The Lemon Index2019 BMW X3. Advanced data.
The raw numbers: engines, recall campaign numbers, failure mileage and manufacturer communications.
Engines and drivetrains 3
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | City / hwy / combined | Fuel | Fuel cost/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.0L 4-cyl turbo | Auto (S8) | RWD | 23 / 30 / 26 | Premium | $3,000 |
| 2.0L 4-cyl turbo | Auto (S8) | AWD | 22 / 29 / 25 | Premium | $3,100 |
| 3.0L 6-cyl turbo | Auto (S8) | AWD | 20 / 27 / 23 | Premium | $3,350 |
EPA test versions for this model year. Fuel cost is the EPA's current estimate, not the price in that year.
Failure mileage by system
Half of owners who gave a mileage reported the problem between 6,100 and 40,200 miles. Median 9,300, from 56 complaints with a mileage.
| System | Median | Middle half | Complaints |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical | 9,400 | 6,500–62,900 | 15 |
| Body structure | 5,000 | 800–28,500 | 14 |
| Brakes | 7,800 | 3,900–19,000 | 7 |
| Engine | 84,000 | 59,200–100,000 | 6 |
Mileage owners typed into their NHTSA complaint, all complaints for this model year. People report some problems late, so read it as a range.
Complaints by system
| System | Share of complaints |
|---|---|
| Body structure | 30% |
| Electrical | 25% |
| Brakes | 13% |
| Stability control | 5% |
| Speed control | 5% |
One complaint can name more than one system, so shares can add to more than 100%.
Severity, all complaints
| Total | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | Deaths | Tows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 171 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
As reported by owners to NHTSA. Not verified.
Recall campaigns 10
24V764000 Oct 2024 Structure
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018-2022 X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i, and X3 M vehicles. The attachment for the rear cargo rail may become damaged in a rear crash and result in the cargo rail detaching.
Risk. Interior rear cargo rail detachment during a crash can increase the risk of injury.
Remedy. Dealers will replace the rear cargo rail attachment bolts, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 12, 2024. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417. Vehicles in this recall were previously remedied for this issue under recall number 24V-534 and will need to have the new repair completed.
24V534000 Jul 2024 Structure
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018-2023 X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i, and X3 M vehicles. The attachment for the interior cargo rail may become damaged in a rear crash and result in the cargo rail detaching.
Risk. Interior cargo rail detachment during a rear crash can increase the risk of injury.
Remedy. Dealers will replace the rear cargo rail attachment bolts, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 2, 2024. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
21V521000 Jul 2021 Air Bags / Frontal
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018-2019 X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i and 2019 X4 xDrive30i, and X4 M40i vehicles. The front passenger seat occupant classification system may have been improperly assembled, which could result in the misclassification of the seat as unoccupied, and deactivate the front air bag.
Risk. A deactivated front air bag will not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy. Dealers will replace the seat foam, which includes the occupant classification system, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 3, 2021. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
21V096000 Feb 2021 Back Over Prevention / Sensing System / Camera
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2021 X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i, X3M, X4 xDrive30i, X4 M40i, M550i, X4M, X5 sDrive40i, X5 xDrive40i, X5 xDrive50i, X5M, X5 M50i, X7 xDrive40i, X7 xDrive50i, X7 M50i, Alpina XB7, 330i, 330i xDrive, M340i, M340i xDrive, and 8 Series Coupe, Convertible and Grand Coupe, 840i, 840i xDrive, M850i xDrive, M8, 2020-2021 530e, 530e xDrive, 330e, 330e xDrive, 745Le, 745Le xDrive, X5 xDrive45e, X3 xDrive30e, X6 sDrive40i, X6 xDrive40i, X6 xDrive50i, X6 M50i, X6M, 530i, 530i xDrive, 540i, 540i xDrive, M550i xDrive, M5, 740i, 740Li, 740Li x
Risk. If the driver relies on only the rearview camera image, the missing or reduced rearview image view can increase the risk of a crash or injury.
