2015 BMW X3 Complaints

Earlier this year I was notified by BMW that as of Feb 2022 my car would lose all networking capability due to the phase out of 3G cell towers. The "ConnectedDrive" package would become inoperative, and importantly, would no longer be able to route my travel according to traffic. My heads-up display is currently very well integrated with the navigation system, adaptive cruise control, and safety warning systems. I consider these important safety features. BMW has offered no fix for this. I have suggested to them that simply permitting the driver to tether the navigation (by USB or bluetooth) to a cell phone would solve the problem, but they have refused. The nav system and the BMW cell phone app both prevent tethering, which otherwise is built into the BMW's Windows CE-based operating environment. I don't want to navigate using my phone, as it would be a 3rd display (the one in the dash, the HUD, and the phone). I think one driver with 3 screens would be a safety hazard. Can you help get them to permit tethering to my cell phone once the 3G towers are gone?

I am filing to write about the timing chain system that's used on the specific engine model the BMW N20. There is a flaw in the design of the system where the plastic timing chain guides break apart and make its way into the engine causing a catastrophic failure to the engine. This happens randomly and without warning. There is nothing the owner can do to prevent it from happening. It's just a matter of time before it happens. There has since been a settlement: Gelis, et al. v. Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft, et al. This reimburses ones that have gone to repair the issue after failure. However, the results of this settlement does not help those who have yet to experience engine failure. As the owner of this vehicle, I am always with anxiety every time I drive the car, not knowing if today will be the day the engine blows up. BMW leaves us with a flawed engine that they now well about but won't issue a recall to fix the problem. It could happen to anybody driving the car where it will fail without warning at any time. I believe this is a safety hazard and an recall should be issued ASAP.

I HAVE A DIESEL THAT THE SCR TANK THAT HOLDS THE DIESEL EMISSION FLUID HAS A FAULTY LEVEL SENSOR P203E ERROR CODE. A. CHECK ENGINE IIGHT IS ALWAYS ON. BMW HAS EXTENDED WARRANTY OF 10 YR/120,000 MILES. SEVERAL OF THE DIESEL BMW HAVE THIS TANK ASPART OF THE EXTENDED WARRANTY BUT NOT MINE. LIGHT HAS BEEN ON FOR A YEAR.

MY 2015 BMW X3 HAS LESS THAN 30,000 MILES ON IT AND THE DRIVER DOOR CLOSURE PULL IS DETERIORATING TO A STICKY UNTOUCHABLE MESS. ALSO THE FRONT GLOVE COMPARTMENT DOOR LEATHER IS PULLING AWAY FROM THE BOX LEAVING AN OPEN GAP. I DID RESEARCH ONLINE AND FOUND THAT THIS IS A RECURRING ISSUE WITH BMW OWNERS. THIS IS A MANUFACTURER DEFECT AND SHOULD BE RECALLED BY BMW TO REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE INTERIOR. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN GARAGE KEPT TO AVOID HEAT OR SUN DAMAGE. WHEN I CONTACTED MY BMW DEALER I WAS TOLD THAT THIS WOULD RESULT IN 800-1000 REPAIR COST. THE LEATHER INTERIOR IS NOT THE QUALITY I EXPECTED FROM A 48,000 VEHICLE.

DRIVERS FRONT SEAT ACTIVE HEAD RESTRAINT DEPLOYED. FAULT CODE 930958 STORED. GENERATOR FOR ACTIVE HEAD RESTRAINT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. VEHICLE WAS IN GARAGE, WHEN STARTED THE ERROR WAS DISPLAYED AND IS DISPLAYED EVER TIME THE VEHICLE IS STARTED. THIS EXACT PART WAS RECALLED ON MY 2013 328I AUTO. IT SHOULD BE RECALLED ON THE 2015 X3 AS IT IS THE SAME PART AND IS DEFECTIVE. THANKS

CAR UNDER RECALL FOR EGR COOLER. EGR COOLER LEAKED ON 1/25/19 - NO REMEDY FOR RECALL. INTAKE MANIFOLD WAS NOT REPLACED BY DEALER. DROVE CAR FOR ONE YEAR WITH THIS PROBLEM AND SIGNIFICANT SAFETY RISK. REMEDY FOR RECALL AVAILABLE 10/2019- NOT NOTIFIED. NOW CAR AS SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE RELATED TO RECALL WITH THE EMISSIONS SYSTEM INCLUDING NOX SENSORS, PARTICULATE FILTER AND CATALYST. DROVE CAR FOR ONE YEAR WITH KNOWN DAMAGE RELATED TO EGR COOLANT LEAK.

