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.
Tail light failure due to a manufacturing defect. Led driver boards are failing due to bad solder connections, components do not fail but the assembly does. I believe the defective solder joints are probably due to contamination on the bare circuit board. I've repaired mine (albeit probably only temporarily due to the contamination). The failed joint on my assembly was exactly the same one identified in this youtube video I found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=jdpbm6cp_yo it's apparently a very common problem, so much so that there are multiple sources for replacement modules common on the internet (do a search on B003809.2 and you'll see what I mean), even though the modules are "not replaceable, " according to BMW. BMW charges hundreds of dollars to replace the whole tail light assembly even though it is obviously a manufacturing defect, not a wear out problem. Failure of the led drive disables the tail light assembly which is clearly a safety issue. The preponderance of premature failures due to a manufacturing defect needs to be addressed by the manufacturer but they are not doing anything.
Rear brake light continue to go out intermittently. Vehicle sometimes displays the warning message on the dash only a portion of the time. When the light does come on, it is about 5-10 minutes after starting the car and driving it a few miles. Took my X3 to a service center in atlanta where I was told they couldn't find anything wrong with the brake lights. Warning light returned 48 hours later. After some research, it seems like my 2014 X3 is not the only one with this issue.
Tail light stopped functioning. Based on research on internet, it seems, its due to faulty light controller. This seems to be common problem. This is real safety issue as it can happen anytime, I am providing one of the links for reference :
The soldering on the circuit board that controls the led tail lights fail and are not serviceable. Also the on board diagnostics does not alert when when the led tail lights are out
During replacement of the xenon headlamp bulbs on the vehicle I noticed that all the vinyl wire covering material had become brittle and cracked off most of the copper wire in side both the headlamp assemblies. The now exposed bare wiring posses potential fire hazards and also loss of lighting at night. I believe that the oem headlamp supplier supplied out of spec wire and should remedy this potentially dangerous life safety situation.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Colmbus, OH, USA