Subject: Complaint Regarding Water Intrusion and Electrical Failures in 2019 BMW X5 To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding a recurring and potentially hazardous issue with my 2019 BMW X5. The issue involves water intrusion through the shark fin antenna, which has caused significant electrical malfunctions in my vehicle. Description of the Problem Water appears to be leaking into the vehicle through the shark fin antenna located on the roof. This has resulted in: 1.Failure of the infotainment system (screen not functioning). 2.Inability to start the car (starter not activating). 3.Turn signals operating without the typical cabin clicking sound. This issue has left the vehicle inoperable on multiple occasions and poses a safety risk, as critical systems such as the emergency call function and vehicle ignition are affected. Impact on Safety -??A malfunctioning starter prevents the vehicle from being driven, potentially leaving me stranded in unsafe locations. -??Turn signal failures reduce the audible warning, increasing the risk of accidents. -??Water-damaged electrical components could lead to further issues, such as shorts or fires. Research and Observations After researching, I found that other BMW owners have reported similar issues involving water intrusion through the shark fin antenna, leading to widespread electrical problems. This suggests a potential design or manufacturing defect. Request for Action I respectfully request that the NHTSA investigate this issue to determine whether it constitutes a safety defect requiring a recall or service bulletin from BMW. Vehicle Information -??Make/Model: BMW X5 -??Year: 2019 -??VIN: [XXX] -??Mileage at Time of Failure: 72,000 -??start Date of Incident(s): [XXX] Supporting Documentation I am happy to provide photos, repair bills, or any other supporting evidence upon request. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Tomball, TX, USA

I am writing to file a complaint against BMW for the replacement of the starter in my 2019 BMW X5 (VIN # [XXX] ) which I had to pay for out of pocket in March 2024. My vehicle failed to start after repeated attempts. After a call to the dealership they told me I would have to have it towed to the dealership at my own expense at a total of $266 for them to assess. The dealership confirmed that the starter needed replacement which cost me an additional $1736.78 out of pocket. After receiving a recall notice from BMW, I learned that this issue is related to a known safety defect with the starter which can lead to electrical overload, overheating, and in rare cases a fire risk. Given that I had to replace the faulty starter before the recall was issued, I am requesting reimbursement for the costs I incurred -$2002.78 which includes the towing charges and starter replacement. I reached out to Joseph Battle (Service Advisor) at BMW of Nashville, and he informed me that reimbursement is not possible only a software upgrade. This response is unacceptable, as I should not have to bear the cost for a safety issue BMW has since acknowledged. I kindly request reimbursement for the full amount of $2002.78. Please review the attached invoices and recall notice. I look forward to your prompt response and resolution of this matter. [XXX] and [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Murfreesboro, TN, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V576000(Electrical System, Engine and Engine Cooling). The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was discovered that the recall software update remedy could not be completed due to the telemarket control module failing and needing to be replaced prior to the recall remedy. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to file a safety complaint. The failure mileage was 60,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

- Falmouth, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. While the contact's wife was stopped and sitting in the drive-thru, the vehicle shut off. The vehicle was restarted; however, the vehicle failed to start as intended. In addition, the contact stated that the failure occurred while his minor children were inside the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The contact received notification NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V576000 (Electrical System, Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

- Methuen, MA, USA

The contact owns 2019 BMW X5. The contact stated that the vehicle was designed with the engine Auto Start/Stop system. The contact stated while at a complete stop and releasing the brake pedal, the engine failed to restart automatically. The contact stated that upon depressing the Push to Start button, the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the starter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact later received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V576000 (Electrical System, Engine and Engine Cooling) which the contact related to the failure. The manufacturer was contacted for reimbursement and referred the contact to the dealer. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was inspected, and the dealer confirmed that the independent mechanic had installed the correct part; however, the dealer later informed the contact that the manufacturer had denied the claim for reimbursement. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

