6.2

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
12,103 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2004 BMW X3 transmission problems

transmission problem

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2004 BMW X3 Owner Comments

problem #6

Sep 012008

X3

  • 42,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My transmission/vehicle at 40mph on flat or slight decent will jerk back and forth when you take your foot off the accelerator. BMW has replaced the torque converter, transmission, traction unit, ABS sensor unit, to say this is normal with the 2.5 engine. I find it surprising that this is the case. Now, since the repair my rear suspension makes noises, like there is a problem. They have tightened it up, but it is back to the same problem. I see there is pending lawsuits over the rear suspension of certain BMW vehicles. Needless to say, nothing is fixed and now new problems have occurred. The local BMW dealer has been really good about this, it seems they are under advice from BMW.

- High Point, NC, USA

problem #5

Mar 042006

X3 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 736 miles
Intermittently when coming to a quick stop, there is a significant and heavy bang causing you to jerk forward as if someone hit you in the rear. This has happened since I bought the car as new in 2004. It has been reported to the dealer at each service call but not been fixed.

- Burlington, CT, USA

problem #4

Jul 252003

X3 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 150 miles
Dear NHTSA, I am writing today to tell you my personal epxerience with my car. I bought a brand new BMW 330ci on July 18, 2003. One week after the purchase, the transmission stopped to engage when I start up the car. After I brought it in for a fix, I was told it was fixed. Two months later, the same transmission problem came back again, and it was diagnosed to need replacement. In December 2003, the transmission is replaced after a few month's waiting for the new transmission. In May 2004, the car's engine stopped in traffic. And BMW told me it can not be diagnosed. From May 2004 to March 2005, the engine stall-in-traffic problem happened five times. No conclusive diagnostic was ever made. On Oct 4, 2005, the transmission fails again in the morning. And all these problems listed here are just major safety issues, and does not include the small problems such as door guard completely falls off. At this point, after the problems of this car becomes chronicle, I feel that my safety is compromised, and bwm will not help me to solve the problem. Please help me! sincerely, jinwen xiao.

- Ausitn, TX, USA

problem #3

Aug 252004

X3 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 12,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I purchased a 2004 BMW 325xi in March of 2004 from hunterdon BMW in lebanon, New Jersey. At 10,000 miles, my transmission malfunctioned, light kept coming on so they replaced the valve body. A week later, the transmission light came on again. This time hunterdon BMW had my car in the service department over 2 weeks and replaced my transmission. However, they replaced my new transmission with a used transmission, which I tried to fight because I bought a new car, not a used car, but they kept telling me it was their "policy". they also refused to tell me how many miles this transmission had on it, they refused to tell me if it was even a BMW transmission, and they refused to extend my warranty on the transmission to reflect the amount of miles that was on the car. Furthermore, after they replaced the transmission, the car jumped/jerked at intermittent times when I was accelerating or decelerating. When I brought it into the service department to check on it, they said they couldn't duplicate the problem ? and talked to me as if it was not happening. This leaves my safety at stake when I drive. Now, a few months later, I had to bring my car in for service again: The car squeaks when it starts, the squeaking turned out to be the ac & drive belt - so they replaced it. I picked up the car only to find that the car is still squeakingit is not a safe vehicle to be in. Furthermore the loaner car, which was exactly the same as mine, drove 100 times smoother than mine. Hunterdon BMW sold me a defective vehicle.

- West New York, NJ, USA

problem #2

Jan 032005

X3 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 17,000 miles
2004 BMW with automatic transmition, no engagement of the D rive after the car is set for 12-24 hours.

- Bothell, WA, USA

problem #1

Oct 172004

X3 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 730 miles
Car was in park while running. I put in drive (not cold start) had been driving for 2 hours(stopped at store). I put in drive and the engine revved like the gas pedal was floored. I tried to make it stop by putting in park. I had no choice but to cut off the engine to make it stop. I am glad no one was near the car because they would have been injured. It jumped forward very hard and I was holdiing down the brake. It lurched forward and made a loud clunking sound and I shut the car off. I think it has to do with the trans. I just bought the car new 4 days ago and the dealer and BMW said this had been fixed though a software fix. I had read about the steptronic problem and was told it was no longer an issue. Obviously this is not the case.

- Grosse Pointe Park, MI, USA

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