2007 BMW X3
Complaints about this year name transmission far more often than the other years of this generation — 9% of them, about 6× the usual rate of 1.4%.
Generation 1 of the BMW X3, which began in 2004 and ran to 2010. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 373 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 96 |
| Involving a crash | 14 |
| Involving a fire | 33 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 19.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- lock — 9.1% of this year's complaints, against 2.1% across the other years of this generation (4.3×). Owners wrote it as: lock, red, unlock, door lock.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- smell — 8% of complaints, 4× usual
- stop — 9% of complaints, 3× usual
- seems — 7% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
MY 2007 BMW X3'S DRIVER SIDE SEAT HEATER OVERHEATED WHILE I WAS DRIVING AND BURNT MY THIGH. I REACTED TO THE BURN AND ALMOST RAN OFF THE ROAD. WHEN I STOPPED I FOUND A BLACK BURNED SPOT ON MY SEAT. FROM MY RESEARCH IT SEEMS THIS HAS BEEN A COMMON PROBLEM WITH…
WHITE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT A SPEED OF 65 MPH THE ENGINE LOST POWER AND STOPPED. AFTER TO THE VEHICLE WAS STOPPED AND STARTED AGAIN THE HEATER WAS NO LONGER WORKING. TOOK IN FOR THE REPAIR, WAS TOLD IT WAS A WATER PUMP. $1600 REPAIR 6 WEEKS AGO. LAST NIGHT…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V017000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V605000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V683000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the BMW X3 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2007 BMW X3? What happened to yours?
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