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.
Ongoing issues with the engine and turbochargers in this SUV. Give no warning of an issue and lose power while driving. Replaced one of the turbocharges in 2017. The car is now smoking, smells like something is burning, using a lot of oil, and losing power, and now being told both turbocharges need to be replaced. Dealer, Downtown BMW in Denver, CO who did repairs in 2017 on turbo did not report the previous repairs in car repair history.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated while driving 50 mph, she saw smoke exiting the hood. The contact stated the low coolant warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and call for roadside assistance. The contact states the smoke detained independently, once she turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed the radiator and the water pump was needing to be replaced. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The contact stated she purchased the radiator and the water pump from the local dealer but had the repairs completed at independent mechanic. The vehicle was repaired but she experience the failure for a second time. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V119000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. VIN tool confirms parts not available. The failure mileage was unknown.
My vehicle was covered under a 10 year BMW limited extended warranty to address factory defective bolts that caused a dangerous failure of the VANOS system (bolts backing out) - which can be read about in service bulletin SB-10057335-7958 or SI B01 10 14. I started experiencing the symptoms (warning lamps, rough engine, engine noise, stalling) outlined in this bulletin in 2018, then in 2020, after several failed repairs, I was made aware of the warranty. I immediately scheduled an appointment at my local BMW dealership (BMW of Rochester) and when they called to give me the diagnosis they told me that my car needed an oil change and that if I wanted them to check for the broken bolts they would need to take apart the motor, potentially costing me hundreds of more dollars in labor if the part in question (bolts, covered under warranty) was not broken. They told me the car was running as designed and not to worry about it. I spent the following year and a half attempting to fix persistent issues I thought were unrelated to the part in question. I recently replaced some major parts and upon the mechanic concluded to me that in fact the remaining issues could only be related to the part in question, and to have BMW take another look. I made a new appointment with the dealership to diagnose the issue once again, only this time explaining that I was confident they had misdiagnosed it originally. This time they did not threaten extra costs to take the motor apart and in fact told me it only took them 10 minutes to "scope" the motor with a camera. They confirmed the part in question is broken and are now charging me $6000 out of pocket to fix it, even though the part was under warranty just months ago, the first time I brought it to them. The part being broken makes my car unsafe to drive, and BMW recommends not driving it until it is fixed. BMW NA refuses to honor the warranty due to expiration, and the dealership is also refusing to pay for the repairs. Car is UNSAFE.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at 55 mph, the engine temperature warning light was illuminated. The contact's wife pulled over to a service station to let the engine cool off before restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed as a water pump failure. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
My valve cover and crankcase are manufactured bad the crankcase it's cracked and licking, which it damage my valve covers, my car was driving good all of the sudden it doesn't drive smooth
- Henderson, NV, USA
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While driving a short distance at low speeds through a city, a yellow warning message came onto the screen, alerting me that the vehicle was overheating and to drive carefully. Only seconds later a second warning message came onto the screen, this time red, telling me that the engine has overheated and I need to stop driving immediately. As I slowed I could hear a loud fan noise and began to smell burning plastic. I immediately contacted a technician to schedule a repair. I was told it is a very common problem with the coolant pump, and upon further investigation, I discovered that it has led to very costly repairs on top of potentially dangerous situations. I even discovered that there may be a class action lawsuit for the faulty parts, and in some models have been recalled. I contacted BMW directly and they told me my vehicle was not eligible for any extended warranty or recall.
Clean diesel system had some failure and gave a warning that the car cannot be restarted in 200 miles. Wife was out of state on vacation in the car. He had to drive non-stop home and now the car software has locked out the ability to start the vehicle. I can't even drive it to the dealer. Has to do with the src system that BMW extended the warranty to 10 years because of known problems. I called them to report the problem before the warranty expired but could not bring in because my wife was driving it out of state. Called 12/28/2019 and warranty expired on 12/30/2019. Now they refuse the honor the warranty and I have to have the car towed for repair. Independent mechanics do not want to touch this problem.
