2011 BMW X3 Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 BMX X3. WHILE PARKED, THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. IN ADDITION, A MESSAGE IN THE INSTRUMENT PANEL INDICATED THAT THE MAXIMUM DRIVE TRAIN OUTPUT WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FAILURE RECURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED, BUT THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 52,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 BMW X3. WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH DURING HEAVY RAIN, THE VEHICLE VIOLENTLY DECELERATED TO 35 MPH WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS SIMILAR TO SLAMMING DOWN ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER TO BE DIAGNOSED BUT THE FAILURE COULD NOT BE DUPLICATED. THE FAILURE RECURRED ONLY DURING RAIN WEATHER CONDITIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 49,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

WHILE DRIVING ON AN INTERSTATE ROAD, EXITING A TUNNEL, THE X-3 SUDDENLY, WITHOUT ANY WARNING OR INDICATORS, LOST THE POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES. THE ENGINE LOST POWER AND THE DASH BOARD LITE UP WITH A MYRIAD OF WARNINGS THAT MADE NO SENSE. THEN, JUST AS SUDDENLY THE ENTIRE DASH BOARD WENT DARK. THE VEHICLE WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO STEER AND STOP. SINCE I WAS IN FAST MOVING TRAFFIC, THE SITUATION WAS SCARY TO SAY THE LEAST. I FOUND A PLACE TO PULL OFF AND DID SO. I TURNED THE X-3 OFF. AT RESTART IT SEEMED OK, BUT THE PROBLEM RE-OCCURRED AGAIN. I WAS ABLE TO FINALLY GET TO MY HOUSE. STOPPING AND RE-STARTING SEVERAL TIMES. LOSING ALL POWER, BRAKES, STEERING, ETC AT EACH INSTANCE. VEHICLE WAS PLACED ON A FLAT BED AND TAKEN TO SEWICKLEY BMW THE FOLLOWING DAY. AFTER ALMOST A WEEK, THE CAR WAS RETURNED TO ME. I WAS TOLD IT WAS AN ELECTRICAL ISSUE. EXACTLY 2 WEEKS LATER THE SAME PROBLEMS RE-OCCURRED. AGAIN I WAS ON AN INTERSTATE AND THE LOSE OF CONTROL AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED COULD HAVE BEEN A CATASTROPHE IF AN INEXPERIENCE DRIVER WAS BEHIND THE WHEEL. THE CAR WAS REPAIRED AGAIN AND THIS TIME MORE WORK WAS DONE. THE DEALER SAID THAT THEY FOUND A BULLETIN FROM BMW THAT EXPLAINED THIS POSSIBILITY. I SAW THE BMW INFO AND IT UNDERSTATED WHAT ACTUALLY COULD OR WOULD OCCUR SHOULD THEIR SYSTEMS FAIL. IN MY OPINION, MY LIFE WAS IN SEVERE JEOPARDY WHEN THE FAILURES OCCURRED AND HAD I NOT BEEN AN EXPERIENCED DRIVER WITH CALM REACTIONS, A FATALITY IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. MY WIFE WILL NO LONGER RIDE IN THE VEHICLE AND I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO GET RID OF IT ASAP. I REPORTED THESE INCIDENTS TO BMW AND QUITE FRANKLY THEY WERE TOTALLY INDIFFERENT TO THE PROBLEM, ONLY SAYING THAT THE VEHICLE IS OUT OF WARRANTY AND THEY HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO DO ANYTHING FOR ME. IN MY OPINION, THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM WAITING TO EXPLODE. BMW IS IGNORING THE ISSUE AND SOMEONE WILL DIE

THE PASSENGER RESTRAINT SYSTEM IS MALFUNCTIONING. THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM THAT BMW X3 CARS HAVE. WE HAVE THE SPORTS EDITION AND DESPITE SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO FIX THE PROBLEM THE SENSOR IN THE MAT CONTINUE TO INDICATE THE AIR BAG WILL NOT DEPLOY IF WE HAVE AN ACCIDENT DESPITE HOW SEVERE THAT ACCIDENT IS. WE HAVE CONTACTED THE BMW DEALERSHIP AND THEY PRETENDED OF KNOWING NOTHING ABOUT SIMILAR COMPLAINTS OR OF A RECALL ON THE SENSOR IN THE SEAT MAT. IT WILL COST US ABOUT 1,000 DOLLARS TO FIX. YET MOST TO ALL BMW OWNERS OF THE X3 SERIES, ESPECIALLY THE SPORTS EDITION HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR

2011 BMW X3. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO ASSEMBLY BOLTS RECALL NOTICE ISSUES. *SMD THE CONSUMER WAS INFORMED, THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE. RECALL# 14V176000. *JB

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 BMW X3. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE TRAVELING 25 MPH, THE STEERING CONTROL MALFUNCTION LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND THE POWER STEERING ASSIST FAILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE UNKNOWN REPAIRS WERE PERFORMED. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE FAILURE WAS EXPERIENCED MULTIPLE TIMES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 25,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 BMW X3. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE SHOOK VIOLENTLY AND THE TRANSMISSION WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED WHILE TRAVELING VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHO REPROGRAMMED THE COMPUTER BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 26,000. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.

