2006 BMW 325XI Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 BMW 325XI. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE AIR BAG AND SEAT BELT WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC FOR DIAGNOSIS. THE MECHANIC STATED THERE WAS A FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAG MALFUNCTION AND REFERRED THE CONTACT TO THE DEALER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 51,000.

THE VEHICLE WAS USED UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS. THE TREAD OF THE TIRE BEGAN DE-LAMINATING FROM THE TIRE AFTER 40K MILES. FORTUNATELY THE CAR WAS IN FOR SERVICE AND THE MECHANIC FOUND THE DEFECTIVE TIRES BEFORE THEY CAME APART WHILE DRIVING. ALL 4 TIRES WERE REPLACED, BUT THE OLD TIRES REMAIN IN MY POSSESSION. *TR

STEERING WHEEL LOCK INDICATOR RENDERS THE VEHICLE NOT ABLE TO START. BMW SAYS THE ONLY SOLUTION IS A REPLACEMENT OF STEERING COLUMN. THE STEERING COLUMN WAS REPLACED AT 25000 MILES. 2 YEARS LATER AT 49000 MILES, THE VEHICLE WILL NEED TO DO IT AGAIN. THIS WILL BE THE 3RD SET OF STEERING COLUMN WITHIN THE LAST 7 YEARS. IT IS CLEANLY A DESIGN AND DEFECT. IT SHOULD BE RECALL. *TR

AIR BAG AND PASSENGER SEAT BELT INDICATOR ON CENTER DASH CLUSTER LIT UP DURING NORMAL DRIVING. TOOK CAR TO DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIR AND WAS TOLD THE AIR BAG SEAT MAT WAS BAD AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. ALSO TOLD THAT REPAIR WOULD COST $900. DECIDED TO EAT COST AS IT IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE AS AIR BAGS WILL NOT DEPLOY DURING A CRASH. TOTAL COST FOR REPAIRS: QTY 1 PART# 52-10-7-244-127 BASIC SEAT U 1 COST $385.10 , QTY 2 PART# 52-20-1-964-201 CLIP 13 COST $3.84 , QTY 35 PART# 52-10-945-543 CLAMP 134 COST $$22.40. TOTAL PARTS=$411.34 ; TOTAL LABOR=$554.60, TOTAL BILL FOR REPAIR=$965.94. I WOULD NOT MIND IF THIS WOULD BE THE END OF THE ISSUE, BUT IT IS NOT. I PICKED UP THE CAR FROM DANIELS BMW OF ALLENTOWN ON JUNE 14 2013, AND TODAY (JUNE 21, 2013) THE ISSUE CAME BACK. 7 DAYS AFTER I HAD THE CAR REPAIRED FOR THE ISSUE, THE EXACT SAME ISSUE REAPPEARED. THIS IS A MAJOR CONCERN OF MINE AS THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT OF MY CAR IS ALMOST ALWAYS IN USE BY MYSELF OR MY SPOUSE. AFTER DOING A BIT OF READING ON BMW ONLINE FORUMS, I SEE THAT THERE IS A RECALL FOR THE EXACT SENSOR MAT AS INSTALLED IN MY CAR, FOR ALMOST ALL OTHER SEATS CONTAINING THE EXACT SEAT MAT, BUT NOT FOR MY CAR, AND OTHERS LIKE ME. I HAVE GONE ONTO THE BMW NA WEBSITE AND DID A RECALL SEARCH FOR MY CAR AND FOUND THAT THE RECALL DOES NOT APPLY TO MY CAR. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE FOR BMW AND THEY SHOULD STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT AND REPAIR ALL SEATS AFFECTED WITHOUT QUESTION. I WILL BE TAKING MY CAR BACK TO DANIELS BMW OF ALLENTOWN FOR COURTESY REPAIR AND HOPEFULLY THEY WILL REPLACE...AGAIN....THE BROKEN MAT FOR FREE. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL NOT BE THE BEGINNING OF AN ONGOING RECURRING ISSUE. *TR

THE RED PASSENGER-SIDE AIR BAG AND SEAT BELT LIGHTS COME ON AND STAY ON, WHETHER OR NOT ANYONE IS SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. MY BMW DEALER HAS TOLD ME THIS MEANS THE PASSENGER AIRBAGS ARE DEACTIVATED AND THIS IS A COMMON OCCURRENCE CAUSED BY A FAULTY SENSOR. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 BMW 325XI. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHEN HE WOULD ACTIVATE THE AUTOMATIC FOLDING MIRRORS, THE PASSENGER'S SIDE MIRROR WOULD TURN COMPLETELY AROUND AND FACE THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE DUE TO A LOCKING MECHANISM FAILURE. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO MANUALLY TURN THE MIRROR BACK AND WHEN DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE MIRROR WOULD SHAKE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION NOR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 75,000. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.

