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.
Transmission on my 07 BMW X3 is not handling properly. I have had it in for service multiple times, and yet again for redlining and stalling. This is extremely dangerous, and I would have never expected this from a BMW. Waiting for service dept. To call back with a crazy price that I have to pay to fix this problem now.
Transmission or torque converter has some serious problems. When pressing on the gas pedal from low speeds there is barely any acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear under 2,000 rpms, but when 3rd gear goes in car accelerates more than desired most of the time. This is most apparent when car is cold, but never goes away completely. This really bothers me as this usually happens during turns when you slow down and when you want to accelerate you don't know how hard to press on the pedal, if you press too much car jumps ahead, if not enough you barely move. Another problem is that when coming to a complete stop when transmission downshifts you can hear a faint thump of every downshift somewhere under the vehicle and a little surge forward. I've been to the dealer as the car is still under warranty, they reprogrammed the computer but there was no change.
2007 BMW X3 transmission issues. Transmission went into fail safe mode (4th gear) and transmission warning light on dash appeared. BMW dealer is aware of this malfunction and had a bulletin that recommended a software fix. This is apparently a far reaching malfunction and quite common on this model. The NHTSA should maintain metrics from dealers to see if the fix works because if it doesn't then this catastrophic transmission failure could be quite dangerous to the occupants as well as others on the road.
Faulty transmission. The gearbox will fail to respond at random times usually in critical life threatening situations such as merging into traffic or avoiding other careless drivers. Can't seem to decide what gear to be in when making quick uphill turns. While downshifting in sd the driver may experience down shifts so rough it seems like you have been rear ended by another driver. Cold temperatures seem to always make the shifting issue worse and the vehicle may red line or not shift at a normal rate.
- Cambridge, MA, USA
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Slowing down to take a left hand turn at a traffic light, once the coast is clear, pressed accelerator to turn and the vehicle "hesitates" and does not react to the input. Traffic is now oncoming and vehicle still not moving, finally it starts to go. Barely get across the lane before the oncoming traffic is in the spot we just left. Vehicle does not shift smoothly; it has a jerky motion between 1,2 and 3rd gears. Often times when slowing down it down shifts harshly, searching for the correct gear. In the morning when first started and driven down the street to the stop sign, it will lurch forward several times while you are holding your foot on the brake. This vehicle is not safe to drive in it's present condition because the operator does not know whether it will react to input or not. You are forced to cross traffic with extreme caution.
2007 BMW X3 automatic transmission: Have been complaining to BMW about this problem since spring of 2007. The vehicle has been in the shop more than a month (total from numerous visits). At a stop light the transmission will occasionally surge & if not for foot firmly on the brake that surge would throw me into the car ahead. It has surged when parking almost ramming me into the side of a building. I almost went through a file cabinet and into the wall in my garage yesterday. Hesitates when changing lanes & through intersections. I've almost been hit numerous times. Almost rammed from the rear at 70mph on the freeway when transmission hesitated & wouldn't accelerate. The engine will rev and the transmission won't kick in for a few seconds. Then the car takes off like a rocket. This vehicle with this particular transmission is dangerous. I've been trying incessantly to get BMW to help me for well over a year. All levels say they will help but it never happens short of a transmission reprogramming which doesn't eliminate the problem...and they know it. BMW states the "vehicle is operating as designed". what a stunning admission! this is a huge problem and quite easy to verify. Service managers admit the problem too...and BMW is saying they designed the vehicle this way"?? who has to die in an accident before this is taken care of? BMW had a regional tech engineer evaluate my vehicle. He says it's "operating as designed". he also said there are no 'faults'. a service mgr once told me that 'faults' don't always register in the computer so having 'no faults' isn't unusual. By the way, BMW had me take the car in to get reprogrammed shortly "before" that regional tech did his evaluation. Yes, they reprogrammed it "then" sent him in! nothing was found? go figure! what could I do" it's a leased vehicle. I couldn't just sell it or take it back to the dealer. Why do they refuse to help me when it would cost next to nothing. They love my $$$.
