2013 BMW X3 Complaints

THE BAFFLES ARE LOOSE IN MY MUFFLER CAUSING A TERRIBLE NOISE. I BELIEVE THIS IS ALSO CAUSING MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO COME ON. MY CAR IS RUNNING RICH. BMW SAYS IT'S ANNOYING BUT NOT CAUSING AND ISSUES ON MY CAR. THEY SAY IT'S $1,200 TO FIX. IT STARTED OUT ONLY MAKING THE NOISE SOMETIMES. IT THEN PROGRESSED TO WHEN STANDING STILL. NOW IT DOES IT EVEN WHEN DRIVING. PEOPLE CONSTANTLY ASK ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY CAR.

ENGINE FAILURE WHILE DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY AT 10PM DURING INCLEMENT RAINY WEATHER 350 MILES FROM MY HOME. FIRST, THE OIL PRESSURE WARNING REDUCE SPEED APPEARED. WHILE TRYING TO SAFELY GET OFF THE FREEWAY THE DRIVE TRAIN WARNING APPEARED. AT THAT TIME, VEHICLE LOST ALL POWER AND I PULLED TO THE SHOULDER IMMEDIATELY. AFTER VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CLOSEST EUROPEAN CAR MECHANIC, THE MECHANIC DIAGNOSED THE VEHICLE AND INDICATED THE TIMING CHAIN BROKE WHICH CAUSED ENGINE FAILURE. THE TIMING CHAIN IS ONLY WARRANTED UP TO 70K MILES. VEHICLE HAS 83K MILE. THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT ENGINE ISSUES WITH THIS VEHICLE AND BMW SHOULD OFFER A RECALL FOR FAILED COMPONENTS. UNACCEPTABLE TO HAVE A FAILED ENGINE AND I PLAN TO TAKE THIS ISSUE TO BMW CORPORATE.

I OWN A 2013 BMW X3 AND I RECEIVED A NOTIFICATION OF A TIMING CHAIN ISSUE FROM BMW. APPARENTLY, THIS WAS AN ISSUE ONLY FOR THE 2013 N20 ENGINES, WHERE THE TIMING CHAIN GUIDE IS PRONE TO BREAKING DUE TO THE USE OF A SOFT METAL, WHICH TYPICALLY RESULTS IN A COMPLETE ENGINE REPLACEMENT. BMW WILL REIMBURSE YOU ON THIS REPAIR IF THIS BREAKS PRIOR TO 7 YEARS OF OWNERSHIP OR 70K MILES. I'D HATE TO GET TO THE POINT WHERE I HAVE TO BE BROKEN DOWN, GET THE CAR TOWED AND PAY FOR REPAIRS SO I WANTED TO KNOW IF THIS COULD BE FIXED WHILE STILL UNDER THE LIMITED WARRANTY COVERED BY BMW, WHICH THEY STATED THEY WOULD NOT AS IT IS NOT A RECALL. THE FACT THAT THIS ISSUE CAN RESULT IN 'CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE', IS NOT A RECALL, AND BWM IS NOT WILLING TO PROACTIVELY REPLACE A KNOWN DEFECTIVE PART TELLS ME THEY ARE NOT CONCERNED WITH THE SAFETY OF THEIR OWNERS OR TO STAND BY THEIR OWN MANUFACTURING MISTAKES.

2013 BMW X3. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO VEHICLE BRAKE REPAIRS NOT COVERED UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY. *LD *JS