THE RED PASSENGER-SIDE AIR BAG AND SEAT BELT LIGHTS COME ON AND STAY ON, WHETHER OR NOT ANYONE IS SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. BMW HAS TOLD ME IT WILL COST $1,300 TO REPLACE, YET IT SEEMS FROM OTHER COMPLAINTS HERE AND FROM OTHER ONLINE FORUMS THAT THE MAT SENSOR CAUSING THIS PROBLEM WAS DEFECTIVELY MANUFACTURED. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 BMW 325XI. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH, THE ENGINE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS COASTED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. UPON RESTARTING IT, THE VEHICLE RESPONDED NORMALLY. THE FAILURE OCCURRED FOUR TIMES INTERMITTENTLY. IN ADDITION, THE ABS, DSC AND AWD WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED SPORADICALLY ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE FAILURE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR WAS THE VEHICLE REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE DEFECT. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 80,000.

WHEN AN ADULT IS SEATED IN THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT OF THE VEHICLE, THE AIR BAG SERVICE INDICATOR, NO SEATBELT INDICATOR, AND "PASSENGER AIRBAG IS DISABLED" INDICATOR ARE ALL ILLUMINATED. IN MY VEHICLE'S CURRENT STATE, IF I WERE TO GET IN AN ACCIDENT WITH A PASSENGER PRESENT, THE PASSENGER AIRBAG WOULD NOT DEPLOY, SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE VEHICLES AIRBAG SAFETY SYSTEM. A FAULTY OCCUPANT SENSOR MAT IS SUSPECTED. THIS ISSUE MATCHES THE BMW RECALL LISTED AS: NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 08V384000. ACCORDING TO BMW NORTH AMERICA & LOCAL BMW DEALER, THIS SPECIFIC VEHICLE DOES NOT FALL UNDER THE VIN NUMBER OR PRODUCTION DATE RANGES THAT WERE INITIALLY SANCTIONED UNDER THE RECALL. IN THE OFFICIAL RECALL DETAILS, THE MAKE, MODEL, YEAR, AND SEAT TYPE ALL MATCH THE SPECIFICATIONS OF MY VEHICLE. AFTER DISCOVERING THE RECALL INFORMATION, I CONTACTED BMW REPRESENTATIVE BY TELEPHONE. I WAS TOLD THAT BECAUSE MY VEHICLE VIN IS NOT ON THE RECALL LIST, THE REPAIR MUST BE DONE AT AN OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE. THIS VEHICLE'S PRODUCTION DATE IS LISTED AS 03/2006. BMW STATES THAT THE AFFECTED 3-SERIES STANDARD SEAT VEHICLES WERE PRODUCED BETWEEN FEB 1, 2005 - NOV 30, 2005. I AM FILING THIS COMPLAINT BECAUSE THE DEFECTIVE SEAT SENSOR SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES THE SAFETY OF THE VEHICLE PASSENGERS, AS WELL AS VIOLATES VEHICLE AIR BAG REGULATIONS ESTABLISHED BY THE NHTSA. SINCE THIS IS A DESIGN DEFECT, THE COST SHOULD BE COVERED 100% BY THE MANUFACTURER, BMW. BMW NEEDS TO EXTEND THIS RECALL TO ALL MODEL PRODUCTION DATES THAT ARE EXHIBITING THIS FAILURE. *TR

I STARTED MY CAR THAT MORNING AND THE AIRBAG/SEATBELT SENSOR LIGHT CAME ON EVEN THOUGH MY SEATBELT WAS FASTENED. I FASTENED THE PASSENGER SEAT BELT TO SEE IF THAT WAS IT BUT IT STAYED ON. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE BMW DEALERSHIP IN AUGUSTA, GA AND THEY CHARGED ME $120 TO CHECK IT. THEY STATED IT WOULD COST $530 TO REPAIR IT. I DECIDED TO CHECK IF THERE WAS A RECALL AND I SEE THAT THIS IS A COMMON COMPLAINT ABOUT THESE VEHICLES. OTHER VEHICLES WITHIN THE YEAR MODEL HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN A RECALL BUT 325XI HAVE BEEN EXCLUDED. SINCE THE SAME MALFUNCTION OF THE SAME ITEM IS HAPPENING, IT SHOULD BE RECALLED ON 325XI AS WELL. *TR