Drivetrain malfunction popped up and the car cut off and went into neutral while driving on the road which almost led us to lose control and wreck. Many issues with the fuel pump.

- Fresno, CA, USA

While driving in the southbound fast lane on Highway 101 on July 28, 2021 near Morgan Hill, California, the computer screen advised that there was a fuel supply problem, and at that instant, the engine shut down and the transmission went into park. There was no opportunity to coast onto the shoulder. The vehicle would not restart, nor would it shift out of park. My wife and I were trapped in a vehicle that would not and could not move, in the fast lane of a major California freeway, surrounded by rush hour traffic, with the likelihood that we would be rear ended and perish in a frozen car. The danger was severe. We put the emergency flashers on. Other cars were passing us on the shoulder and on the right hand side, and getting out of the car was dangerous and impossible. We were convinced that we were going to die or be severely injured. We called 911 and at that moment another driver pulled behind us to offer a buffer of safety with his car, until the California Highway Patrol arrived and a tow truck was called. Until the arrival of the tow truck, we remained in severe danger. The tow truck had to pull the vehicle to the shoulder locked in park, causing it to shudder as the rear wheels hopped on the pavement. Eventually we hired a flat bed tow truck to bring the vehicle to our local BMW dealer, and the problem was diagnosed as a faulty fuel pump. Apparently, if your fuel pump fails with this vehicle, you may die. This problem is documented with other drivers at the website carproblemzoo.com/bmwX3/other-fuel-system-pump-problems.php, all of whom were put in peril as a result of this systemic failure. I hope that this notification may save some lives, and would welcome further contact to discuss the matter further. My wife and I still suffer from emotional distress and PTSD, as a direct result of this incident, and will not drive this vehicle again.

- Pebble Beach, CA, USA

Twice now while driving the car it just completely stopped. No warning at all. Just came to a complete stop as I was driving. There were no warning lights, just happened. The first time was on a busy road, the second was on a much less busy street close to my home. I had it fixed to the tune of over $3000 the first time a year and a half ago. Now my mechanic is telling me that it is the timing chain and oil pump drive and that will be a very expensive fix. I am beside myself. If this had happened on a busy highway, lord knows what would have happened but it could've been something very catastrophic and horrific. I am a single mother and a widow and with the pandemic, I was out of work for many months. I do not know what I am going to do but I cannot afford to fix this car for several thousands of dollars.

- Johnson City, NY, USA

Smelled gasoline when the car was running. Took it to the service facility. They discovered that the nut on the pipe connecting the high pressure fuel line for cylinder 3 had cracked, leaking fuel all over the top of the engine including into the wells containing the ignition coils and spark plugs. The crack on the nut is visible on the attached photo. When the went to repair it, another nut cracked in a similar fashion. This is a serious fire hazard spraying fuel all over a hot engine.

- Ocean City, NJ, USA

Car has 89000 miles. At low speeds, it drives fine. On highway, "drive train malfunction" light appears during moderate-heavy acceleration. Today, on a crowded 4 lane highway at about 70mph, car lost all power, gas pedal was useless. I was barely able to limp to breakdown lane and speed dropped to about 15-20 mph by the time I could get there, through lots of honking and several near accidents. Extremely dangerous. I shut the car off for about 2 minutes, restarted it and it worked again. I travelled at about 55mph in right lane the next 15 miles home without issue. I was with my wife and 7 year old daughter. This is a very serious and dangerous issue to have with a car.

- Boston, MA, USA

Car has automatically downshifted and almost stalled while either in motion or slowing down several times. Mechanic is uncertain of exact cause.

- Cumming, GA, USA

Vehicle stalled in the middle of an intersection and gave a fuel system error on the display. Seems to be a faulty fuel pump at only 7 years old. Very dangerous and should be recalled for this issue. It's a good thing I wasn't on the freeway.

- Cerritos, CA, USA

My [xxx] now I'm going through something very different im buy a car in the year 2017 March 20 I spoke the sale manager representative about the car combination of my car his name is [xxx] everything was fine well my car has been damage since 2017 by the mechanic of the G0ggin BMW treasure coast 4429 S us hwy 1 ft pierce fl 34982, tei 429-8300...my car now serious damage don't knowi iwas going to start a motor so other mechanic tell me I have to replace engine I sign a 72 month contract information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Palm City, FL, USA

1. warning drive train malfunction 2. drove moderately on way driving in to dealership for repair 3. oil pressure low stop or risk damage to engine 4. pulled over, had it towed to BMW 5. they called the next morning stating it was 17,000 mol due to engine being damaged after fragments went in from timing chain 6. insurance adjuster went out and conquered BMW issue timing chain broke effecting engine oil pump and battery 7. engine inoperable fucntionally totaled car waiting for BMW N America casemngr to return my call and hopefully offer to extend warranty or offer good will and fix -repair engine and all related to malfunction 8. found out usa consumer class action suit is currently under way filed 12/12/19 against BMW for timing chain engine issue... still without relief or vehicle and no personal funds to get car back again hoping for relief from BMW!

