2020 BMW Z4
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
Have the VIN?
These records cover every 2020 BMW Z4. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
Recalls
6 recalls name the 2020 BMW Z4. Newest first.
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2021 BMW 330i, 2019-2022 BMW Z4, 2020-2022 BMW 530i, X3, X4, Toyota Supra, 2021-2022 BMW 430i, 430i Convertible, and 2022 BMW 230i vehicles. The engine starter relay may corrode, causing the relay to overheat and short circuit.
Risk and remedy
Risk
A short circuit in the starter relay may increase the risk of a fire.
Remedy
Owners are advised to park their vehicles outside and away from structures until the remedy is complete. Dealers will replace the engine starter, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 6, 2026. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov November 14, 2025.
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2020 M340i, M340i xDrive, 540i, 540i xDrive, X3 M40i, 2020-2021 X4 M40i, 745Le xDrive, 2019-2021 Z4 M40i, and 2020-2021 Toyota Supra vehicles. During engine start, the engine management software may cause loss of braking assist. Full mechanical braking (without assist) remains available.
Risk and remedy
Risk
Loss of braking assist can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will update the engine management software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 17, 2021. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Z4 and 2020-2021 Toyota Supra vehicles. The weld between the fuel tank halves may have been insufficiently welded, causing the weld to fail.
Risk and remedy
Risk
The failed weld may allow fuel to leak, increasing the risk of a fire in the presence of an ignition source.
Remedy
BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel tank, free of charge. The recall began December 18, 2020. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Z4 sDrive30i, Z4 M40i and 2020 Toyota Supra vehicles. The headlamps are able to be adjusted horizontally. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment."
Risk and remedy
Risk
Should the headlamps be adjusted horizontally, there could be increased glare and reduced visibility for oncoming drivers, or reduced visibility for the vehicle operator, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the headlamp vertical and horizontal adjustment plugs, correcting them as necessary, free of charge. The recall began December 23, 2020. BMW owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2020 Z4 M40i, Z4 sDrive30i, 330i and 330i xDrive vehicles as well as 2020 Toyota Supra vehicles. The headlight control units may fail causing a loss of one or both of the headlights.
Risk and remedy
Risk
Headlight failure can reduce the driver's visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the headlight control units, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin January 17, 2020. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018 540d, 2018-2020 530i, 530i xDrive, 540i, 540i xDrive, M550i xDrive, M5, 530e, 530e xDrive, X3 sDrive, X3 xDrive, X3 M40i, X3 M, and 2019-2020 X4 xDrive, X4 M40i, X4 M, X7 xDrive, X7 M50i, 740Li, 740Li xDrive, 750Li, 750Li xDrive, 8 Series Convertible and Coupe 840i, 840i xDrive, M850i xDrive, X5…
Risk and remedy
Risk
The lack of an image in the back-up camera display increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy
BMW will notify owners, and dealers will update the back-up camera software, free of charge. The recall began November 8, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Rolls-Royce at 1-877-877-3735. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.
Owner complaints
5 complaints1 involved a crash
What owners report most
Latest complaints
- Electrical system · Engine · Unknown or other
The engine starter failed on my 2020 BMW Z4 M40i. The vehicle experienced starting failures and the repair shop diagnosed a faulty/shorted engine starter assembly. The symptoms and component failure match the exact defect description of active safety recalls NHTSA 24V-576 and 25V-636 (Starter Motor…
The engine starter failed on my 2020 BMW Z4 M40i. The vehicle experienced starting failures and the repair shop diagnosed a faulty/shorted engine starter assembly. The symptoms and component failure match the exact defect description of active safety recalls NHTSA 24V-576 and 25V-636 (Starter Motor Fire Risk due to electrical short circuit/overheating). However, when checking my specific 17-digit VIN, the manufacturer has excluded my vehicle from the recall population. Because this is an identical component failure that poses a severe vehicle fire and safety hazard, I am requesting that the NHTSA investigate a recall expansion to include my vehicle's production batch. I have retained the diagnostic reports and repair invoices as evidence.
- Electrical system
Engine starter safety recall came out in September 2025, with no remedy or parts existing for fixing it. 5 months later, and no timeframe is provided for a remedy. This is a major fire risk given the amount of rain now that could corrode the starter and lead to a fire.
