BMW X5 Complaints (2021)

102 consumer complaints on file.

#11551979October 26, 2023
AIR BAGS
2021 X5 M50i: The driver's knee airbag deployed in a crash and lacerated my left lower leg down to the muscle and abraded most of the layers of skin on my right shin. I was taken to the ER by ambulance. The laceration could only be partially sutured together. There was no shrapnel in the wounds. I have to go to a wound care center to treat the mentioned injuries. Everything else on me was fine, just some bruises and sore muscles; my car saved my life. I was not at fault. All airbags, except the vacant front passenger, were deployed. I was the only occupant of the vehicle. The airbags have not been inspected by the dealer or anyone else as it was a total loss and taken away to a salvage lot to be sold at auction. The insurance company went by the photos that I sent in. I have a lot of photos. There are knee airbag recalls on other model years of this vehicle but none on mine, the subject VIN. It has had no recalls since I owned it and I bought it new in Sept 2020. There were no warning indicators of any potential problems prior to the crash. I suspect the edges may be sharp or it didn't deploy properly. I hope these airbags can be checked to see if they are defective as they can really hurt someone. (There is a lot of insurance claim communications that I haven't attached but I will if requested)
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11551012October 20, 2023
POWER TRAIN, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Drivetrain - A drivetrain malfunction message came-up a few weeks back on the high-way indicating “It is safe to drive but with reduced power” and the vehicle suddenly slowed down on the highway with less power to drive putting us in unsafe condition. The vehicle has less than 25,000 miles. The incident was reported to a BMW dealer for reporting to BMW and with a request for investigation and fixing prior to warranty expiration. Unknown - After a long drive (some times after a short drive) when the vehicle (PHEV) is parked and plugged-in, a loud noise can be heard. The noise goes away once its unplugged and locked. The incident was reported to a BMW dealer for reporting to BMW and with a request for investigation and fixing prior to warranty expiration.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11547734October 2, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The software that controls the lock/unlock and side mirror deployment does not function correctly all the time. This is a serious issue when backing up and when changing lanes on the highway. This has occurred on numerous occasions and I have taken pictures where I had to pull over to record. If I exit the vehicle (after turning off the engine (automatically when no person is detected in the driver seat) and close the door, press the key FOB to lock the car and then unlock they deploy/ though sometimes only one will deploy and I need to lock/unlock the vehicle a second time. I have notified BMW of the issue but haven't recieved any feedback.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11546846September 27, 2023
POWER TRAIN, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL
The contact owned a 2021 BMW X5. The contact stated that while sitting in the vehicle and with the vehicle running, it suddenly accelerated on its own. As a result, the vehicle jolted into traffic and collided first with a bicyclist before continuing on to collide with the rear of another vehicle. The bicyclist sustained minor injuries. A pedestrian later reported that they were also struck by the vehicle, but the contact stated that she was skeptical of the validity of their claim. The air bags did deploy. A police report was filed, and injuries were reported. The driver and passenger were both treated on scene by EMS and later evaluated at an area hospital for injuries resulting from air bag deployment. The bicyclist and a pedestrian were both treated at an area hospital for unknown injuries. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard and declared a total loss. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 36,000.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
4
Deaths:
0
#11545761September 21, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, SERVICE BRAKES, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Good Morning, I was driving down the road at around 60 mph in my car. Abruptly my car had simultaneous warning lights about 12 of them. More importantly, I lost my power steering and brake by wire putting all of our lives at risk. The speedometer , air bags, restraint systems all failed and went out. The car wouldn't turn off on the side of the road and after about 5 minutes I was able to get it off and called BmW assist for a tow. Since it was night and raining I and waiting for a tow truck was dangerous I attempted to restart my car and get successfully got it to the nearest exit. All the warning lights were off. About 15 minutes later on the limp home the same thing happened with all the fault codes so my family decided to Uber home. I took the car to BMW Rockville and they did diagnostics and we're not able to replicate the problem. They returned my car back to me the same day with no repairs. I'm concerned. There was no indication or warning lights before the electrical failure. It was completely out of the blue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11531024July 8, 2023
POWER TRAIN
While driving on highway/turnpike with cruise control on at 70 mph, drivetrain malfunction warning appeared and lost power. After turning off cruise control and playing around with buttons, could only get car to go about 35-40 mph, top speed with peddle to the floor. Very scary situation in traffic on busy highway. This happened twice about a month apart. First time, had to drive about 10+ miles in right lane with blinkers on to get to an exit. It was late at night and I didn't want to stop on my own. Once turned the car off and on a couple of time seemed to clear the error and I was able to drive city roads at minimal speed limit. Next day car was back to normal. Second time, drove about 2 miles to the exit with the blinkers on. This time when I restarted the car there was still not a lot of power. Drove for a bit but wasn't able to make it to speed limit of 45 mph. Made it home and turned car off again, next day it was okay. After restarting car a couple of times problem seems to go away. Took it to the dealer and all they did was "reset the system" which does not seem like anything is fixed. Will wait and see.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11519913May 1, 2023
AIR BAGS
Vehicle is designed where ACSM control unit of the airbags is located directly under the cup holder where moisture and any small leak can short it out. This has happened many times and as BMW will acknowledge the problem, they will not do any repairs under warranty to correct the issue. There is a class action lawsuit pending.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11517231April 15, 2023
AIR BAGS, STRUCTURE:BODY, ENGINE
In a parking garage I found a open space and slowly moving towards that to park, car was approaching space at about 10 ft from that, all of a sudden car accelerated and lurched forward and hit the parking structure wall. Airbags deployed for all three of us, one of my colleagues was in passenger seat, another in the back seat. There was no warning on no time to react, this happens in seconds.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11515242April 3, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
While driving about 60 mph on a freeway, the vehicle rapidly flashed several "advanced driver system failure" messages, lost all power and came to a stop. It was not possible to prevent the vehicle from rapidly decelerating even by depressing the accelerator all the way to the floor. The vehicle rapidly decelerated, forcing other drivers behind to swerve to avoid a crash.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11514660March 30, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
