This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2006 BMW X3. The contact stated that there was fluid leaking from the vehicle and the coolant warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the coolant reservoir, but the vehicle continued to leak. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.
As I drove home from a long flight home after the holidays, the engine caught fire due to a frozen crank case ventilation system which caused oil to spray out in the engine compartment. I pulled over when I noticed smoke in the passenger compartment and smoke coming out of the hood. I was able to blow out the fire. Temperatures were 5 degrees F that night. The dealer stated there was a "more robust crank case ventilation system" that they would install at my cost. After the week long repair, the dealer brought my car to the front and turned on the seat heaters. I drove about 5 miles before noting a pinching/painful sensation on my left upper thigh. I pulled over to find a burn mark on the leather seat and a burn on my left upper thigh. It appears to be due to a short in the seat heater.
On 8/4/2016 around 7:20am. I pulled into a parking space at work. My foot was on the brake and was a complete stop. Shifting from drive to park. The car excelerated throwing me back into my seat. I kept pushing the brake and the car would not stop. The car went airborne and excelerated a second time. I hit a fire hydrant and landed in the street. I was then able to stop the car. The distance from the parking stop to the road was about 20 feet. The car was towed to a BMW dealer. BMW had my car for 8 weeks. They had 2 different techs come in to look at the car. The out come was that the brakes are fine and it did not have any codes. Nothing is wrong with the car. I told them that I didn't want the car back. Since they didn't see an issue I told them I would trade it in and they could be liable for someone else getting hurt. Funny how all of the sudden they totaled out the car. I ended up getting a concussion and whiplash and will be doctoring for a while. The person at BMW that was taking care of this is michael and his phone number is 201-571-5820. We were told by american family insurance person that going after BMW to get the reports from the techs would be very difficult. We really would like to know what the reports say. I feel like we were given the run around. I want BMW to acknowledge that they have issues with sudden exceleration. I am very angry on how I was treated. They gave us no information and we were without a car for 7 weeks. The last week they finally gave us a rental. Please look into this for me.
My BMW X3 has had its engine mount bolts sheared off. There are no indications of the bottom of the vehicle having been hit by any objects. The vehicle's mileage is in the low 90,000 mile range. An internet search reveals that this is a common problem happening to many BMW X3's, at low mileage. They also claim that the broken motor mount bolts, could result in a serious accident. The BMW service manager, I talked to, indicated that he has seen this similar issues, but was not aware how wide spread the problem is. His guess of why this may be happening is due to different thermal expansion and contraction of the 3 different metals involved in the mounting system. The way I discovered the problem was that the engine oil drain plug was misaligned with a protective shroud. I have been occasionally noticing a thump coming from the engine compartment. I had my ball joints and front-end checked out about a year ago and everything checked out fine. I suspect now, that the thump sound is due to the sheared engine mount bolts. If that's indeed the case, I would have been driving the vechile with the engine mount bolts sheared off for about 1-1/2 years, unaware of the issue. The engine mounts are not easily inspectable, which is probably why the mechanic that checked out my front end suspension didn't check the engine mounts at that time.
- Seattle, WA, USA
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The contact owns a 2006 BMW X3. While driving 40 mph, the vehicle started to overheat and stalled causing the engine warning light to illuminate. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that the thermostat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 97,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hendersonville, TN, USA