LAST WEEK WHEN IN CITY TRAFFIC, I DEPRESSED THE BRAKE TO SLOW DOWN, THEN LIFTED MY FOOT OFF THE BRAKE. MY CAR LURCHED FORWARD AND I IMMEDIATELY BRAKED AGAIN TO SLOW DOWN AND STOP. THIS WAS NOT NORMAL, HAD NOT HAPPENED BEFORE, AND I DECIDED TO MENTION IT DURING MY NEXT VISIT TO BMW SERVICE. LAST SATURDAY, FEB. 17, I WAS DRIVING 20 -25 MPH IN A NEIGHBORHOOD, APPROACHING A RED LIGHT ON RIVER RD, BETHESDA. THERE WAS ONE CAR AT THE LIGHT. I BRAKED TO SLOW DOWN, AND REALIZED THAT THE CAR WAS NOT SLOWING DOWN, BRAKED AGAIN AND IT LURCHED FORWARD AND ACCELERATED. I SAW THE SPEED THE SPEEDOMETER MOVING BETWEEN 20-25, AND THE TACHOMETER VARYING WILDLY BETWEEN 1.5 - 2.5. I PRESSED VERY HARD ON THE BRAKE, WHICH WAS HARDER TO PRESS DOWN THAN EVER BEFORE, PRESSED THE PARK BUTTON AND FINALLY GOT THE CAR TO GO INTO PARK BEFORE I ARRIVED AT THE STOPPED VEHICLE IN FRONT OF ME. THIS ALL HAPPENED IN LESS THAN 10 SECONDS. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED BMW AND TOOK MY CAR IN, EXPLAINING WHAT HAPPENED, STILL VERY SHAKEN AND AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR. AFTERWARDS, I LOOKED ON THE INTERNET, AND READ ABOUT OTHER 2013 X3 DRIVERS WITH THE SAME EXPERIENCE. IT DID NOT APPEAR THAT BMW WAS ABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM OR THAT THEY REPAIRED THE CARS TO FIX THE PROBLEM. ONE PERSON DID HAVE AN ACCIDENT AND TOTALED THE CAR. THUS FAR, BMW HAS TOLD ME THEY CANNOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM. I REQUESTED THE SERVICE MANAGER TO GET INVOLVED AND WILL ASK TO SPEAK TO THE FACTORY REP AS WELL. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD PUTTING MY LIFE AND OTHERS AT RISK. IT IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE MY CAR. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW MANY SIMILAR COMPLAINTS HAVE BEEN FILED WITH NHTSA AND WHAT NHTSA HAS DONE TO ADDRESS THIS SERIOUS SAFETY FLAW.

I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE AT 75MPH AND PUT THE CAR INTO SPORT MODE, IT SUDDENLY WENT FROM 2000 RPM CRUISING TO 6000 RPM AND BACK TO ZERO. THE CAR HAD LOST COMPLETE POWER. I PUSHED THE GAS AND NOTHING HAPPENED; LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND PULL OVER. I TRIED TO RESTART THE CAR BUT NOTHING HAPPENED. THE RADIO, AIR, AND WINDOWS STILL WORKED BUT NOTHING ELSE. I HAD AAA TOW THE CAR TO THE CLOSEST BMW DEALERSHIP. THE BMW DEALERSHIP CALLED ME TO ASK IF I HAD A DEAD BATTERY; I TOLD THEM BATTERIES DO NOT DIE DRIVING DOWN THE INTERSTATE. BMW THEN CALLED ME BACK TO TELL ME THAT THE ENGINE SEIZED AND IT WAS TOTAL FAILURE, BUT THEY COULD NOT TELL ME ANYTHING SPECIFIC WHEN I ASKED. THEY SAID I COULD PAY $6,000 IN LABOR TO HAVE A MECHANIC RIP IT APART TO FIND THE EXACT CAUSE AND THEN PAY THE ADDITIONAL COST TO HAVE WHATEVER WAS BROKEN REPLACED OR THAT I COULD GO AHEAD AND PAY $10,000 UPFRONT TO HAVE THE ENGINE REPLACED. A 2013 CAR, THAT HAS ROUTINE MAINTENANCE SHOULD NOT HAVE THIS HAPPEN. I COULD HAVE BEEN IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT FROM THIS, AND NOW I HAVE NO CAR TO DRIVE.

VEHICLE STALLED ON THE HIGHWAY DUE TO THE TIMING CHAIN GUIDE BREAKING, I WAS TOLD IT IS MADE OF PLASTIC AND DAMAGED OTHER PARTS OF THE ENGINE THAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AS WELL TOTALING $7,000. AFTER EXTENSIVE RESEARCH THIS ISSUE SEEMS TO BE RECURRING ON 2013 BMW X3S. ADDITIONALLY, THE REPORTS I HAVE RESEARCHED ONLINE INCLUDE NEW VEHICLES TO OLDER BMWS RANGING FROM 30,000 MILEAGE TO 100,000 MILEAGE. I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE USED AT ABOUT 57,000 AND WAS NEVER TOLD ABOUT THIS ISSUE. I AM AWAITING FOR A CALL FROM BMW NORTH AMERICA TO SEE IF THERE IS ANYTHING THEY CAN DO. I WAS TOLD THERE WAS AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR THESE PARTS WHEN THEY IDENTIFIED THEY WERE FAULTY BUT SINCE I HAD PURCHASED THE VEHICLE USED I NEVER RECEIVED THIS NOTICE.