My daughter was driving a vehicle and she was moving to another lane in the process. Car is capable and feature with automatic emergency breaking for front collision. During entire process she didn’t take action for some reason and car collided with another vehicle. Emergency brake didn't full stop vehicle. 10s of video recording was done during the collision.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11493401November 14, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
Forward sensors did not activate braking system, vehicle subsequently jumped the curb and struck concrete piling, embedding it into the vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. I sent an email to the company and the incident was reported to the police. The vehicle was determined to be a total loss by New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance company after being inspected by the collision company. As my wife pulled into the parking space, there were no indications observed.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11480688August 23, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, STRUCTURE:BODY, POWER TRAIN
Car was parked in fairly level spot with engine off, gear selector in park position, , key fob not near vehicle. Approx 30 minutes later, I returned to find vehicle approx 30 feet behind parking spot, having apparently drifted into another car in parking lot. No idea how car moved. I believe some electronic release of parking selector allowed car to roll.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11476224July 27, 2022
BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING
When in reverse, the vehicle doesn't give any warning (audio or visual) that a person or vehicle is approaching on either side.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11464092May 10, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving on a highway (with the sunroof closed) I heard a very loud explosion type sound, which was followed by glass falling off my roof. I pulled off the highway as quickly as I could and was able to confirm that the sunroof had exploded (the sunshade was drawn so the glass did not fall on me). At the time of the explosion, there were no cars in front of me or next to me. I did not go under an overpass. The car was not hit by any object. The sunroof exploded spontaneously.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11456014March 10, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Car has an emergency call system in case of a crash. The dashboard shows a malfunction that flashes every few minutes. Call to dealer for a repair was not considered a safety hazard and was scheduled for the next month.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452751February 18, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2021 BMW X5. The contact stated an unknown recall notice was received in regards to a recalled battery. The contact called the dealer and it was informed that the parts for the recall repair were not available. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue or contacted. The contact had not experienced a failure. No further information was available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451675February 12, 2022
LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION
This is a 2021 BMW X5 with BMW's blind spot warning system. The vehicle currently has approximately 5,500 miles and was purchased new. The blind spot warning system has consistently malfunctioned since the vehicle was delivered. When monitoring the right side (passenger side) blind spot it only picks up on average 1 of each 3 vehicles encountered and completely the ignores the the others. By "picks up" I mean the visual indication in the right side mirror is lighted when the vehicle is in the blind spot. For those the system does not detect there is no visual indication of the vehicle and if the right turn signal is activated there IS NO WARNING of the vehicle in the blind spot. This effectively renders this critical safety system completely useless and a serious safety hazard as it is clearly malfunctioning. Upon complaining, the X5 was inspected by the dealer who reported that no malfunction was found and the system "is functioning as designed". After additional discussion with the service manage the dealer verbally admitted the system was not detecting other cars on the right side of the vehicle consistently but as there was no electrical fault detected in the system, it must be OK and it was not a repairable issue. Assuming the dealer's analysis of the problem is correct, this leads to the conclusion there is a serious safety design flaw in BMW's blind spot detection system. A brief examination of various BMW related internet forums shows this issue, or very similar issues concerning the function and design of the BMW blind spot detection system have been reported by several BMW owners, suggesting the problem is likely a design flaw and not a simple component failure.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451567February 11, 2022
VISIBILITY/WIPER
The auto dimming function of the rearview mirror and the driver side mirror does not work consistently. During nighttime driving, the auto dimming can suddenly turn off unexpectedly, blinding the driver. I took the car into BMW and they confirmed that it is a known issue with the positioning of the sensor that controls the systems that affects all X5’s, but they did not say specifically which year models. They told me their engineers are currently looking into a solution to the problem but they currently do not have a solution, and that they may issue a recall but couldn’t provide any further information. It is very frustrating and dangerous, as I have been driving home many times late at night and suddenly I’m blinded by headlights behind me and it makes it very hard to see while driving at night.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11451300February 10, 2022
LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
I was driving in the left lane of the freeway, and there was a k-rail to the left of the lane, because there was construction in the shoulder. At one point, there was a break in the k-rail, where it had an opening, and went away from the lane, then back about 20 ft later. The lane departure system jerked the wheel to the left, attempting to steer out of the lane; if I had not held the wheel steady, it would have steered the vehicle directly into the k-rail as it rejoined the side of the lane.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11449735February 1, 2022
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The contact owns a 2021 BMW X5. The contact stated that as her husband was stopped at a stop light, the vehicle began to rev after he had taken his foot off the brake pedal without warning. Once her husband placed his foot back on the brake pedal, the revving stopped, and her husband was able to resume normal driving. On a separate occasion, her husband was waiting for a vehicle to move out of a parking spot; the same failure occurred as her husband took his foot off the brake pedal. Her husband was forced to slam on the brakes as the engine continued to rev and the vehicle lurched forward. The contact who was seated in the passenger’s seat, shut off the vehicle to avoid hitting the vehicle in front. Her husband restarted the vehicle and drove it home; he then had the vehicle towed to the dealer the next day. The dealer inspected the vehicle but could not duplicate the failure. The service tech was not satisfied with the results and decided to call the manufacturer to approve more testing of the vehicle. The vehicle had yet to be repaired and remained in the possession of the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000. The VIN was not available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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