2011 BMW X3 Complaints

THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM ON THIS VEHICLE NO LONGER FUNCTIONS, IE, THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS DON'T WORK, THE HEADLIGHTS OPERATE SPORADICALLY, THE POWER DOOR LOCKS AND POWER WINDOWS DO NOT OPERATE, THE A/C DOESN'T WORK, THE HORN HONKS PERIODICALLY, THE TAILGATE WON'T OPEN TO FACILITATE REPLACEMENT OF FUSES. THE FUEL GAUGE IS INOPERATIVE AND THE CRUISE CONTROL DOESN'T WORK. WINDSHIELD WIPERS ARE A CRUCIAL SAFETY ITEM IN THE PACIFIC NW AS ARE HEADLIGHTS. THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED IN BELLINGHAM, WA. BMW OFFERED LITTLE ASSISTANCE DESPITE THE SAFETY ISSUES AND THE FACT THAT THE CAR WAS UNDER BMW'S WARRANTY. *TR

THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM ON THIS VEHICLE NO LONGER FUNCTIONS, IE, THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS DON'T WORK, THE HEADLIGHTS OPERATE SPORADICALLY, THE POWER DOOR LOCKS AND POWER WINDOWS DO NOT OPERATE, THE A/C DOESN'T WORK, THE HORN HONKS PERIODICALLY, THE TAILGATE WON'T OPEN TO FACILITATE REPLACEMENT OF FUSES. WINDSHIELD WIPERS ARE A CRUCIAL SAFETY ITEM IN THE PACIFIC NW AS ARE HEADLIGHTS. THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED IN BELLINGHAM, WA. BMW OFFERED LITTLE ASSISTANCE DESPITE THE SAFETY ISSUES AND THE FACT THAT THE CAR WAS UNDER BMW'S WARRANTY. *TR

SAFETY RECALL CAMPAIGN 11V-341: ELECTRIC POWER STEERING (EPS) ASSIST THE ABOVE RECALL COVERED VEHICLES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN FEB 25, 2011 AND JUNE 8, 2011. MY X3 WAS MANUFACTURED ON JUNE 4, 2011. YET I WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE RECALL AND HAVE HAD THE POWER ASSIST FAIL 3 TIMES. *TR

THIS COMPLAINT IS IN REFERENCE TO NHTSA REPORT 11V-341. IT CONCERNS A MALFUNCTION OF A CONTROL MODULE IN THE ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING (EPS) UNIT IN 2011 BMW X3 PASSENGER VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM APRIL 27, 2011 THROUGH JUNE 8, 2011. ONE OF THESE 51 VEHICLES IS OURS. MY CONCERN IS THAT BMW DID NOT NOTIFY US OF THE RECALL EVEN THOUGH THE COMPANY HAS KNOWN ABOUT THE MALFUNCTION SINCE JUNE 2011.. (BMW REPORTED A SAFETY RECALL TO NHTSA ON JUNE 28, 2011, AS DOCUMENTED IN A LETTER OF JULY 1, 2011 FROM NHTSA TO BMW, ACKNOWLEDGING THE RECALL.) ON SATURDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2011, THE WARNING, "CHASSIS STABILIZATION MALFUNCTION!" APPEARED ON THE VIDEO DISPLAY OF OUR X3 FOLLOWING ENGINE STARTUP. AT THE SAME TIME, STEERING WAS MORE DIFFICULT THAN NORMAL. AN HOUR LATER, DURING ENGINE RE-START, THE WARNING DID NOT RECUR, AND STEERING WAS NORMAL. PERSONNEL AT OUR LOCAL BMW DEALERSHIP WERE NOT ABLE TO EXPLAIN OUR OBSERVATIONS AND TOLD US VIA TELEPHONE TO CONTINUE USING THE VEHICLE. IN SPITE OF THAT, WE ADVISED THE DEALERSHIP THAT WE WOULD BRING THE VEHICLE TO THEM FOR EVALUATION ON MONDAY, NOV 21. SUBSEQUENTLY, I FOUND DOCUMENTATION ON-LINE THAT CONFIRMED THE MALFUNCTION AND OUR OBSERVATIONS. AT PRESENT, THE VEHICLE REMAINS AT THE DEALERSHIP AWAITING A REPLACEMENT EPS UNIT. I REMAIN CONCERNED THAT BMW DID NOT CONTACT US CONCERNING THE RECALL, AND ALSO THAT OUR LOCAL BMW DEALERSHIP HAD APPARENTLY NOT BEEN TOLD OF THE ISSUE. THAT IS THE REASON FOR MY COMPLAINT. *TR

