2022 BMW X3
This year drew an ordinary 68 complaints for a BMW X3 — the model's median is 128. What they were about is the unusual part: 8.8% of them mention impact, against 1.3% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 3 of the BMW X3, which began in 2018 and ran to 2024. 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 | 68 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 128 |
| Involving a crash | 2 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 8 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 24 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- impact — 8.8% of this year's complaints, against 1.3% across the other years of this generation (7×). Owners wrote it as: impact, deployed, airbags deployed.
- period — 7.4% of this year's complaints, against 1.7% across the other years of this generation (4.4×).
- defective — 7.4% of this year's complaints, against 2.5% across the other years of this generation (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: defective, transfer.
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.
What owners wrote
BMW has a safety recall on my vehicle for over two months now with no fix available. I am in the process of moving to Japan and need to sell the vehicle. BMW is prohibiting a lease transfer or sale until the vehicle is fixed, but they cannot fix it. Meanwhile…
Transfer case fluid has been replaced as well as drivetrain fluid in the front and rear and and the car is still having slight issues shuttering when stopping.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 22V070000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 22V513000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 24V534000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 24V764000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 25V106000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
- 25V636000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 26V056000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 26V438000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 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 2022 BMW X3? What happened to yours?
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