Date and Time: XXX at approximately 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Location: Northbound [XXX]. Vehicle: 2024 BMW iX. Occupants: Driver and driver’s son. Weather/Road Conditions: Very hot and Sunny, in the 97-degree temperature; gusting winds at about 17-miles/hr; the vehicle was traveling at normal highway speed. Incident Description: My son and I were returning home from Wine Valley Golf Club, located at [XXX]. I was driving northbound on [XXX] at approximately 60 mph. A large dump truck approached and passed in the opposite southbound lane at an estimated similar speed. As the vehicles passed, the air displacement and wind gust from the dump truck caused my vehicle to shake noticeably. Instantly at the same time, I heard a loud popping sound from the rear upper portion of my vehicle. Looking behind me, I saw that the rear upper exterior body trim had detached and was lying in the roadway. Immediate Response and Safety Actions: I reduced speed, pulled over when it was safe to do so, and stopped the vehicle. After assessing the situation, I safely turned around and traveled southbound toward the location where the trim had detached. I activated the vehicle’s emergency flashers and stopped on the highway shoulder near the debris. I then retrieved the detached trim from the northbound travel lane. No collision occurred, and neither occupant reported an injury. However, entering the roadway to retrieve the part exposed both my son and me to a serious safety risk from passing traffic. Vehicle Damage and Suspected Cause: The rear upper exterior body trim is detached from the vehicle and requires inspection and repair. The trim separated during normal highway operation without contact from another vehicle or object. Because the part detached immediately after wind pressure from a passing dump truck and there was no collision, I am concerned that the failure may be INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
No injuries · No fire · No crash
Recently purchased used iX and successfully used the Parking Assistant Professional about a dozen times to back into my home garage using 5-point maneuver (driveway layout visible from aerial photo from address provided with report; drove in straight passed spot on garage’s left side looking in, other SUV parked in right spot, back into perpendicular spot in garage). After recording a new 3-point path, I tried it for the first time. During that attempt, the SUV suddenly reversed too fast to stop before crashing into another car in the garage. The vehicle initially followed the recorded path, then paused during first reverse because of an apparent obstruction (car approaching leaves on bush along driveway). After manually moving the SUV backwards a few feet along path to clear obstruction, I attempted to resume the maneuver. The screen showed the words “Resume path” (think there were up to 4 words, but this was only option on right side of parking interface), although flickering to say “Show path.” The vehicle then began to reverse. It was only ~6 feet, so wasn’t worried about acceleration for about half a second or so. Car continued to accelerate in reverse so fast that when I realized it wasn’t going to stop for the other car I had only got my foot on the brake when it hit the other car. Photos: IMG_3223 is iX showing bumper damage. IMG_3220 & -21 are other car, with bumper scratches and broken taillight. The event happened too quickly to allow braking, and the obstruction sensors didn’t even beep, let alone stop the routine. Damage to both cars appears to be relatively minor, but if a person had been standing near the other vehicle, they would have been seriously injured or killed. This behavior appears similar to NHTSA Complaint Nos. 11589034, 11569633, and 11546743. I bought this car in part because of the automated parking features that I am now too terrified to use.
The car in front of me did not put brakes on or slow down and hit a car that was slowed to a stop in front of her. I was behind her and hit by brakes and tried to avoid the collision. My brake assist did not work; my car did not alert me and did not try to help me stop. I was told when i bought the car that it did indeed have these safety features which failed me. I was not sited in the accident even though i did end up hitting the car in front of me which was now attached to two cars in front of her. She was at fault and the car she hit had video footage to prove her fault.
The contact owns a 2024 BMW iX. The contact stated that while his wife pulled into the driveway and came to a stop, there was a sudden acceleration that prompted the vehicle to drive through the garage door. The contact stated in separate occasion she has felt something similar while driving without stepping on the accelerator pedal. In addition, the Collision Avoidance, Automatic Braking System, and the Camera Recording failed to activate during the incident. No warning lights or chimes activated before or after the failure. There was property damage to a garage door. The vehicle pushed the garage door through, causing damage to the front end of the vehicle. No air bags deployed. There were no injuries to the driver nor the front passenger seated, who was the contact. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V409000 (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL) to be similar to this failure, however the vehicle was not included in the recall. The vehicle was driven back to the residence. The dealer was notified of the failure however, they stopped responding to the contacts' voicemails and phone calls. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 49,000.
While operating the vehicle, the steering system suddenly developed a fault with no prior warning. A "Changed Steering Effort" warning appeared on the dashboard, immediately followed by significant resistance in the steering wheel and violent mechanical shuddering/oscillation. This resulted in a sudden, dangerous difficulty in maneuvering the vehicle. Despite the 2024 BMW iX and related models (5/7 Series) having known internal steering gear manufacturing defects (referencing SIB 32 01 24 and Recall 24V-714), the dealership is attempting to deny warranty coverage. They are attributing the failure to a tear in the rack boot, despite no evidence of impact to the surrounding undercarriage. The sudden electronic onset of the failure suggests an internal safety defect consistent with widespread reports on this model year, rather than environmental damage. There is significant online anecdotal evidence of this same issue occurring with 2023 and 2024 iX models, despite the above SIB only covering certain 2021 and 2022 models.
No injuries · No fire · No crash