I WAS DRIVING MY 2015 BMW X3 DIESEL ON ROUTE 2 WEST NEAR ROUTE 128 NORTH ENTRANCE, I LOST POWER AND "POWERTRAIN MALFUNCTION" WARNING ALERT CAME ON DISPLAY DASHBOARD, I WAS ABLE TO BARELY COAST THE VEHICLE OVER TO THE BREAKDOWN LANE OF ROUTE 2 WEST. AFTER PULLING OVER TO BREAKDOWN LANE IT STARTED TO SMOKE UNDER THE HOOD OF THE VEHICLE AND WITH FEW MINUTES FIRE STARTED IN THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT AND LESS THAN 10 MINUTES VEHICLE ENGINE COMPARTMENT WAS FULLY ENGULFED IN THE FIRE. ON OCTOBER 11TH OF 2019, I HAVE MY 2015 BMW X3 BROUGHT TO WAGNER BWM OF SHREWSBURY MA TO PERFORM THE OPEN RECALL FOR EGR COOLER WHICH WAS NOTIFIED BY BMW MANUFACTURER. DEALER PERFORM THE INSPECTION FOR SIGNS OF CONTAMINATION OR CORROSION AND PERFORM COUPLE OF OTHER TEST, BUT DID NOT FOUND THE ISSUE AT THAT TIME, HENCE THERE WERE NO REPAIR WAS DONE TO CORRECT THE OPEN RECALL. BWM MANUFACTURES SHOULD HAVE REQUIRED ALL EFFECTED VEHICLE TO BE REPAIRED INSTEAD OF JUST LETTING DEALER INSPECTION THE VEHICLE, ESPECIALLY, BWM MANUFACTURE STATES THAT EGR MODULE COULD DEVELOP A COOLING-FLUID LEAK. HEATED COOLANT COULD MIX WITH DIESEL ENGINE SOOT AND MELT THE INTAKE MANIFOLD. THAT COULD LEAD TO FIRE.

I OWN A 2015 BMW X3 THAT WAS ON A RECALL ISSUED OCTOBER 2018.THE RECALL DEALT WITH FAULTY EMISSIONS PARTS.IN JANUARY 2019, I WENT TO THE BMW DEALERSHIP AND ASKED ABOUT HET RECALL; PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE..OCTOBER, 2019, I RECEIVED A SECOND NOTICE FROM BMW ABOUT THE RECALL.I TOOK THE CAR FOR SERVICE AT OWINGS MILLS. THE MGR ADVISED ME THAT MY CAR WOULD NEED TO BE LEFT OVERNIGHT FOR TESTING. OCTOBER 11,I WAS ADVISED THAT THE CAR NEED SERVICING.HOWEVER, THE PARTS WOULD NOT BE AVAILABLE UNTIL DECEMBER 2019. AAKED WHY SO LONG TO GET PARTS THAT I RECEIVED A 2ND LETTER, TO HAVE THE WORK DONE. BMW DID NOT ANTICIPATE SO MANY CARS WOULD NEED THE REPLACEMENT PARTS. I WANTED TO TAKE MY CAR AND BRING IT BACK WHEN THE PARTS ARRIVE. THE MGR EXPLAINED CAR COULD POSSIBLY CATCH FIRE; SMALL HOT PARTICLES WERE BEING EMITTED INTO THE ENGINE THAT COULD IGNITE A FIRE. NOVEMBER 26TH MGR CALLED ,CAR WAS FIXED. I COULD COME GET IT. I DROVE CAR OFF THE SERVICE PARKING LOT ABOUT 7 MILES; THE 'CHECK ENGINE' INDICATOR LIGHT CAME ON.RETURNED THE CAR BACK FOR SERVICE AGAIN.MGR CALLED THE FOLLOWING DAY AND ADVISED THE EMISSIONS FILTER IS CLOGGED AND NEEDS REPLACEMENT ;$4168. I WAS FLABBERGASTED. ASKED, IF NOT HAVING THE RECALL FIXED FOR ALMOST A YEAR COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE FAULTY FILTER.I NEEDED THIS ISSUE INVESTIGATED. WROTE BMW CORPORATE. BMW NA CONTACTED ME. SHE TOLD ME THERE WAS NOTHING BMW COULD OR WOULD DO FOR ME. I QUESTIONED WHETHER THE FACT THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR MY CAR FOR SO LONG AND I CONTINUED TO DRIVE A CAR THAT WAS EMITTING PARTICLES TO THE ENGINE, THAT COULD HAVE CAUSED A FIRE, WOULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO A CLOGGED FILTER.SHE SAID SHE WAS NOT TECHNICAL AND DIDN'T KNOW. THAT WAS UNSETTLING TO ME BECAUSE THAT WAS THE REASON, I WROTE BMW IN THE FIRST PLACE.SHE JUST KEPT REPEATING THERE WAS NOTING THAT COULD BE DONE. RESOLUTION IS FIX CAR AT NO COST TO ME.

