2019 BMW X3 Complaints

WHILE DRIVING ON A BUSY CITY STREET IN MOVING TRAFFIC THE AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM ACTIVATED WITHOUT CAUSE. THE VEHICLE WAS TRAVELLING AT APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH WITHOUT ANOTHER VEHICLE OR OBSTACLE NEAR THE VEHICLE. THIS CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO SUDDENLY PITCH FORWARD, THROWING THE DRIVER FORWARD WITH THE FORCEFUL MORE WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY MAKING A HIGH PITCHED SCREECHING SOUND AND FLASHING A DASHBOARD ICON. THIS HAS HAPPENED ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS, 12/02/19 AND AGAIN ON 12/11/19.

THE ISSUE IS BECOMING MORE SYSTEMIC AND OCCURS MORE OFTEN. ISSUE IS AS FOLLOWS: 1) WHILE DRIVING, DIGITAL INSTRUMENTATION WILL GO COMPLETELY BLANK FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. THIS INCLUDES SPEEDOMETER, TACHOMETER, CLOCK, CRUISE CONTROL INFORMATION. BASICALLY, ANYTHING THAT IS ON THE SCREEN DISAPPEARS. 2) IN ADDITION TO THE INSTRUMENTATION MALFUNCTION, THE FOLLOWING SYSTEM FAILURES ARE INTERMITTENTLY OCCURRING (NO PATTERN DETECTED YET): ALL WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM FAILURE (WHILE DRIVING) - WHEN DISPLAY DOES RESUME, VEHICLE WARNING SYSTEM INDICATES THE VEHICLE MAY BE DRIVEN, BUT THE ALL WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM IS INOPERATIVE. PARK DISTANCE CONTROL (OCCURRED WHILE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY) - WHEN DISPLAY DOES RESUME, VEHICLE WARNING SYSTEM INDICATES PDC SYSTEM IS INOPERATIVE. AUTO START/STOP FEATURE (OCCURRED WHILE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY) - WHILE AT A STOP AND THE FAILURE OCCURRED, THE ENGINE DID SHUT DOWN INCORRECT AVERAGE MILEAGE DISPLAY - NORMAL MPG FOR THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY AROUND 24.2. VEHICLE WAS REPORTING AN AVERAGE MPG OF 9.7 PRIOR TO ONE FAILURE.

I WAS DRIVING AND HAD JUST ENTERED INTO HWY. I WAS TRAVELING APPROX 45-50MPH. THERE WERE NO OTHER VEHICLES AROUND, WHEN I SUDDENLY BEGAN HEARING A POPPING OR CLICKING SOUND, FOLLOWED BY WHAT SOUNDED LIKE AN EXPLOSION. I COULD HEAR GLASS SHATTERING ABOVE MY HEAD, BUT WAS PROTECTED FROM INJURY BECAUSE THE SUNROOF SHADE WAS CLOSED. I SLOWED DOWN AND PULLED OFF THE HWY AT THE NEXT EXIT RAMP, GOT OUT OF THE VEHICLE TO INSPECT AND SAW A HUGE GAPING HOLE IN THE SUNROOF.

THE CAR HAS A WARNING SYSTEM THAT HAS A PROXMITY SYSTEM. THE CAR AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH BRAKES WHILE DRIVING INDICATING A CAR OR OBSTICLE IN FRONT OF ME. NOTHING HAS BEEN IN FRONT OF ME WHILE THE CAR SELF BRAKES. THE DEALERSHIP SAID IT MUST OF BEEN DUE TO FOG. WITH THE REPEATED PROBLEM NO FOG OR BAD WEATHER EXISTED.

TRUNK OPENS INTERMITTENTLY WHILE DRIVING DOWN ROAD AS WELL AS OTHER TIMES WHEN VEHICLE RUNNING OR NOT

THE ACTIVE SAFETY FEATURE (LANE ASSIST) DID NOT VIBRATE THE STEERING WHEEL AS ADVERTISED BY THE MANUFACTURER.

THIS CAR WAS BOUGHT BRAND NEW IN JAN 2019 AND SINCE BUYING THERE WERE 3 INCIDENTS OF WINDSHIELD DAMAGES ALL 3 TIMES BY CHIPS HITTING THE GLASS. 2 TIMES IT WAS REPLACED BY THE OEM GLASS, HOWEVER I AM WORRIED ABOUT SAFETY, IT APPEARS THAT THIS CAR'S GLASS IS MORE FRAGILE THAN OTHERS. I HAVE ALSO OWNED OTHER CARS AND DRIVE ON SAME ROAD UNDER SAME CONDITION, HOWEVER THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED WITH ANY OTHER CLASS. I WOULD BE INTERESTED IF NEW BMW X3S ARE MORE PRONE FOR WINDSHIELD RELATED DAMAGES

THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER READS IN KILOMETERS PER HOUR, INSTEAD OF MILES PER HOUR, SO I DO NOT KNOW HOW FAST I AM GOING. A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, BMW ISSUED A RECALL RELATED TO THE REVERSE CAMERA ON THE 2019 X3. TO REPAIR THIS RECALL, THE SOFTWARE IN THE CAR HAD TO BE UPGRADED. AFTER THE DEALERSHIP REPAIRED THE RECALL ISSUE AND UPGRADED THE SOFTWARE, THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER MALFUNCTIONED. THE SPEEDOMETER DEFAULTED TO KILOMETERS PER HOUR EVERY TIME I STARTED THE CAR. IT WOULD NOT STAY ON MILES PER HOUR. THUS, AFTER EVERY START, I WOULD HAVE TO GO INTO THE MAIN MENU AND SWITCH THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER TO MILES PER HOUR. I TOOK MY CAR INTO THE DEALERSHIP TODAY TO FIX THE SPEEDOMETER ISSUE (SO IT WOULD STAY ON MILES PER HOUR), AND THEY MADE THE SITUATION WORSE. THE OPTION TO SWITCH THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER FROM KILOMETERS PER HOUR AFTER EVERY START TO MILES PER HOUR HAS DISAPPEARED. THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER IS NOW PERMANENTLY STUCK IN KILOMETERS PER HOUR (AND CANNOT BE SWITCHED TO MILES PER HOUR). BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE, I DO NOT KNOW HOW FAST I AM GOING (WHICH IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE), AND ALSO MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR ME TO KNOW IF I AM BREAKING THE SPEED LIMIT AND THUS SUSCEPTIBLE TO GETTING A SPEEDING TICKET. THE DEALERSHIP ADVISED ME THAT DOZENS, IF NOT HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE ISSUE AND BMW IS WORKING ON A SOFTWARE FIX, BUT ADVISED THAT IT COULD TAKE MONTHS. I FIND THIS ABSURD FOR A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE. THERE IS AN ANALOG SPEEDOMETER IN THE DASH THAT IS IN MPH, BUT IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ AND NOT SPECIFIC ENOUGH (IT INCREASES BY 20 MPH; FOR EXAMPLE, 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, ETC.). THE ANALOG SPEEDOMETER DOES NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT SPECIFICITY TO TELL WHETHER I AM GOING 22 OR 39 MPH. THE DESIGN OF THE ANALOG SPEEDOMETER IS EXTREMELY POOR AND CANNOT BE RELIED UPON TO DETERMINE ACTUAL SPEED, WHICH IS WHY THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER IS CRITICAL.

AUTOMATIC BRAKING SPONTANEOUSLY ACTIVATED WITHOUT CAUSE. HAPPENED 2 TIMES. MOST RECENT INCIDENT CAUSED INJURIES TO THE DRIVER AND ALMOST CAUSED A SEVERE ACCIDENT. THIS IS A FULL STOP FROM APPROXIMATELY 40 MPH

I PURCHASED A NEW 2019 BMW X3 XDRIVE 30I MIDSIZE SUV ON AUGUST 31, 2019. I SPECIFICALLY CHOSE THE DRIVER ASSIST OPTION THAT INCLUDES BOTH LANE DEPARTURE AND BLIND SPOT WARNING FEATURES. UPON TESTING TO VERIFY THAT THESE FEATURES WERE FUNCTIONING PROPERLY, I DISCOVERED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL VIBRATION WARNING FEATURE DID NOT WORK. NO VIBRATION AT ALL WAS DETECTED WHENEVER I CHANGED LANES EVEN THOUGH I SET THE DESIRED VIBRATION LEVEL TO THE HIGHEST SETTING AND I WAS VERY CAREFUL TO DRIVE AT A SPEED, 50 MPH, FOR WHICH THE FEATURE SHOULD BE ACTIVE. THIS WAS ALSO TRUE OF THE BLIND SPOT WARNING--NO VIBRATION DETECTED. I VERIFIED THAT BOTH SAFETY SYSTEMS HAD ACTIVATED BY OBSERVING THE APPEARANCE OF THE LANE DEPARTURE ICON IN THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND THE ILLUMINATION OF THE TRIANGULAR LIGHT IN THE OUTSIDE MIRRORS UPON APPROACH OF A VEHICLE IN THE ADJACENT LANE. HOWEVER, NO VIBRATION WAS DETECTED IN THE STEERING WHEEL WHEN I PURPOSELY CHANGED LANES WITHOUT SIGNALING ON TESTING THE LANE DEPARTURE FEATURE OR WHEN I SIGNALED TO CHANGE LANES WITH ANOTHER CAR IN THE BLIND SPOT IN TESTING THE BLIND SPOT FEATURE. THE BLIND SPOT VISUAL WARNING LIGHTS IN BOTH OUTSIDE MIRRORS WORKED OK, BUT NO VIBRATION WAS DETECTED WHEN SIGNALING TO CHANGE LANES. I REPORTED THIS TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEIR DIAGNOSIS WAS A FAULTY MOTOR THAT GENERATES THE STEERING MECHANISM VIBRATION. A NEW PART IN ON ORDER. I'M REPORTING THIS TO ALERT OTHERS WHO MAY NOT HAVE TESTED FOR PROPER FUNCTIONALITY OF THESE SAFETY FEATURES. ONE HAS A VISUAL WARNING FOR THE BLIND SPOT FEATURE TO BACKUP THE STEERING MECHANISM VIBRATION, BUT NOT SO FOR THE LANE DEPARTURE. THE ABSENCE OF VIBRATION COULD BE A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE FOR ANYONE DEPENDING ON THE PROPER OPERATION OF THIS FEATURE.