The vehicle hesitates and is quite unsafe especially when making turns at intersections. Cars would be coming at you while you are 'praying' for it to move! it happens regularly but unpredictably. Sort of like playing russian roulette! the main problem, aside from performance is safety-safety-safety! the car was purchased new and is still under BMW warranty. It's been in the dealership for 3 weeks now! according to them, they are replacing the trans-axle! the same exact problem is happening to all of its owners. Check: townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.F11ffdc/0 subject: BMW X3 hesitation on acceleration.
BMW X3 sav surges forward or looses power unexpectedly. Unexpected power surge happens mostly when taking turns, coming out of the turn the car takes off. Loss of power, happens often when going up a hill or sometimes after a stop to take a turn then all of a sudden accelerates uncontrollably. Have had car in to dealer 5 times and still is not resolved.
The transmission on the 2007 BMW X3 (GM6 transmission) hesitates in acceleration during drive mode. It has become unsafe to make a fast lane change. I almost got rear-ended today. I live in a mountain top community so driving down hill the down shift in manual (steptronic) 4th to 3rd and 3rd to 2nd pretty much allows the car to lung forward as if in neutral. In relying on the transmission to safely slow the car it practically forces you into the rear of another car or does not allow me to safe slow the car without having to use hard breaking. My car has been in the shop 5 times now. I am being told "this is just the way it is" I spent 6 hours with the BMW regional engineer test driving and doing software modifications. We compared this to a 2008 model. Any X3 with the same transmission is going to have the same issue.
BMW X3 stalls/hesitates when accelerating to merge into normal traffic flow. Vehicle has problems when accelerating from a stoplight or sign. Transmission rev's very high. Have experienced dangerous or life threatening moments when driving this csr. Have had previous BMW's and never had this problem. Have taken car in for servicing once and it is going in again.
We had a new 2007 BMW X3 that had horrible transmission problems. It was very scary - the car would hesitate when you wanted it to accelerate, it would seem to lose power at times - a real disaster and safety concern. BMW was totally unresponsive - told us all sorts of nonsense about us not knowing how to drive. Initially they kept the car for a month claiming they needed software. Then they replaced the transmission. That still didn't fix the car. We sent the car back for service again, and after another month they said they couldn't fix it. Finally, after jerking us around for a long time, they agreed to swap the car out for a 2008, but even then, the way it was handled was abominable. The whole time we were dealing with BMW, they kept acting like they had never heard of the problems we were having, yet a simple search of the internet revealed the many many complaints that are exactly the same. Obviously, BMW is trying to avoid a recall.
Faulty transmission/engine - hesitates and causes many near fatal accidents when getting on a highway. Hesitation is also seen when stepping on the gas pedal when accelerating from a stop. This is frightening and very stressful to drive.
Car always hesitated when accelerator was pressed. One day even with the car in "D" it did not move and engine raced. I was in the middle of a busy intersection and unable to move. A gentleman got out of his car and stopped traffic in all directions. I was finally able to move the car by switching between P and D until it caught and the car moved. I narrowly escaped getting hit when the light changed but my car did not move. I had it towed and the dealer installed the upgrade program.
Vehicle hesitates from stop. Transmission constantly "hunts" for proper gear. Vehicle exhibits loss of power when merging into traffic, or making turns.
On 3 occasions, the transmission on my 2007 BMW X3 3.0si has resulted in near crash situations. The transmission either does not respond (a significant delay) in response to the accelerator or lurches nearly uncontrollably in response to only a slight accelerator depression. I have taken the vehicle to the BMW dealer 3 times with no substantive improvement. Because of the transmission's erratic unpredictability, it really is only a matter of time before it will not respond in a critical situation resulting in a crash.
2007 BMW X3 (build date 09/06) transmission problem, potentially very dangerous (deadly). Vehicle surges, lags, hesitates, can't find gear, red lines, fails to respond to accelerator. First three service department visits, no attempt was made to repair. 4th visit = software upgrade. Problem not fixed.
The automatic transmission does not appropriately respond to driver input, variously displaying hesitation of up to 3 seconds, abrupt upshifts and downshifts, and occasional stalls. It is so unpredictable that one avoids pulling into traffic, or turning left across incoming traffic. Not an ultimate driving machine. This is a BMW X3 2008 model.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Secaucus, NJ, USA