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. While parked and seated in the passenger seat the contact noticed the air bag warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. There was a NHTSA recall campaign number: 08V384000 (air bags:frontal) that may be related to the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 87,000. Airbag indicator comes on when a passenger sits on the passenger side. It usually stays on til the vehicle is driving for several days without a passenger and once a bump is hit. Updated 11/03/2011
BMW has refused to repair my 2006 BMW X3 even though it has the same symptoms in the NHTSA campaign number 08V384000. This is a safety defect in the airbag passenger seat sensor mechanism! I am now faced with paying an exorbitant charge to have the problem fixed. The problem causes the forward passenger seat airbag to not work in a collision.
Front passenger seat airbag sensor failed in February. As a result, passenger air bags will no longer deploy until the sensor is replaced. Cost to replace is about $1,300--mainly labor.
2006 BMW X3 passenger side airbag deactivation light come on intermittently. Sometimes the "fasten seat belt" light on the dash comes on while driving with a loud beep (while the driver is wearing the seat belt and there is no one or no object on the front passenger seat. This is more alarming as one is not sure if the air bag is going to work or not in emergency. This happens intermittently and searching the web shows others are having similar issues. I have taken it to the dealer a few times and each time they run some diagnostics, keep it overnight and tell me there is no faults registered, diagnostics found no issues, and they could not reproduce the problem and there is nothing they can do. Today they told me the same thing again and when I drove out of the dealership the fasten seat belt light went on with the beep but by the time I tured around to go back the alarm turned off. So I didn't go back. On the way home had to stop at the grocery and the light and alarm turned on again on the way home from grocery. It's pretty disappointing for a brand known for safety and quality.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Belleville, MI, USA