WHILE DRIVING IN A LOW SPEED STREET THE ENGINE WITH ANY NOTICE, LOST ALL THE POWER SUDDENLY AND DID NOT ACCELERATE. IT SHOWED A MESSAGE ON THE SCREEN INDICATING A TOTAL LACK A POWER; THE THROTTLE DID NOT WORK AND DESPITE THE ENGINE KEPT RUNNING IT STAYED AT THE MINIMUM RPM. IT HAPPENED TWICE IN A THREE MONTHS PERIOD. THE FIRST TIME (OCTOBER 2017) THE LOCAL IMPORT SERVICE SHOP DID NOT FIND ANY ABNORMALITY AND JUST RESET THE COMPUTER FAILURE SIGNAL. THE SECOND TIME IN DECEMBER THEY IDENTIFIED A FAILURE IN A REGULATOR OF THE ADMISSION SYSTEM. THE CAR IS STILL AT THE SHOP BECAUSE WE WROTE TO BMW HEADQUARTERS IN GERMANY AND ARE STILL WAITING FOR A RESPONSE. WE CONSIDER THAT FAILURE AS A MAJOR AND HAZARDOUS QUALITY ISSUE AND HAVE REQUESTED A FULL REPAIR DESPITE THE WARRANTY IS ALREADY DUE. THE LOCAL DEALER REFUSED TO DO IT SO. THE VEHICLE IS BMW X3 2013 WITH 42.000 KMS AND ALL THE OFFICIAL WARRANTY CHECKS AND MAINTENANCE AT THE OFFICIAL BMW DEALER. DESPITE I LIVE IN PANAMA AND THE CAR WAS BOUGHT HERE AND NOT IN THE US AND MAYBE IT IS NOT YOUR JURISDICTION, I THINK THE FAILURE IS EXTREMELY RISKY AND COULD CAUSE A FATAL ACCIDENT IF IT HAPPENS IN A HIGHWAY AT HIGH SPEED AND IN THE MIDDLE OF HEAVY TRAFFIC SUCH AS TRUCKS AND HAULERS. BMW SELLS THE SAME CAR IN THE US AND OTHER MODELS WITH THE SAME ENGINE.I THINK IT WOULD BE OF YOUR INTEREST TO INVESTIGATE IF THE SAME FAILURE HAS OCCURRED IN THE US TERRITORY OR ACCIDENTS WITH THESE VEHICLES HAVE HAPPENED DUE TO A SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER. I HAVE THE QUOTATION FOR THE REPAIR ISSUED BY THE LOCAL DEALER IN US DOLLARS. IF YOU THINKS IT IS IMPORTANT I AM FULLY AVAILABLE TO SEND IT TO YOU. AS I DO NOT LIVE IN THE US I AM WRITING WITH MY SISTERS ADDRESS IN FLORIDA. MY HOME ADDRESS IN PANAMA IS: CALLE FONTANA # 23. PH COSTA SERENA. COSTA DEL ESTE. PANAM CITY. PANAMA. ZIP CODE 11111. MOBILE PHONE: (507) 6249 8159. HOME: (507) 3941823

START/STOP SWITCH CAUSES TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTION STOPPING FORWARD MOTION OF VEHICLE FROM STANDING START CAUSING FAILURE TO PROCEED SUDDENLY. TURNING OFF THE SYSTEM IS THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING. DANGEROUS SITUATION PULLING INTO TRAFFIC IS THE RESULT. THIS HAS HAPPENED DAILY.

TAIL LIGHTS WILL FAIL WITH NO WARNING LIGHT OR MESSAGE DISPLAYED IN DASH BOARD. X3'S EQUIPPED WITH HID HEADLAMPS COME WITH FOUR LED TAIL LAMPS. IN EACH LAMP, THERE IS A CIRCUIT BOARD THAT WILL FAIL DUE TO POOR QUALITY CONTROL (THE RESISTORS AND/OR CAPACITORS WILL GET DETACHED FROM CIRCUIT BOARD) , THEREFORE, THE LAMPS WILL STOP WORKING. USUALLY, WHEN LIGHTS BURN OUT, THE DASH WARNS THE DRIVER, BUT NOT FOR THIS FAILURE. THE OWNER COULD BE DRIVING AT NIGHT WITH NO TAIL LAMPS, AND IT COULD LEAD TO A REAR END COLLISION