KEY FOB QUIT WORKING THREE DAYS AFTER THEY PUT NEW BATTERIES IN IT BECAUSE I STATED IT DIDN'T SEEM TO BE WORKING CORRECTLY. BY QUIT WORKING I MEAN: KEYLESS ENTRY WOULD NOT WORK; REMOTE WOULD NOT UNLOCK OR LOCK DOORS OR TAILGATE. I HAD TO TAKE THE METAL KEY TO UNLOCK DOOR. ONCE INSIDE I HAD TO PUT KEY FOB NEXT TO STEERING COLUMN IN ORDER TO GET IT TO START. CALLED DEALERSHIP SERVICE CENTER, THE MADE APPOINTMENT AND BROUGHT ME LOANER CAR. THEY STATED I'D HAVE IT BACK THAT EVENING. NOT RETURNED. THEN NEXT DAY I WAS TOLD IT HAD TO BE OVER NIGHTED. WHEN IT DIDN'T ARRIVE THE NEXT DAY (DAY THREE) I WAS TOLD IT HAD TO BE SHIPPED FROM NJ. ON DAY 6 I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS ON BACK ORDER AND THAT IT MIGHT TAKE ANOTHER WEEK OR MORE TO GET THE KEY. IT TOOK THEM 10 DAYS TO GET ME THE KEY FOB. *JS

A QUICK ACCELERATION FROM ZERO, AT ABOUT 25 MPH THERE WAS A LOUD NOISE FROM THE ENGINE. IT SOUNDED LIKE A SPRING BEING UNWOUND. NO LIGHTS CAME ON, HOWEVER I CALLED SERVICE CENTER AT DEALERSHIP WHERE I PURCHASED IT. I WAS TOLD IF NO WARNING LIGHTS ON, THEN EVERYTHING MUST BE OK. A FEW MINUTES LATER THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND A WARNING WAS DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN: "DRIVE MODERATELY. MAXIMUM DRIVETRAIN OUTPUT NOT AVAILABLE. HAVE YOUR SYSTEM CHECKED AT YOUR SERVICE CENTER." I CALLED BACK TO SERVICE CENTER AND WAS TOLD IT WAS SAFE TO DRIVE HOME AS IT WAS IN LIMP MODE. CALLED BMW ASSIST AND THEY CAME AND GOT VEHICLE. ONCE AT SERVICE CENTER THEY STATED THE CLAMP HOLDING THE AIR INTAKE FOR THE TURBO HAD COME OFF. THEY PUT CLAMP BACK ON. *JS

MY VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST POWER STEERING CONTROL AND A YELLOW WARNING SYMBOL APPEARED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. I EXPERIENCED THE PROBLEM THE FIRST TIME WHILE I MANEUVERED A CORNER. I WAS COMING OUT OF THE TURN AND ACCELERATING WHEN THE STEERING LOCKED UP, AND THE LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL ALMOST CAUSED ME TO CRASH. I TOOK THE CAR IMMEDIATELY TO MURRAY MOTORS (IN DENVER, CO) AND WAS ADVISED THAT THERE WAS SIMPLY A COMPUTER PROGRAMMING "GLITCH" THAT CAME FROM THE FACTORY; THE SERVICE CENTER ADVISED THEY DOWNLOADED NEW SOFTWARE AND THE PROBLEM WAS SOLVED. SOME WEEKS LATER, I AGAIN LOST POWER STEERING SUDDENLY WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT. I TOOK THE CAR INTO MURRAY MOTORS AGAIN AND STRESSED THE ENORMITY OF MY CONCERN OVER THIS FRIGHTENING PROBLEM. AFTER SOME DAYS, MURRAY MOTORS ADVISED ME THAT THE ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING ASSIST UNIT HAD FAILED. THEY REPRESENTED THEY REPLACED THE POWER STEERING RACK, THE ELECTRIC MOTOR MOUNTED ON THE RACK, AND THE EPS MODULE. I RESEARCHED BMW RECALLS THEREAFTER AND FOUND THAT A RECALL HAD BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS PROBLEM ON SEVERAL BMW MODELS ALREADY. I CALLED BMW'S CUSTOMER RELATIONS NUMBER (1-800-525-7417) AND WAS INFORMED THAT MY VEHICLE VIN NUMBER FELL OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF THE CURRENT RECALL, AND I WAS THEREFORE NEVER NOTIFIED. I AM WRITING THE NHTSA TO REPORT THAT BMW'S RECALL IS NOT BROAD ENOUGH AS DEFECTS IN THE EPS MODULE AND RELATED PARTS EXIST IN VEHICLES BEYOND THE IMMEDIATE RECALL. I ALSO WANT THE NHTSA TO KNOW THAT MURRAY MOTORS ALLOWED ME TO DRIVE THIS VEHICLE OUT OF THEIR SERVICE CENTER AFTER THE FIRST (INADEQUATE) REPAIR, EVEN THOUGH THE STEERING COMPLAINTS I REPORTED TO THEIR SERVICE TECHNICIANS WERE IDENTICAL THE DESCRIPTION OF THE STEERING PROBLEM LISTED IN BMW'S RECALL LETTER FOR THE X3 POSTED ON THEIR WEBSITE. MURRAY MOTORS CLAIMS TO HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF THIS DEFECT IN ANY X3. *TR