POWER STEERING FAILED. VEHICLE REPORTED THAT STEERING MAY BE IMPACTED. A CURRENT CAMPAIGN EXISTS THOUGH THIS VIN WAS NOT REPORTED UNDER EXISTING CAMPAIGN # 11V341000. *TR

I PULLED MY CAR INTO MY FLAT GARAGE, PLACED IT IN PARK, TURNED IT OFF AND WENT INTO THE HOUSE. 1 HOUR LATER IT HAD ROLLED OUT INTO THE YARD. IT WAS OFF AND IN PARK. IT WAS TOWED AND EVALUATED BY A BMW "EXPERT" WHO DETERMINED THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG. THEY SAID THE CAR COULD NOT HAVE BEEN LEFT IN NEUTRAL AND COULD NOT HAVE BEEN LEFT ON AND THEN GONE OFF. THEY HAD NO EXPLANATION FOR THE FAILURE TO HOLD THE PARK POSITION AND THAT IT WAS SAFE TO DRIVE!!! MY INSURANCE COVERED THE $3200 DAMAGE AND CAR RENTAL. IN THIS REGARD I MADE PROBABLY 200 PHONE CALLS BETWEEN THE INSURANCE , DEALER, BMW CORPORATE, ETC. IT TOOK 9 WEEKS TO RESOLVE AND REPAIR. *TR

CAR REPORTS STEERING MALFUNCTION AND ELECTRICAL POWER STEERING ASSIST IS NOT PROVIDED. APPEARS SIMILAR TO ISSUE WITH POWER STEERING SYSTEM COVERED BY RECALL 11V341000, HOWEVER BMWNA CONFIRMS THIS VEHICLE IS NOT IMPACTED BY RECALL 11V341000. *TR

WE LEASED THE ABOVE BMW X3DRIVE 35I (SHIPPED ON 3.30.2011) FROM HUSKER AUTO GROUP, BMW OF LINCOLN, NE ON MARCH 30, 2011 FOR A 3-YEAR PERIOD. IN MID APRIL I NOTICED A VERY LOUD NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE AFTER I TURNED THE CAR OFF. THE CAR HAD 567 MILES ON THE ODOMETER AND WAS TAKEN BACK TO BMW OF LINCOLN FOR REPAIRS ON APRIL 26, 2011. WE WERE TOLD THE MAIN CRANKCASE SEAL WAS CAUSING HIGH PRESSURES AND WAS THE PROBLEM. APPARENTLY REPLACING THE VALVE COVERS WOULD RESULT IN IT BEING FIXED. WITHIN A WEEK, I NOTED THE EXACT SAME NOISE. THE CAR NOW HAD 1391 MILES ON THE ODOMETER WAS AGAIN RETURNED TO BMW OF LINCOLN ON MAY 12, 2011. THIS TIME I WAS TOLD THE MASTER SEAL WAS BROKEN. BMW OF LINCOLN REMOVED THE TRANSMISSION AND REPLACED THE REAR MAIN CRANKCASE SEAL. ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2011, WE WERE DRIVING AT 25 MILES/HOUR WHEN THE DASH LIT UP WITH A DRIVE TRANSMISSION ALERT. IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER, WE HEARD AN EXTREMELY LOUD SOUND COMING FROM UNDER THE CAR. IT SOUNDED LIKE THE CAR HAD BROKEN IN HALF AND THE ENTIRE ENGINE HAD FALLEN OUT. THE DASH THEN DISPLAYED A CHASSIS ALERT FOLLOWED BY A TRANSMISSION ALERT. THE CAR ROLLED BACKWARDS DESPITE BEING PUT IN PARK. BARON BMW'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT REPORTS THERE HAS BEEN A TOTAL DISRUPTION OF ALL THE DRIVESHAFT AND THE TRANSMISSION, FLANGES AND EBOW VALVE (?) AS WELL AS OTHER SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS. SOME REPLACEMENT PARTS HAVE TO BE ORDERED FROM GERMANY. WE WERE TOLD THAT WE WERE EXTREMELY LUCKY TO HAVE BEEN TRAVELING AT SUCH A LOW SPEED AND THAT IF IT HAD OCCURRED AT 70MPH IT COULD HAVE HAD FATAL CONSEQUENCES. *TR

