2013 BMW X3 Complaints

MY VEHICLE HAS 98,902 MILES AND I HAVE BEEN GETTING A 'DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION' ERROR MESSAGE WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY. I TOOK THE CAR TO TWO MECHANICS AND WAS TOLD THAT I NEEDED TO REPLACE THE TIMING CHAIN. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THIS ISSUE IS, I FOUND COUNTLESS FORUMS OF OTHER OWNERS HAVING THE SAME ISSUE.

AT ROUGHLY 71,000 MILES, WHILE PARKED AT A RED LIGHT, 200 MILES FROM HOME ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND, MY CAR HAD A MAINTENANCE WARNING AND WOULDN'T MOVE.THE TIMING CHAIN BROKE, CAUSING THE ENGINE TO HAVE TO BE REPLACED. THE TOTAL COST OF THE REPAIRS WERE AROUND $7,000. ACCORDING TO ONLINE FORUMS, THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM.

ANOTHER TIMING CHAIN STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF DRIVING. MY TIMING CHAIN FAIL ON ME WHILE DRIVING. I HAVE UNDER 70 000 MILES ON THE CAR BUT BMW NA TOLD THAT I AM OUT OF WARRANTY BECAUSE THE CAR ARRIVE AT A LOT IN SEPTEMBER 2012 AND THE 7 YEAR WARRANTY START FROM SEPTEMBER 2012. MY CAR IS A 2013 BMW AND 7 YEARS WOULD PUT ME IN 2020 . BMW LOOK FOR ANYTHING NOT TO HONOR THEIR WARRANTY ON THEIR FAIL ENGINE. I OWE OVER $10K ON A CAR THAT HAVE A FAIL ENGINE. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS IT IS SO NOT RIGHT

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 BMW X3. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED AND UNOCCUPIED, THE VEHICLE EXPLODED AND CAUGHT ON FIRE. THE FLAMES AND HEAT DAMAGED TWO PARKED AND OCCUPIED VEHICLES. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MICHIGAN FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS PRESENT. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE WHERE THE FIRE INITIATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 101,400. THE VIN WAS INVALID. *DT *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 BMW X3. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT 60 MPH, THERE WAS AN ABNORMAL SOUND IN THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE REAR HATCH BECAME AJAR. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT PULLED OVER AND LOCKED CLOSED REAR HATCH. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. NEITHER THE DEALER NOR THE MANUFACTURER WERE CONTACTED OR INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 70,000.

ANOTHER TIMING CHAIN VICTIM. TIMING CHAIN HAD BEEN REPLACED 2/2017, 51K MILES AND EVIDENTLY WAS REPLACED WITH THE DEFECTIVE PARTS, PRIOR TO BMW'S ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AN ISSUE. 30 MONTHS LATER WE SIT AT 80K MILES AND THE CHAIN HAS BROKEN AGAIN CAUSING CATASTROPHIC MOTOR DAMAGE. BMW NA WAS CONTACTED AND WE WERE DELIGHTFULLY DENIED OUR ASSISTANCE REQUEST. WE WERE HOWEVER OFFERED A VERY GENEROUS 10% DISCOUNT TOWARDS A NEW MOTOR FROM OUR LOCAL DEALER.