I WAS ABOUT TO PARK IN A PARKING LOT, DRIVING SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY BETWEEN TWO PARKED CARS. AS I VERY GENTLY PUT MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE TO STOP, THE CAR JOLTED INTENSELY AND DID NOT STOP. I THEN PRESSED ON THE BRAKE PEDAL HARDER BUT THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED TO A VERY FAST SPEED. I DROVE THROUGH SOME LARGE PLANTS AND WENT OVER A SIDE WALK AND MADE A SHARP TURN TO AVOID A LARGE BUILDING IN FRONT OF ME. I THEN DROVE THROUGH THE PARKING LOT, MANEUVERING AROUND PARKED CARS, BUILDINGS AND OTHER OBJECTS WHILE THE CAR WAS SPEEDING UP. MY EFFORTS TO SLOW THE CAR DOWN FAILED EVEN AFTER APPLYING AUXILIARY BRAKE. LUCKILY THERE WERE NO PEDESTRIANS OR MOVING CARS WHILE THIS WAS HAPPENING! FINALLY I ENDED UP DRIVING UP A HILL, HOPING THAT THE ELEVATION WOULD STOP THE CAR. INSTEAD DUE TO HIGH SPEED, THE VEHICLE WAS LIFTED UP ABOUT 7 FEET IN THE AIR, HIT A LARGE TREE AND FELL IN THE GROUND WITH MUCH FORCE. I HAVE SOME INJURIES AS A RESULT AND CURRENTLY RECEIVING MEDICAL SUPPORT, HOPING THAT I WILL NOT HAVE PERMANENT HEALTH ISSUES, WHICH I VERY MUCH DOUBT! MY CAR WAS SEVERELY DAMAGED AND WAS TOTALED. IT IS CLEAR AND EVIDENT THAT THERE WAS SOME KIND OF TECHNICAL MALFUNCTION THAT CAUSED THE BRAKE FAILURE AND ACCELERATION. I CONTACTED BMW DEALERSHIP WHERE WE HAD PURCHASED THE CAR AND ALSO WHERE I HAD THE CAR SERVICED ONE MONTH EARLIER! THEY SAID I MUST PAY FOR THE CAR TO BE DELIVERED TO THEIR FACILITY IN ORDER FOR THEM TO EXAMINE THE CAUSE OF BRAKE FAILURE. I REFUSED TO PAY THE HIGH PRICE. IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO MENTION THAT I HAVE BEEN DRIVING FOR OVER FORTY YEARS AND I CONSIDER MYSELF A VERY CAPABLE DRIVER. I SHOULD ALSO ADD THAT ON THE INTERNET THERE ARE AT LEAST A DOZEN SIMILAR REPORTED CASES OF THIS MODEL. OBVIOUSLY, BMW HAS NEGLECTED TO LOOK INTO THIS MATTER. THEY SHOULD INVESTIGATE THEIR X3 MODELS BEFORE SOMEONE DIES!

EGR COOLER FAILED AT 70,000 +/- MILES. WASN'T LEAKING COOLANT INSIDE, BUT WAS LEAKING EXHAUST GASSES INTO CABIN AND WAS NOT COVERED UNDER RECALL CAMPAIGN. BMW COULD NOT PROVIDE NEW UPDATED PART, BUT CHARGED US FOR 'NEW / OLD STYLE UNIT' FOR ABOUT $2600. TRIED TO WORK ISSUE OUT WITH BMW CORP ON EMISSION WARRANTY, BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. VEHICLE STILL HAS UNSATISFIED RECALL ON IT FOR EGR COOLER. VEHICLE ALSO IS NOT ISSUING A 'DEF' NOTIFICATION. I HAVE BEEN IN THIS INDUSTRY FOR 44 YEARS AND KNOW THAT THIS VEHICLE SHOULD BE CALLING FOR DEF. I HAVE DEALT WITH THIS IN FORD, PETERBILT AND KENWORTH VEHICLES AND BMW'S SYSTEM IS NOT REPORTING.