10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
42,410 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.

2014 BMW X3 electrical problems

electrical problem

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2014 BMW X3 Owner Comments

problem #10

Nov 162022

X3

  • miles

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

The LED chips that control the running lamps in the rear and prone to fail based on my personal experience and reading forums; I've replaced 3 so far. However, BMW has yet to acknowledge the issue and will only sell you an entire brake lamp for $400+. You can find the chip that needs replacing on Amazon for ~$15 with a Lifetime Warranty through the Amazon retailer. During normal operation, these LED lights stay lit in the rear when you're not actively braking or signaling and when you're parking so they're important for any traffic following from behind especially if it's dark. I've seen other German auto manufacturers with similar issues where the rear LED lights no longer function due to defective chips or simply not making them easily available for repair should the chip fail.

- Tacoma, WA, USA

problem #9

Sep 122022

X3

  • miles
No oil change or engine light on dash. Passed state emissions test with no indicator lights on weeks ago. Engine timing chain malfunction. A warning light displayed once the engine stopped my vehicle. Also, pressed SOS button for 911 after vehicle stopped right off highway and stopped mid intersection, but learned it doesn-€™t work after 5G towers upgraded.

- Solon, OH, USA

problem #8

Sep 052020

X3

  • 60,000 miles
Our parked BMW X3 was in our driveway turned off when it suddenly burst into flames and also caught our house on fire and our neighbors house. There is currently no recall on this year and model. No engine lights were on and we regularly service our car only with certified BMW mechanics. The car is completely burnt to the ground. After further research this is not the first time the X3 has caught on fire and burnt down someone's home and yet no recall and BMW has yet to take responsibility. We have everything on our security cameras.

- New Orleans, LA, USA

problem #7

Jan 312019

X3

  • 73,000 miles

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

Received multiple error messages "battery discharging while stopped" and "increased battery discharge". I smelled burning plastic. Next day I received error the tpm has malfunctioned. I contacted my servicing dealer and explained the problem. He stated he sees this all the time and the cost to repair is $324 for a new rdc module + one hour labor + two hours to reprogram. I removed the rdc module and found extreme moisture damage and melted plastic near the connector in the module. In the attached photo, I attempted to clean off corrosion. After more research I found a BMW training manual describing the module and it states the module is water-proof.

- Worth, IL, USA

problem #6

Oct 302018

X3

  • 46,105 miles
Vehicle intermittently lost power in motion on a highway causing the speed to drop at times from 55 to 45 until slowing down to a stop and intermittently caused random alerts to come on such as "door open" when driving when door was locked/not opened or powertrain alert or chassis stabilizer alert. This happened prior to hid installs but occurred more frequently with hid installment. Dealership discovered the accelerator pedal module was faulty. Very unsafe. Apparently the extra voltage from the lights was the reason for the increased duration for this faulty issue. Multiple reports of this on forums. Car is only at 46K.

- Wasilla, AK, USA

problem #5

Aug 182018

X3

  • 100,000 miles
As an electrical vehicle I ran out of gas and was not able to put my vehicle in manual neutral and the vehicle automatically went into park which if a lot of oncoming traffic was coming I would have been hit. Safety hazard for not gear shift to press for parking

- Tampa Fl, FL, USA

problem #4

Jun 022018

X3

  • 100,000 miles

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

Gear shift parking hazard roll back or safety when parking

- Tampa, FL, USA

problem #3

Aug 112015

X3

  • 20,000 miles
Animal chewed electrical wiring on three different occasions rendering the car not drivable. Had to be towed three times. My car was parked in my garage the first two times and the third time in my driveway. I have all insurance documentation.

- Mount Gilead, NC, USA

problem #2

Jan 272016

X3

  • 17,000 miles
1) at 14K miles, the transmission transfer case failed. Local BMW service shop replaced the case to resolve the issue. I was surprised by this issue at this low mileage as I have been driving many cars for past 25+ years, but never had such problems. 2) in last week of Jan, my car engine completely stopped and car came off drive mode while I was driving my car on highway. Fortunately, there was none behind my car and I was able to safely stop my car with the emergency lights on. Car would not go in drive mode until I had stopped engine completely. I started driving again, and few minutes later same thing happened again. Fortunately again there was no vehicles were behind me I was scared to death both the times with heart beating really hard.* 3) I thought I may inadvertently have touched some buttons, and this may have happened, so I decided to be more mindful about not touching any buttons etc and observe one more time. 4) 2 days I drove the car w/O issue. 5) few days later, when I was driving back home, same thing happened again and luckily this time too, I did not have any vehicle behind me. Given, it was late in the evening (service shop was closed), I decided to take the vehicle to dealership next day. 6) next day I took the car to dealership and they ran diagnostic and found nothing. But they decided to talk to BMW usa for further diagnosis. 7) today, I received a call from the dealership and they said, BMW-usa did not found the any cause that may have caused the issue but given engine intermittently stopped, they are going to replace the whole engine. Even after replacing the engine, I feel that they did not address the root cause I suspect there is something more to it and this vehicle is not safe to drive. Reporting this see if others have experienced this and qualify for recall.

- Charlotte, NC, USA

problem #1

Dec 042013

X3 4-cyl

  • 8,000 miles
Cigarette lighters are non operational. Fuses are blown every 2 to 3 months. Constantly replacing fuses.

- Gretna, LA, USA

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