2020 BMW X5
This year drew an ordinary 103 complaints for a BMW X5 — the model's median is 146. What they were about is the unusual part: 19.4% of them mention start, against 7% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 3 of the BMW X5, which began in 2019. 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 | 103 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 146 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Involving a fire | 6 |
| Recalls | 11 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 20 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- start — 19.4% of this year's complaints, against 7% across the other years of this generation (2.8×).
- active — 6.8% of this year's complaints, against 0.7% across the other years of this generation (9.7×).
- faulty — 7.8% of this year's complaints, against 1.5% across the other years of this generation (5.1×). Owners wrote it as: faulty, system first.
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
upon starting the vehicle, the check engine warning illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the active air flap controller. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failur…
on several occasions the vehicle failed to immediately start. Additionally, while the vehicle was idling the vehicle shut off and had to be restarted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the starter was faulty and needed to be r…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V631000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 21V096000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 19V684000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 20V434000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 20V528000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 21V062000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 20V465000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 20V678000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 11. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2020 BMW X5? What happened to yours?
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