CAR VEERING TO THE RIGHT, INCREASED ON SUDDEN STOPS; HAPPENS AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE PROMINENT AND DANGEROUS CONDITION IS LAG IN ACCELERATION. SENT THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL TO DEALER& BMW ALONG WITH 3 SERVICE REPORTS FROM DEALER ATTEMPTS TO ADDRESS: "THIS X3 3.5I WITH ALL IT IS ELECTRONIC ENGINE/DRIVE TRAIN CONTROLS IS A NIGHTMARE. IT?S A HUGE DESIGN FLAW THAT IS GOING TO KILL SOMEONE EVENTUALLY. YET AGAIN, YESTERDAY, I FELT UNSAFE DUE TO THE HESITATION. THE CAR DIDN'T MOVE FOR ABOUT A SECOND OR TWO WHEN I TRIED TO MAKE A LEFT TURN IN AN INTERSECTION AND THEN AGAIN WHEN I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY CHANGING LANES. THERE WERE CARS HEADING TOWARDS ME BUT THE INITIAL DISTANCE WAS QUITE COMFORTABLE AND SAFE. WITH THE HESITATION OF THE X3, I WAS ACTUALLY IN A PANIC AND STEPPED REALLY HARD ON THE GAS PEDAL TO AVOID A POTENTIAL COLLISION. AND SINCE THEN I HAVE BEEN STEPPING ON THE GAS PEDAL MUCH HARDER, GUZZLING GAS, NOT TO MENTION ROUGH STARTS OFF OF A FULL STOP. I HAVE SEEN COUNTLESS INTERNET THREADS OF PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SAME THING WITH THE X3 MODEL, BOTH VERSIONS, HOWEVER EQUIPPED. I WOULD STRONGLY SUGGEST SOMEONE LOOK AT HOW THIS CAR?S SOFTWARE IS FAILING TO FUNCTION AND FIX THIS THING. I WILL REPORT THE PROBLEM TO THE APPROPRIATE GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES. THE VEERING IS STILL THERE AND EVENTUALLY I WILL COME TO PASS THE ISSUE WITH THE LOW TREAD LIFE RUN-FLATS BMW'S 2-23-11 VISIT, DEALER ALIGNED VEHICLE, KEPT CAR ONE DAY DUE TO FACTORY SPECS NOT YET BEING LOADED ON NEW VEHICLE MODEL; ON 7-13-11, DEALER NOTED CAR LEFT IN TRANSPORT MODE, REMOVED CODES FROM COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND CAR DROVE OK FOR 4 DAYS; 7-23-11 TOOK IT BACK FOR SAME ISSUE AS NOTED ABOVE WITH LAG IN ACCELERATION BECOMING DANGEROUS AND STILL VEERING, THIS TIME DEALER NOTED NOTHING WRONG WITH CAR AFTER TEST DRIVE COMPARISON. GAVE CAR BACK, STILL HAVE ISSUES WHICH PROMPTED E-MAIL.

2011 BMW X3. CONSUMER STATES MULTIPLE DRIVE TRAIN FAILURES *TGW THE CONSUMER STATED WHILE DRIVING, THE VEHICLE LOST POWER WHILE PASSING ANOTHER VEHICLE ON A RURAL TWO LANE HIGHWAY. THE VEHICLES COMPUTER SYSTEM FLASHED A WARNING SIGNAL WITH A HALF ENGINE ICON STATING: DRIVE MODERATELY. MAXIMUM DRIVE TRAIN OUTPUT NOT AVAILABLE. HAVE THE SYSTEM CHECKED BY YOUR SERVICE CENTER. THE DEALER HAD ISOLATED THE PROBLEM AND STATED A VACUUM TUBE SUPPLYING AIR TO THE ENGINE WAS CRIMPED. HOWEVER, THE NEXT WEEKEND, THE CONSUMER EXPERIENCED A SIMILAR THOUGH LESS EXTREME LOSS OF POWER AND THE SAME DRIVE TRAIN WARNING APPEARED AGAIN. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER AGAIN, WHERE THEY STATED A POSSIBLE CAUSE WAS A FAULTY GASKET, BUT WAS NOT SURE IF IT WOULD RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. *JB