Remedy. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the rearview camera software and update it if necessary, free of charge. The recall began April 16, 2021. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
20V152000 Mar 2020 Electrical System / Instrument Cluster/Panel
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019-2020 X4 xDrive30i and X4 M40i, and 2018-2020 X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i, and X3M vehicles. The instrument panel casing may not have been tightened properly to the passenger air bag.
Risk. In the event of a crash necessitating air bag deployment, the air bag could damage the instrument panel and cause small pieces of the panel to strike the driver or other occupants, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the instrument panel casing, free of charge. The recall began May 15, 2020. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
19V684000 Sep 2019 Back Over Prevention / Sensing System / Camera
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018 540d, 2018-2020 530i, 530i xDrive, 540i, 540i xDrive, M550i xDrive, M5, 530e, 530e xDrive, X3 sDrive, X3 xDrive, X3 M40i, X3 M, and 2019-2020 X4 xDrive, X4 M40i, X4 M, X7 xDrive, X7 M50i, 740Li, 740Li xDrive, 750Li, 750Li xDrive, 8 Series Convertible and Coupe 840i, 840i xDrive, M850i xDrive, X5 sDrive, X5 xDrive, X5 M50i, X6 xDrive, X6 M50i, 330i, 330i xDrive, M340i, M340i xDrive, Z4 sDrive, Z4 M40i, 740Le xDrive and 745Le xDrive, 2018-2019 640i xDrive Gran Turismo and Rolls-Royce Phantom, 2019 M850i xDrive Gran Coupe and Rolls-Royce C
Risk. The lack of an image in the back-up camera display increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will update the back-up camera software, free of charge. The recall began November 8, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Rolls-Royce at 1-877-877-3735. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.
19V563000 Jul 2019 Seats
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018-2019 X3 sDrive30i, xDrive30i and M40i and 2019 X4 xDrive30i and M40i vehicles. The front seatback frames may have been improperly welded, allowing the seatback to unexpectedly fold forward or rearward.
Risk. In the event of a crash, there is an increased risk of injury if the seatback folds forward or rearward.
Remedy. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front seats, free of charge. The recall began September 27, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service 1-800-525-7417.
19V291000 Apr 2019 Air Bags / Frontal / Passenger Side / Inflator Module
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2019 X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i, and X4 M40i vehicles. The instrument panel assembly may have been improperly manufactured, possibly affecting the deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag.
Risk. If the front passenger air bag does not deploy properly in the event of a crash, the occupant has an increased risk of injury.
Remedy. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the instrument panel assembly, free of charge. The recall began June 3, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
18V453000 Jul 2018 Service Brakes, Hydraulic / Foundation Components / Disc / Caliper
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018-2019 BMW X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i and certain 2019 X4 xDrive30i and X4 M40i vehicles. The rear brake caliper pistons on these vehicles may have an insufficient coating, potentially reducing rear brake performance.
Risk. A reduction of braking performance can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will bleed the rear brake circuit, free of charge. The recall began August 31, 2018. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
18V374000 Jun 2018 Lane Departure / Lane Keep / Steering Assist
Defect. BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018-2019 BMW X3 xDrive30i, X3 sDrive30i, and X3 M40i vehicles equipped with the "Active Lane Keeping Assistant" option. The steering wheel may be incompatible with the lane keeping assistant function and may not detect if the driver's hands are off the wheel.
Risk. If the sensors do not properly detect the driver's hands are off the wheel, the driver may not be alerted by one or more warning signals, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the steering wheel, replacing it if necessary, free of charge. The recall began on July 19, 2018. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
Manufacturer communications 330
BMW filed 330 service communications for this car with NHTSA.
- False warnings that the front passenger seat is occupied without the seat belt buckled
- "?dynamic stabilty control warning on with limited power steering assist this service…
- Excess noise when defrost blower is at max
Crash ratings by version
| Version | Overall | Front | Side | Rollover |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMW X3 SUV AWD | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ |
| BMW X3 SUV RWD | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ |
Safety equipment
| Electronic stability | Forward collision warning | Lane departure warning |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Standard | Optional |
Nearby model years
Sources: NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communications; EPA fuel economy data; YouTube video titles. Complaints are owner reports, not proof of a defect.
Updated
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