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.
I purchased my vehicle less than three years ago for a large sum of money. It is a 2011 BMW X3 and shouldn-??t have any engine problems especially at 130,000 miles. My engine is currently stalling and is a safety hazard to drive as it will stall while driving in high volume traffic. It has put me at risk for accidents and I have spent thousands trying to fix it. My mechanic found metal pieces that broke throughout the engine which he mentioned were the vanous bolts that hold the engine together. BMW has not issued a recall remedy and because of which, I currently have an undrivable vehicle that nobody will purchase. There are over 155,000 vehicles affected by this recall and BMW has not been helpful at all in prioritizing a solution as these are older vehicles and do not take -??precedent-?? according to the BMW staff I have spoken with. Additionally they have not provided me with any sort of remedy in the interim stating that because it is an older car they cannot give me a loaner. They clearly do not treat all customers the same and prioritize remedies based on the newness of the car.
I have been stuck on the road twice due to the engine stalling and the car just does not accelerate. This last time I was stuck in between 2 lanes and could not get the car to start. I was in danger with my daughters. I was able to get the car towed to the dealer and they are saying it is not the recall but everything that happened was what the recall is for. I now have to pay the dealer for a diagnostic that clearly is what the recall is. They are giving me the run around every time I bring up the recall and this is clearly a safety issue.
We received a notice of the VANOS assembly bolts recall in December from BMW. We have checked back (with the dealer and BMW of No America) for the last 2 months and have been told there is no word when the parts will be in. On your website you say: "If the manufacturer has failed or is unable to remedy this safety recall for your vehicle in a timely manner, please contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at: 1-888-327-4236 or TTY: 1-800-424-9153 or file an online complaint with NHTSA." 2 months, with no end in sight is too long to have a vehicle that I am afraid to drive. Please help!
The contact owns a 2011 BMW X3. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V707000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated while stopped at a traffic light, the light changed, and the contact depressed the accelerator pedal and heard an abnormal sound coming from under the floorboard and the vehicle stalled. The contact observed that the shifter had shifted independently into neutral (N) and a warning light flashed on the instrument panel but the vehicle lost electrical power and stalled. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle however, the vehicle was unable to be restarted. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the timing chain needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 139,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2011 BMW X3. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who informed the contact that the failure was due to the PCV. The local dealer was not contacted, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V683000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
- Reisterstown, MD, USA
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Went to have hesitation when accelerating checked with my mechanic. This problem called for ignition coil and spark plugs to be replaced. During final test drive -- check engine light illuminated. Vehicle was scanned for stored fault codes. During this scan it was found faults for intake vanos not controllable. Inspected camshaft gears via bore-scope. Found vanos securing bolts to be broken. This was a recall issue on this particular model except for the engine that is in my vehicle. Feel as though this issue should be addressed for all vehicles that are this model. The recall was faults stored in DME, Vanos and camshaft position. I realize that BMW is not responsible for my particular vehicle but feel that someone should be looking at why ONLY this specific engine was not included?? I did have my mechanic fix the issue which incurred an expense of $2499. If this problem could be looked into further, I would appreciate your help. (I do have invoice from mechanic, but I don't know how to upload file.
The bolts backed out of my camshaft (VANOS) adjustment units. The related "warranty (not a recall)" information is found here: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10135011-9999.pdf. I purchased a 2011 X3 28i last May (2022) with ~110k miles, and there was no open recall information attached to the vehicle. Inspecting prior service records the VANOS bolts were never replaced. After a few thousand miles the bolts backed out and sheared. BMW NA said it was out of warranty and would not be covered. There was no information found when searching the VIN for necessary repairs. I've seen 10+ reports in online forums in the past two years explaining they needed or got the repair and BMW NA told them it would not be covered. I don't understand how I was to know, or even the past owner (2nd owner, I'm the third), that this engine part failure would or could occur. If the "warranty (not a recall)" was recalled on other models it seems nefarious that a warning wouldn't be attached to the vehicles. The vehicle was inspected and passed, and then inspected by a indie BMW technician who used to work for BMW as well. The vehicle had repairs done, but even he did not suspect any engine issues. This issue is a matter of when and not if with the vehicles within the "warranty" time span. My request would be that BMW reopen the warranty or rightfully claim it a recall as it should have been in the beginning. I would appreciate any guidance on the matter. Thank you.
I parked my vehicle in front of my house for the night after driving for only about 15-20 minutes. Maybe less. Roughly 3-4 hours later, I was alerted to my car being completely up in flames by the sounds of fire trucks / police sirens. Flames were 20-30 feet in the air coming from the engine compartment area. Fire department / police worked to extinguish the flames, but the vehicle is totally destroyed.
