2014 BMW X5
Complaints about this year name doors far more often than the other years of this generation — 13% of them, about 9× the usual rate of 1.4%.
First year of a new generation. The BMW X5 was redesigned for 2014. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
| Complaints filed | 392 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 143 |
| Involving a crash | 12 |
| Involving a fire | 40 |
| Recalls | 8 |
| EPA combined | 21.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- north — 7.1% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: north, america, bmw north, north america.
- thing — 6.1% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the other years of this generation (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: thing, quickly.
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
- fuel pump — 20% of complaints, 3× usual
- door — 16% of complaints, 4× usual
- soft close — 7% of complaints, 18× usual
What owners wrote
VEHICLE HAS COMFORT ACCESS SOFT CLOSE DOORS. WHILE DRIVING, 2 SEPARATE TIMES, THE PASSENGER DOORS BECAME UNLATCHED, OR OPENED BY THEMSELVES. IT HAPPENED ON BOTH FRONT AND REAR DOORS.
BMW SOFT CLOSE DOORS CAME OPEN I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY YESTERDAY 3/19/2018 AND THE PASSENGER DOOR ON MY VEHICLE CAME AJAR. MY VEHICLE IS EQUIPPED WITH COMFORT ACCESS AS WELL AS SOFT CLOSE DOORS AND THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION AS THERE WERE PASSENGE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V755000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 21V907000 FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL Fixed free of charge.
- 21V586000 FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL Fixed free of charge.
- 16V683000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 14V202000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
- 15V147000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 23V797000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 24V527000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the BMW X5 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 2014 BMW X5? What happened to yours?
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