- Upton, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V576000 (Electrical System; Engine and Engine Cooling). The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the recall repair was performed. The contact stated that after the repair was performed, the vehicle failed to start after several attempts. The contact was eventually able to start the vehicle and the vehicle was driven to the dealer. A diagnostic test was performed, and it was determined that the starter was weak and needed to be replaced. The contact was referred to the manufacturer but was offered no assistance. The contact was then referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

- Woodinville, WA, USA

The contact's husband owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact stated while her husband was at a complete stop at the red traffic light, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the starter had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired at the contact's expense. The contact later received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number:?24V576000?(Electrical System, Engine and Engine Cooling), which the contact related to the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the recall repair was completed. Additionally, the dealer was contacted for reimbursement regarding the expenses sustained due to a failure related to the safety recall, but did not provide assistance. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 84,433.

- Plant City, FL, USA

-??shark fin-?? GPS antenna because unglued allowing water into the electrical system in the roof. This caused a malfunction that disabled the emergency call functions, GPS location service for emergency calls and GPS functions. The issue is the TCB component due to faulty waterproofing. It also makes hands free calling impossible which makes following hands free laws more difficult. Upon investigation and BMW-??s admission, it is a very common problem for 2019 X5s unrelated to any driving conditions etc.

- Boston, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMX X5. The contact stated while parked, the vehicle stalled; there was an abnormal odor coming from the outside of the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated; however, the "Engine Overheating" message was displayed on the instrument panel. The failure occurred on several different occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the vehicle needed to be reprogrammed. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure still occurred. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer to get a diagnosis; the contact received a diagnosis stating that the starter motor needed to be replaced. The contact did research and was made aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V576000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 65,397.

- Laurel, MD, USA

Reference recall No. 24V-576, I believe the issue reported in the recall is related to the 'Auto Start' feature of the vehicle. As a result of this failure, the safety issue can be much serious than what is stated in recall. In addition to the electrical overload of the starter, leading to risk of fire, the vehicle will not start, unable to shift out of Park therefore, potential of stranding the vehicle and the passengers in the middle of the road. The following occurred on [XXX]. at 2:30pm, we( my wife, 2 daughters and I) were traveling [XXX] in Tracy, in the fast lane in our 2019 X5. Auto Start feature was active, when I pressed on the gas pedal, engine suddenly turned off. The car would not start. There was no warning or any error message. We were stuck in the middle of the fast lane in heavy traffic and cars were passing on the both sides, making it impossible to be even get out and walk to safety. I tried to restart the car multiple times with success. We felt in danger of being struck by another vehicle. Luckily, the CHP was a few minutes behind us and stopped to help us. We tried to put the vehicle in Neutral so it can be pushed out to the side and not block traffic. I called the East Bay BMW and the Road Assistance for help with putting the vehicle in Neutral but I was told it can-??t be done. The CHP (2 officers) and I tried to put the car in neutral but without any success. I with EastBay BMW and was told that noting can be done to put the vehicle in Neutral. The only way to shift the car in Neutral is from under the car and requires a mechanic. There was electrical burning smell coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was towed to the EastBay Dealership in Pleasanton, CA. Upon inspection, the Dealer stated the issue is due to bad battery and it caused the starter to overload as I attempted to start the car. I was told that none of it's covered by warranty and I had to pay for the repairs. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 5

- Pleasanton, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the starter had failed, causing the battery failure. The contact was informed that the starter and battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that after the vehicle was repaired, the contact became aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V576000 (Electrical System, Engine and Engine Cooling); which the contact related to the failure however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. The contact called the dealer, and it was confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 67,000.

- Bethel, CT, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact stated that when attempting to start the vehicle, it failed to start and a burning odor was present. The starter had begun smoking. The smoke had settled itself. The fire department was not at the scene. No police report was filed. There were no injuries reported. The vehicle had been towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the starter failed causing the starter to catch fire internally and needed to be replaced. The starter was replaced. After having the vehicle repaired the contact did some research and discovered that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V576000 (Electrical System, Engine and Engine Cooling). The dealer was then contacted a second time and confirmed that the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000.