MY HUSBAND WAS DRIVING HOME FROM WORK ON A CITY STREET WHEN THE CAR GAVE AN ALERT: 'DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION'DRIVE MODERATELY.' THEN MY HUSBAND GOT ANOTHER ALERT: 'OIL PRESSURE LOW' WHICH WARNED NOT TO DRIVE. FORTUNATELY, BY THAT POINT HE WAS ON OUR BLOCK SO HE MOVED THE CAR VERY SLOWLY TOWARDS OUR HOUSE. THE CAR SHUT DOWN, BUT HE WAS ABLE TO COAST TO PARK THE CAR STREETSIDE. WE HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP THE NEXT DAY AND LEARNED THAT THE TIMING CHAIN HAD MALFUNCTIONED AND THE CAR WAS INOPERABLE UNTIL THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED. JUST THE DAY BEFORE THIS VEHICLE FAILURE, WE WERE COMING HOME FROM SEEING FAMILY FOR THE HOLIDAYS. IF THIS HAD HAPPENED ON THE HIGHWAY OR ANY OTHER BUSY ROAD, WE COULD HAVE BEEN IN SERIOUS DANGER. THERE WAS VERY LITTLE TIME TO GET TO A SAFE PLACE BECAUSE THE CAR SHUT DOWN SO QUICKLY. I'M GRATEFUL THAT MY HUSBAND WAS SO CLOSE TO HOME WHEN THIS HAPPENED. AS IT IS, WE'LL BE INCURRING CONSIDERABLE EXPENSE TO REPAIR A CAR THAT BMW SEEMS TO KNOW HAS A MAJOR DEFECT. THE CAR IS A 2013 BMW X3 WITH AN N20 ENGINE; IT HAS ABOUT 107,000 MILES ON IT. THAT'S A LOT OF MILES, BUT NOT NEARLY SO MANY THAT SUCH A MAJOR VEHICLE MALFUNCTION COULD REASONABLY BE EXPECTED. THERE IS NO REASON THAT THE TIMING CHAIN SHOULD FAIL ON A CAR THAT WE HAVE MAINTAINED AND CARED FOR. THIS IS THE KIND OF PROBLEM YOU MIGHT REASONABLY EXPECT AROUND 150,000 MILES, BUT WE'RE NOT AT THAT POINT. I'VE SINCE LEARNED THROUGH SOME RESEARCH THAT MANY BMWS WITH N20 ENGINES MADE IN 2010-2015 HAVE HAD THESE TIMING CHAIN ISSUES AND THAT IT IS WELL KNOWN TO MANY OWNERS AND TO BMW ITSELF. IN 2017, THEY PROVIDED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY TO COVER TIMING CHAIN ISSUES UP TO 7 YEARS/70,000 MILES. THAT'S AN ABSURD LIMIT FOR AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF A VEHICLE'S BASIC ENGINEERING, ESPECIALLY COMING FROM A LUXURY CARMAKER THAT CLAIMS TO PROVIDE "THE ULTIMATE DRIVING EXPERIENCE."

1. WARNING DRIVE TRAIN MALFUNCTION 2. DROVE MODERATELY ON WAY DRIVING IN TO DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIR 3. OIL PRESSURE LOW STOP OR RISK DAMAGE TO ENGINE 4. PULLED OVER, HAD IT TOWED TO BMW 5. THEY CALLED THE NEXT MORNING STATING IT WAS 17,000 MOL DUE TO ENGINE BEING DAMAGED AFTER FRAGMENTS WENT IN FROM TIMING CHAIN 6. INSURANCE ADJUSTER WENT OUT AND CONQUERED BMW ISSUE TIMING CHAIN BROKE EFFECTING ENGINE OIL PUMP AND BATTERY 7. ENGINE INOPERABLE FUCNTIONALLY TOTALED CAR WAITING FOR BMW N AMERICA CASEMNGR TO RETURN MY CALL AND HOPEFULLY OFFER TO EXTEND WARRANTY OR OFFER GOOD WILL AND FIX -REPAIR ENGINE AND ALL RELATED TO MALFUNCTION 8. FOUND OUT USA CONSUMER CLASS ACTION SUIT IS CURRENTLY UNDER WAY FILED 12/12/19 AGAINST BMW FOR TIMING CHAIN ENGINE ISSUE... STILL WITHOUT RELIEF OR VEHICLE AND NO PERSONAL FUNDS TO GET CAR BACK AGAIN HOPING FOR RELIEF FROM BMW!

WARNING LIGHT REVEALED THAT PASSENGER SIDE FRONT AIRBAG IS FAULTY AND REQUIRES REPLACEMENT.

CAR WAS IN MOTION ON A SUBURB ROAD WHEN DASHBOARD LIGHT UP WITH 'DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION'.TIMING CHAIN BROKE AND DAMAGED THE ENGINE. THE CAR STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF ROAD ON AN INCLINE, BLOCKING THE TRAFFIC THAT COULD CAUSE ACCIDENT. VEHICLE ODO WAS 84666. THERE IS A TSB SI B11 03 17 ON THIS ISSUE, BUT THE WARRANTY EXPIRED AT 7 YEARS / 70,000 MILES.