- Service brakes · Steering · Suspension
Don't know what IS causing it. There IS major squeaking/whining/grinding noise if even a tiny bit of water gets in there and last couple days after that. And when you turn the steering wheel to the left the squeaking/whining gets louder. And when does do this the suspension if you hit even a small…
Don't know what IS causing it. There IS major squeaking/whining/grinding noise if even a tiny bit of water gets in there and last couple days after that. And when you turn the steering wheel to the left the squeaking/whining gets louder. And when does do this the suspension if you hit even a small bump will bottom out and make grinding noises. BMW has looked at the car couple times first time they said there was rust. Second time they couldn't find anything wrong with it.
- Engine · Service brakes · Structure › Body
Was in a drive thru on 9/6/2020 waiting our turn. approx. 7 cars in front of us. as we are slowly moving up to order, car in idle, foot on brake. as we are moving forward, when we were up to 3 cars, still idling and foot on brake, the car had fully accelerated, brake not holding the car…
Was in a drive thru on 9/6/2020 waiting our turn. approx. 7 cars in front of us. as we are slowly moving up to order, car in idle, foot on brake. as we are moving forward, when we were up to 3 cars, still idling and foot on brake, the car had fully accelerated, brake not holding the car, inching forward due to the force of the acceleration. tried to shift into neutral, went into reverse. tried again to shift into neutral, went into drive, still inching forward, at this time I pushed the off button to stop the car. result of collision with the vehicle in front of us. we have photos but not on this computer.
- Steering
Bmw's lane departure system actually pulls the car's steering left or right, and could cause the car to collide with another vehicle or run off the road. I experienced this while driving on the freeway in southern california. the lane departure system almost pulled my vehicle into the adjacent lane.
Service bulletins
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
- 10250893SITUATION BMW AG is conducting a Voluntary Emissions Recall (effective April 23, 2021) on a certain Model Year 2020 - 2021 BMW vehicles that were produced between August 13, 2019 and December 11, 2020. Do not deliver to a customer, a New, Certified Pre-Owned or Used vehicle subject to an emissions recall, until the vehicle is repaired. Do not use or sell replacement equipment/parts subject to an emissions recall. The 12 V batterys dual storage system (DSS) may contain a software error which intermittently causes a continuous resetting of the microcontroller and communication failure. The error is displayed by a red Check Control message.
- 10250374An interference noise (groaning noise) can be heard from within the heating and air-conditioning unit in thecenter of the instrument panel. The groaning noise always occurs when either a ventilation flap, air stratification flap or the recirculated airflap moves to a different position. Due to the complex design of the heating and air-conditioning unit, the kinematics causing it (top or bottom,left or right) may not be able to be precisely located. Depending on the vehicle model, the number of servomotors (and the associated kinematics unit) varies.Various models use either 2 or 3 servomotors.
- 10249437The basic conditions for initializing the power windows are not met.
- 10249032The 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.
- 10249027The 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.
- 10249018At 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.
- 10249015A vehicle arrives at your center to be diagnosed for a micro-leak in the fuel evaporative (EVAP) system(NVLD natural vacuum leak detection). For this condition, the following fault is stored in the DME: 190302 - fuel tank ventilation and scavenging air system, micro-leak: leakage more than 0.5mm For: Model vehicles other that the ones listed above, or for EVAP faults related to a large leak, after confirming that the fuel filler cap is fitted properly, then, proceed to follow the corresponding test plan
- 10242693?The outer A-pillar trim panel (arrow) protrudes outward (circled) towards the cowl seal.
- 10239615BMW AG has issued a Delivery Stop (effective February 9, 2023) on certain Model Year 2022 - 2023 BMW vehicles that were produced between June 29, 2022 and February 16, 2023.
- 10239611Headlight 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
- 10239610Condensation is present on the inner surfaces in one or both taillights (circled).
- 10239608In the event of an accident, the two-battery Dual Storage System (DSS) is disconnected from the electrical system via an internal relay.
- 10239602A vehicle arrives at your center to be diagnosed for a micro-leak in the fuel evaporative (EVAP) system (NVLD natural vacuum leak detection). For this condition, the following fault is stored in the DME: 190302 - fuel tank ventilation and scavenging air system, micro-leak: leakage more than 0.5 mm.
- 10239601BMW 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.
- 10239599With 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.