- Hendersonville, NC, USA

Various failures in power train including transfer case, turbo, high pressure fuel injection, and transmission. Failures have happened while traveling on California freeways. Failures sometimes require towing. Sometimes caution driver to proceed at lower speeds.

- Arroyo Grande, CA, USA

The baffles are loose in my muffler causing a terrible noise. I believe this is also causing my check engine light to come on. My car is running rich. BMW says it's annoying but not causing and issues on my car. They say it's $1,200 to fix. It started out only making the noise sometimes. It then progressed to when standing still. Now it does it even when driving. People constantly ask me what's wrong with my car.

- Chicago, IL, USA

Last week when in city traffic, I depressed the brake to slow down, then lifted my foot off the brake. My car lurched forward and I immediately braked again to slow down and stop. This was not normal, had not happened before, and I decided to mention it during my next visit to BMW service. Last Saturday, Feb. 17, I was driving 20 -25 mph in a neighborhood, approaching a red light on river rd, bethesda. There was one car at the light. I braked to slow down, and realized that the car was not slowing down, braked again and it lurched forward and accelerated. I saw the speed the speedometer moving between 20-25, and the tachometer varying wildly between 1.5 - 2.5. I pressed very hard on the brake, which was harder to press down than ever before, pressed the park button and finally got the car to go into park before I arrived at the stopped vehicle in front of me. This all happened in less than 10 seconds. I immediately called BMW and took my car in, explaining what happened, still very shaken and afraid to drive the car. Afterwards, I looked on the internet, and read about other 2013 X3 drivers with the same experience. It did not appear that BMW was able to replicate the problem or that they repaired the cars to fix the problem. One person did have an accident and totaled the car. Thus far, BMW has told me they cannot replicate the problem. I requested the service manager to get involved and will ask to speak to the factory rep as well. This is a major safety hazard putting my life and others at risk. It is not safe to drive my car. I would like to know how many similar complaints have been filed with NHTSA and what NHTSA has done to address this serious safety flaw.

- Bethesda, MD, USA

I was driving northbound on ct-104 long ridge road, a 2-lane state road on Monday June 22nd, 2015 around 8am. I was traveling from stamford ct to bedford. About midway on long ridge road driving at around 25pmh at millers mill intersection the car stalled. I would see I was in middle of my northbound lane the dashboard lights were on, but speedometer was at 0 RPM and knew the engine had died, I immediately tried restarting the engine. While the engine cranked, I was in park, the engine would not kick in despite turning over. After repeated tries, and being unable to move off the lane, I pressed BMW sos button. I had turned on my flashers. Cars were racing in my lane and stopping before getting to my car rear-end. I knew I was in a hazard zone. But this a cell-phone dead zone. In any case BMW asked I get out of the hazard zone, but told them the car was simply unmoveable and would not start-up. So they called in the tow and informed the bedford police. For 20 minutes I sat there in the car. Then the flashers quite operating and increased the risk of rear-end crashes. Thats another issue BMW must look into. Finally the police arrived some 20 mins later the tow truck called by the police showed up. The BMW X3 was taken to bms mt kisco New York. A 2-year old car failing suddenly in the middle of the road without any warning and creating a road hazard was unnerving. BMW dealer informed me on Tuesday June 23rd the fuel pump had failed. It would take a few days to repair...the fact that a new car with 25000 miles has a significant failure suddenly and creates a life-threatening situation with cars barreling down in a 45 mph is worrisome and poses issues with qa of critical components and a recall if large number of cars have been involved in sudden fuel pump failures maybe indicated as a proactive step...updated 08/27/15 updated 12/3/15

- Stamford, CT, USA

On the first occurrence I braked smoothly at a traffic light that was red as I approached. The vehicle stopped and then the engine revved and lurched forward slowly 3 to 4 times taking me through the intersection as I was pressing on the brake. I could not stop the vehicle. Once through the intersection I took my foot off the brake and applied the gas pedal and drove to a nearby parking lot. When I came out of a store after 45 minutes, I tested the brakes by driving slowly in the parking lot and applying the brakes several times. Each time but one the engine revved while I had my foot deliberately on the brakes, not on the gas or gas and brake. If I removed my foot from the brake, the revving stopped and gas operated appropriately. I drove home and called the dealer who had it towed, checked it out for a couple of days, could not reproduce the problem and said it was fine. It was raining on the day of the occurrence. The second occurrence happened 6 days after the first, another rainy day. I braked at a stop sign. The vehicle stopped and then the engine revved as I was pressing on the brake, then lurched forward once into the intersection. I immediately removed my foot from the brake and drove forward. This did not repeat as I drove home. Again the car was towed to the dealer, checked out by the dealer and an engineer from BMW na and nothing could be reproduced. They told me to take the car home. It had to be my error. I objected that I have never had any similar problem with any other car I've driven including the two BMW loaners they supplied. I told them I was unhappy with the decision not to check it out further especially since they had not made any attempt to test it in the rain. BMW na representative was adamant that it could not be the vehicle.

- New Albany, OH, USA