- Bolingbrook, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the vehicle failed to start. Additionally, there was a burning odor on the inside and outside of the vehicle while the vehicle was occupied. The contact stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V576000 (Electrical System, Engine and Engine Cooling). No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable and was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with starter failure. The vehicle was towed to a dealer and the dealer confirmed that the starter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was included in the recall; however, the contact had not yet received the recall notification letter. The failure mileage was 43,699.

- Bakersfield, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact stated that while at a stop light, the vehicle suddenly shut off and failed to restart. During the failure, the message "System Overheated" was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who replaced the battery, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer who diagnosed that the starter motor was faulty and needed to be replaced. The starter motor was replaced, and the failure was remedied. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V576000 (Electrical System, Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 41,000.

- San Jose, CA, USA

The emergency call system malfunction displayed. Upon taking vehicle to a BMW dealer for inspection, I was informed that the antenna needed to be replaced for $2000 to fix the problem. I did research and found that other owners of the same make and model as well as prior and later models have had the same issue. The shark fin antenna allows water ingress into the components which causes internal damage, this could possibly lead to other electrical problems that could present while the vehicle is in motion. What if an owner gets into an accident and the SOS/emergency call is unable to deploy due to this faulty antenna leakage.

- Mcdonough, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact stated that the vehicle was communicating with the SOS department while no incident had occurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was determined that a water leak in the rear antenna of the vehicle had caused the electronic malfunction. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 44,500.

- Huntington, NY, USA

After receiving a very expensive repair quote, I looked on here and read multiple complaints of emergency call system malfunction causing gps not to work/ malfunction due to leaking in the shark fin. This is a major safety concern due to poor design and build quality of the vehicle.

- Portland, OR, USA

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X5. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start as needed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and a diagnostic test was performed. The dealer stated that a software in the key fob and the vehicle needed to be updated. The contacted had not been notified of the update. The dealer informed the contact that had the vehicle had been brought to the dealer for the last oil change, the contact would have been informed of the necessary software update. The manufacture was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Loudon, TN, USA

On the date below, a warning banner and chime signaled that our car's emergency communication system was not functional. Soon after, we noticed that the navigation system was "lost"; ie, showing our car in a different state, sometimes in water, incorrect displays of speed limits being shown, etc. Vehicle was evaluated at a BMW dealership, and the primary defective part was found to be the "sharkfin" on the roof. Water entered the roof structure (not the interior of the car) via this sharkfin, and resulted in damage to the TCB, which reportedly controls many of the car's more-advanced electrical functions. Due to unfortunate clauses in warrantees on the car--both BMW certified pre-owned coverage, and also a 3rd party service contract that was purchased at the time of purchase, from the BMW dealer, as a bumper-to-bumper "platinum" supplement to the certified pre-owned warranty, are currently in effect for this car--this defect is NOT covered. Cost to repair all involvedf parts is approximately $5,000. As a consequence of this expense, it has not been repaired, and likely will not be in the near future. A Google search about this issue yielded numerous identical incidents involving this same model/year of BMW. Several owners wondered if a recall was needed, since it is clearly a manufacturer defect with clear-cut and repeated ramifications, is very costly to repair (so is likely to NOT be repaired, in many instances), and is subject to a loophole in warranty coverage. My impression from this internet search is that other systems in the car might soon stop working. I believe it is a safety issue, now, given the failure of the emergency communication function controlled by the TCB, and might become more of an issue in the future, when/if additional functions fail.

- Fort Myers, FL, USA

Car will not start until many attempts are made. Walking up to the car with key in hand causes alarm to go off. Car remote fails to unlock the door and must be unlocked manually but alarm still does not turn off. Time and date reset to the wrong time and date after turning off car and turning it back on.

- Katy, TX, USA