Background -??Per a letter sent out to the NHTSA on April 9, 2014 a recall was issued for several vehicles as the housing bolts for the vanos cams were deemed to be faulty and could loosen or shear off causing a stall. oNHTSA Campaign 14V176000 and all defect notices, recall acknowledgements, etc which are currently extant on the NHTSA website. ?'?Technical Service Bulletin SI B11 07 14 dated 10/14 oIncluded in this recall are X3 28i with engine type N52 manufactured between 1/2010 -?" 9/2011. oA 10-year extended warranty was issued for vehicles not specifically covered under the recall. oMy vehicle was manufactured and put into service 1/2011. oNo one to date has given a clear answer on why my VIN wasn-??t listed as part of the recall. Incident -??My wife and daughter were driving on the highway when the car stalled putting them in danger. They were able to pull off to the side without incident but were unable to start it again. -??I had the car towed to BMW Fairfield where the team under Nate Sanchez diagnosed the issue. The was no check engine light, no drop in performance nor any indication at all that something was wrong before this happened. In fact, I had the car at Dave Parker-??s Eurasian Autoworks for an AC diagnostic. They thoroughly checked the vehicle and could find no faults. oThe cause of failure was the bolts shearing off the Vanos cam, exactly as stated in the recall. oThe engine was inspected with an Otoscope and no additional engine damage was apparent. oTotal cost of the repair is estimated at $6100 Involving BMW NA Customer Service -??Customer service was engaged to attempt to find a goodwill solution to the manufacturers defect. oCustomer service communication was spotty at best. When first I called, they told me that the car was covered under the extended warranty for the entirety of 2021. Upon the dealership calling, they were told that the warranty had expired. Throughout the process, deadlines for information were promised and then w
While driving on a motorway at moderate speeds of about 45 mph, vehicle started throwing dynamic stability control, engine check light and traction control deactivation warnings and started cutting out power to the wheels although the engine continued to idle smoothly. Stranded on the motorway for a while and then after switching off and switching on the ignition couple of times, vehicle started to drive forward in limp mode. Had to pull over for safety and towed the vehicle to a local mechanic shop. They said the accelerator pedal failed and stopped sending any signals to engine control unit. They replaced the gas pedal and everything seems to be back to normal.
The error "chassis stabilization" popped up with multiple lights on the instrument gauge cluster. Steering, acceleration, and braking were effected. After backing out of driveway, made a sharp right turn and warnings appeared. They also happen intermittently during driving, most often in the first 2 minutes of driving.
Water pump and thermostat have failed at 63,000 miles. That is an extremely short life span for those items and from general research it appears that this is a common issue with these vehicles.
The coolant system is giving me many problems. The coolant expansion tank developed cracks in the seam and leaking. The thermostat was stuck, causing zero heat into the cabin on a cold day. The vehicle stalled on its own while driving in the highway. It would not re start the ignition kept trying, and after 20 minutes stalled it finally started, limp driving to my house from there.. the display reads drive moderately /drivetrain malfunction.
The contact owns a 2011 BMW X3. The contact stated that the transmission malfunctioned when switching from first to second gear. As a result, the vehicle shook and vibrated severely. During the failure, the check engine and power train malfunction indicators illuminated. The vehicle was towed to Edison open road BMW (731 us highway 1, Edison, NJ) to be diagnosed, but the cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 96,222.
Experienced drive train malfunction warning along with shaking and limp mode numerous times which resulted in 2 repairs last year in the thousands only to find out it was due to the cam shaft bolts recall at the root of the initial cause of the failures that resulted. BMW was hesitant to pay initially but my husband is a litigation attorney and once he got involved, they were quick in doing the right thing. I am currently having issues with the no warning light showing to warn me of a low coolant level. It was not until after smoke appeared from the engine area and a burning smell that the warning finally appeared. I immediately stopped and waited for it cool off & had coolant put in, warning light disappeared. Currently smelling a burning smell and hearing a squeaking noise so have a service scheduled tomorrow for the valve heater recall and hope BMW will address any issues stemming from that that may be causing other issues. Also to report, rarely ever use the glove box yet the corner of the glove box has come apart and will not reattach. I saw this has been an issue reported by many BMW X-3 owners and I will be expecting BMW to do the right thing and pay to fix this known defect.
It has first caused check engine light own with a fault code, then different electrical components started affecting including lights, brakes, acceleration, pickup, speed control while driving. I already repaired twice out of pocket as it was a pickup and check engine light on issue with code P2096 which involves PCV components associated with the recall. Due to this defective component I've already spent 4000+ in repairs and still the check engine light on and I'm driving unsafely as I don't have money to repair further. I also had to put my family on risk with 2 small kids as this SUV we use as a family car. Since the issue is reported a year ago and BMW still didn't offer any fix into purchase a new car to safeguard ourselves. I demand BMW to refund me 100K due to all these issues caused due to this problem and offering no timely fixes and causing stress and financial frustration.
The contact owns a 2011 BMW X3. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 17V683000 (engine and engine cooling); however, the parts to do the repair were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair as the recall notice was received in September of 2017. The contact called the manufacturer several times, but they did not know when the parts would be available. The contact was concerned because the recall notice stated that the failure could lead to a possible fire and the vehicle was to be parked away from the home. The dealer was not contacted. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. Updated 8/15/18
The contact owns a 2011 BMW X3. While driving various speeds, the vehicle began to overheat. The contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The contact called BMW of concord at (925) 682-3577 (located at 1967 market St, concord, ca 94520) and was informed that they only would repair what was listed in NHTSA campaign number: 17V683000 (engine and engine cooling). The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified and did not assist. The failure mileage was 59,246.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Owosso, MI, USA