As I was driving on a bridge my car completely went into a stop. Breaks instantly locked and my car would not drive, turn on, or go on neutral the breaks stayed in lock. Police offerup even tried to see if it's a simple break button. Nothing worked I was in the middle of a bridge lucky the car behind me swerved right away and myself and my daughter were safe. I called my sister who lived down the street, she came right away and parked behind me with her emergency safety lights on. The car went into shock I couldn't even put it in neutral so I can move it from the middle of the bridge. Towed it to BMW now they say it's the computer system and the wires of the car that connects to the computer. Cost to fix is over 3,500 I can not afford to fix. I have 4 teenage kids and now no car because I cannot afford to pay for the car services. In the past 3 years I have paid over 8K in repairs by BMW dealership services. This is not fair
Engine electric recall for electric water pump. Car was brought into service at tulley BMW in nashua for issue with water pump. Service advisor said " only need to replace a few bolts " I feel the car has only 46,000 and is overheating to excess showing temperature gage. Had vehical towed over 100 miles to local service station - failed electric water pump - " recall issue " dealer failed to service. Engine is overheating - dealer wants to charge $ $1,500 to repair
In Feb 2016 during driving on the highway, lost power steering and battery light come on. Car was towed to the garage to determinate cause and fix the problem. Bolt that hold pulley tensioner was broken and belt fell off. There was no easy way to remove bronek head bolt off from engine block. Car was at mechanic for a week, replacement bolt was around $6 but the labor was almost $700.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 18V336000 (engine and engine cooling); however, the parts to do the repair were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and was not able to confirm when the parts were to become available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that NHTSA campaign number: 18V336000 (engine and engine cooling) exceeded a reasonable amount of time for repair. The contact received the recall notification the third week on May 23, 2018. The manufacturer stated that the parts were not available for the repair. The dealer was not notified. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Lost power steering as car was driving approx 50 mph on garden state parkway at top of bridge over the raritan river. Battery warning came on dash, car lost power and then stopped. No collision or injury. Car was towed and repaired by C&T towing and auto repair, rahway NJ. Damage observed was partially melted idler pulley and shredded drive belt. Repair included replacement of drive belt, a.C. stretch belt, idler pulley, drive belt tensioner and serpentine tensioner.
The engine belt idler pulley bolt broke causing a sudden loss of power steering when the serpentine belt came off the alternator and power steering pump. This is the same problem associated with recall 12V550000 a few years ago. The dealer said the vehicle was fixed under the recall but it was before I owned it so I don't know for sure. I believe the recall should be reinstated. The vehicle was moving on a residential street at less than 25 mph and my mom was driving. If she had been going any faster she would have crashed.
The contact owned a 2010 BMW X5. While driving 35 mph, the contact observed and smelled smoke. The contact pulled the vehicle into a parking lot where it caught fire. There were no warning indicators illuminated prior to the failure. There were no injuries. The vehicle was destroyed. The fire department extinguished the fire. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was not notified. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 17V683000 (engine and engine cooling) and was informed parts were not available. The failure mileage was 47,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Repairing the twin-turbo in my car again in less than a year. Last year the hoses were all replaced this year the dealer says one of the two turbo units in the vehicle needs to be replaced (smaller one). The car is doing the same thing it did last year losing power and making it dangerous to drive in traffic. If I am at a light, it takes about half a block for it to accelerate to normal speed. I ended up having the care towed to the BMW dealer because it was not safe to drive in traffic. After doing some research, the turbo has been an ongoing problem in the X5D. The car is just under 85,000 original miles and since I purchased two years ago, have logged less than 20,000 miles..
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving at 35 mph, that the power malfunction warning light illuminated and the power steering failed. In addition, the 'power loss please reduce speed' warning message illuminated. The contact was able to pull the vehicle to the side of the road. The contact turned the ignition off and attempted to restart the vehicle but failed to start. The vehicle was not able to restart. The vehicle was left in that area, and was not towed at the time. The local dealer (santa monica BMW, santa monica blvd, santa monica, ca, 90401) was contacted at 310-829-3535 and made aware of the failure, where they advised to schedule an appointment to have the vehicle diagnosed. The contact was deliberated on the use of an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 12V550000 (steering, engine and engine cooling), and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.
May 10, 2017 we purchased a 2010 BMW X5 with approx 70kmiles from East providence auto for $16,000. Two days later we brought the vehicle back because the windshield wiper fluid leaked onto the driver side floor, the sunroof wouldn't close and a burning oil smell was coming from the inside of the vehicle. After inspecting, the mechanic said the hose from the windshield wiper tank was needed replacement, he unjammed the sunroof and added 2 quarts of oil; however, he couldn't fix anything. May 22 we returned B/C the oil light was on and the burning oil smell still existed. But the garage was locked. The salesman said we would have to come back. May 24 we returned after blue smoke was coming from the exhaust. The mechanic said the owner was in portugal for two weeks and he couldn't work on the vehicle without permission. After returning and calling many times over the next month we met with the owner who said his mechanic left, we would have to wait. July 3 we had the vehicle independently inspected (see attached report). He inspected the engine and drained the oil. He recommended the engine be removed for further diagnosis and if not resolved the engine will eventually need to be replaced. After returning to ep auto the owner said the 30 day warranty was up so we filed a complaint with the Rhode Island dealers license and regulations office (complaint number am-1702213). We are awaiting a response from the hearing board. The case manager advised that it's impossible to force ep auto to take the vehicle back because we have to prove the issues are pre-existing and she is anticipating the hearing board will not rule in our favor. At this point we are extremely reluctant to drive the vehicle due to the safety concerns. I recently received a recall notice from you alleging defective airbags made by takata. Please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your help.
Takata recall. The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. While driving various speeds, abnormal fumes entered the vehicle and the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to autogermana BMW (located at 298 calle carlos F chardon, hato rey, pr 00919), but was not repaired due to lack of parts. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 16V071000 (air bags), 16V364000 (air bags), and 16V746000 (fuel system, gasoline); however, the parts needed for the repairs were not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Denver, CO, USA