- 10238093BMW AG has issued a Delivery Stop (effective February 9, 2023) on certain Model Year 2022 - 2023 BMW vehicles that were produced between June 29, 2022 and February 16, 2023. This was originally called ""Wireless Charging Tray"". Software in potentially affected vehicles may not recognize the removal of the digital key (Key Card or mobile phone) from the wireless charging tray, and thereby not meeting a federal requirement."
- 10236236Issues 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.
- 10236218In hot ambient conditions, if the engine was running for a prolonged time while the vehicle is stationary, a jolt may be experienced while lightly accelerating.
- 10235206Customer is shown an incorrect GPS location in the vehicle (i.e., Nav Map, coordinates).
- 10235203Customer states there is no audio playback (telephony, navigation, radio) and system sounds (PDC, turn indicators, acoustic signals) may also have failed.
- 10235196The 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.
- 10235180When turning the steering wheel while stationary or when driving on uneven roads; cracking, creaking, or knocking noises may be heard.
- 10233169BMW AG has issued a Delivery Stop (effective October 25, 2021) on certain Model Year 2022 BMW vehicles that were produced after October 25, 2021. Due to supply chain limitations, certain vehicles were produced without a CID with touch function and and without Reversing Assistant.
- 10233166Due to component-related supply issues, the central information displays (CID) in some of the Model Year 2022 vehicles listed above were produced without the integrated touch screen function.
- 10233163Check control message (CCM) 183 Windscreen wiper malfunction is displayed.
- 10230740Customer is shown an incorrect GPS location in the vehicle (i.e., Nav Map, coordinates).
- 10230725A cracking, metallic noise from under the center of the vehicle.
- 10227575The customer complains that the radio stations change by themselves.
- 10227558After opening the vehicle with the radio remote control and changing the profile, the exterior mirror settings are lost.
- 10225127The Lane Change Warning (LCW) yellow triangle symbol on either one, or both the exterior side view mirrors does not illuminate to alert the driver when it should.
- 10225126Vehicle cannot be opened or closed using comfort access, engine start is not possible, and the vehicle may not start when placing the key against the steering column.
- 10225121An interference noise (groaning noise) can be heard from within the heating and air-conditioning unit in the center of the instrument panel.
- 10224210The sound output intermittently drops out entirely. This can be reproduced with all audio sources as well as telephone and voice output.
- 10215750BMW offers a new special ISTA Installation made available for Roadside Assistance / Mobile Service technicians. The new ISTA Version is also able to be used in case of a Remote Software Upgrade (RSU) programming failure to get the customer car reprogrammed on site. In case of a Remote Software Upgrade failure, the engine start is prevented for safety reasons until the vehicle is programmed correctly. Most of the errors occur when only one control unit fails to program correctly.
- 10214990The Headunit High (HU-H), also called NBT, began replacing the Car Information Computer (CIC) on certain MY2013 vehicles with option 609 (as of 7/2012 production). This uses map North America NEXT. The Headunit High 2 (HU-H2), also called NBT-EVO, superseded the NBT HU and was introduced in 3/2014. This uses map North America EVO. The Headunit High 4 (HU-H4, also called MGU21) superseded the MGU starting with certain MY2021 vehicles with option code 6U3 Live Cockpit Professional. This uses map North America JOY. The ENTRY Media/Navigation (HU-B) is the low line business version of the navigation system and was introduced in 3/2014. This uses map North America ROUTE. The ENTRY NAV EVO (HU-B2) replaced Entry Media/Navigation as the low-line business version and was introduced in certain MY2018 vehicles. This uses map North America WAY.
- 10214989Mist formation on the windshield inside surface may occur at departure or after MSA (automaticstart/stop). Acoustic abnormality in the area of the recirculated air flap (recirculation flap closing and opening severaltimes). The above may occur individually or in combination.
- 10214984Check Control Message (CCM) displays "Vehicle key missing" after engine start.
- 10214260When driving off from a standstill, a delayed or sluggish throttle response may be noticed sporadically.
- 10214254In some rare cases a customer vehicle might be excluded from one or more Remote Software Upgrade(RSU) campaigns. This SIB gives an overview how to identify these vehicles and how to proceed in case of a customer complaint.
- 10212795Check Control message (CCM) displays "Vehicle key missing" after engine start.
Every BMW Z4 model year
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.