4.6

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
23,187 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.

2016 BMW X3 miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2016 BMW X3 Owner Comments

problem #8

Jan 022022

X3

  • miles

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

The incident that happened to us was the shattered front panel sunroof while driving in a cold temperature on the highway. We don't believe this was caused by a rock because it should have cracked the whole panel but instead, it shattered.

- South Jordan, UT, USA

problem #7

Apr 162021

X3

  • 81,448 miles
It had been raining in my area the week of 4/16/2021. On the evening of 4/16/2021 my rear hatch control and rear hatch alarm started malfunctioning. I discovered water had gotten into the electrical compartment in the rear hatch. I brought my SUV to the shop/dealer for repair and was told the sunroof frame was cracked allowing water penetration from the headliner to the rear hatch causing the hatch control unit to malfunction. My vehicle has never been involved in an accident and I have never stored or transported anything on my roof. The repair shop/dealer was unable to offer a reason for what could have caused the sunroof frame to crack. The only explanation that makes sense is that the sunroof was either installed improperly by the manufacturer or the sunroof frame is defective. It was $4,298.08 to repair the sunroof and control unit. This is most concerning as my SUV is less than 5 years old, only has 81,448 miles and there is no recommended maintenance for the sunroof.

- Canterbury, CT, USA

problem #6

Jun 122019

X3

  • 30,000 miles
When at a stop (light or stop sign), transmission switches to park from drive. Does not happen in sport mode just standard and econo. This problem occurs intermittently with no known trend when or why occurring. This problem presents a safety risk to both the occupants and other drivers. If car forward motion from a stopped position is delayed due to having to switch from standard to sport and from park to drive, car in rear could assume subject car will be timely with moving forward and strike the subject car or the driver of subject car (with problem) panics and has a delay in moving into traffic, this situation could lead to a vehicle or cyclist or pedestrian strike. Appears that trend is well known based on internet search. Encinitas, ca. BMW has seen car on three occasions and have not been able to identify the trigger for condition (ie. Root cause is unknown). However, a battery was replaced but problem still persists. And, encinitas BMW has been very helpful trying to address with wonderful customer service. However, I feel a more focused and expanded strategy is needed by BMW to identify root cause. I'm reporting this due to the potential widespread /similar condition that other BMW owners may be faced with. Please let me know what I can do to help expedite addressing this situation. I'm worried that my wife and daughter (drivers of car) could be exposed to a serious bad event due to the vehicle malfunction described above. And other persons may be exposed as well. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. (xxxxx) parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Solana Beach, CA, USA

problem #5

Jan 092019

X3

  • 0 miles

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

Dealership refused to perform recall on car for seat belt bracket saying they did not have the time. Appointment was made nearly 3 months prior

- Edison, NJ, USA

problem #4

Jun 222018

X3

  • 44,000 miles
Exploding sunroof. Happened without impact, on freeway, no nearby overpass and nothing traveling towards vehicle. Sounded and felt like a bomb was going off, which could have but fortunately did not cause me to lose control of vehicle.

- Costa Mesa, CA, USA

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problem #3

Jun 222018

X3

  • 18,000 miles
Driving ~75 mph on I-25 North of denver on June 22, 2018 about 1:30 pm and my sunroof exploded. Few cars close to me.

- Loveland, CO, USA

problem #2

Aug 272017

X3

  • 11,000 miles
May 31, while slowing to enter a toll booth, engine started revving uncontrollably, maintaining excessive speed. I braked hard and vehicle stopped in time to avoid a collision. Vehicle operated normally thereafter until August 27, when, stopped at a traffic light on a highway, engine again started revving, ranging from about 3500 to 4000 RPM. I shifted to park and engine immediately revved up to over 7000, in red zone of tachometer. Revving stopped after a minute or so and vehicle operated normally. The next day, I had vehicle towed to BMW rockville. Service department examined vehicle and found no defects, suggesting possibility that driver may have had foot on brake and accelerator at same time. I did not think so, especially as this had never happened before and revving was up and down, requiring rhythmic action on gas while holding brake down firmly. As wife and I did not feel safe driving the car, we had also alerted BMW North America, which sent an engineer to test the vehicle. BMW na's analysis found no defects but offered to help as we wished to trade in the car. It was traded in to BMW rockville Sept 17, at considerable financial loss. I have a copy of BMW na's report, but it shows only that the car is in perfect operating condition. BMW rockville salesman said vehicle would not be resold, but would be cannibalized for spare parts.

- Chevy Chase, MD, USA

problem #1

Jul 212015

X3

  • 1,050 miles
The rear hatch came down without warning while I was loading items into the back cargo space. This is the second incident. The same thing happened 2 or 3 weeks earlier. At that time BMW ran diagnostics and found nothing wrong. I plan to report this incident.

- Huntington, NY, USA

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