, and mission assurance engineer *tr
2006 bmw 325i door lock/latch failure. Unable to open doors with key fob. Doors will lock but now not possible to open any doors with fob or with lock/unlock button inside car. Must unlock driver's side door with valet key. Fuel door also locked and will not open. All ready had this problem fixed approximately one year ago. *ln
Bmw has a service bulletin (sib-51-19-07) on the bmw vehicles: doors will not unlock using the key fob or central locking button. This is a major safety concern for when this occurs there is only one exit (and entry) into the vehicle and that is through the driver's side door. In the event of an accident and the ability/mobility of the passengers this may not be possible. My 2006 325i bmw (VIN: [xxx]) is having its front door locking/latching assembles replaced due to them malfunctioning and causing a short in the system. This short is causing the fuse which unlocks the doors to blow which creates a safety issue for passengers not being able to unlock their doors to exit the vehicle (except for the driver?s door) in the event one needs to exit in an emergency (or just entering or exiting the bmw). As a matter of fact, my former mother-in-law has a 2006 325i bmw and she just had her bmw serviced for the same issue. From what I am being told the cost to repair these locking/latching assemble will run about $750-800 (parts and labor). In my opinion, this being a safety issue caused by defective parts should be a recall replacement vs…
Also reported on the 2006 BMW 325I
Seat belt or retractor failure
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other body or interior problem
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Other steering problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure happen on the 2006 BMW 325I?
Across 14 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 60,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure on the 2006 BMW 325I?
15 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.7 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed