The Lemon Index$11,200 middle bill · most between $7,500 and $14,000
Higher than the $8,000 middle bill owners of all 168 models reported.
Owners who gave their mileage: a middle of 87,000 miles (9 reports).
BMW X3 owners reported paying a median of $11,200 for a engine replacement, with the middle half of bills between $7,500 and $14,000. That's from 11 owner reports (11 complaints to NHTSA). Costs vary by shop and region.
What owners paid
- Under $5000%
- $500–$1,0000%
- $1,000–$2,5000%
- $2,500–$5,0000%
- $5,000 and up100%
Share of the 11 owner reports in each price band.
By model year
- 2004 BMW X31too few for a middle
- 2005 BMW X31too few for a middle
- 2013 BMW X37$11,300 middle bill
- 2014 BMW X31too few for a middle
- 2021 BMW X31too few for a middle
Reports per model year, with the middle bill where there are 3 or more. YouTube amounts count for the generation the video covers.
How often owners report the failure
- 2013 BMW X348 complaints name it21% of that year's complaints
Owner complaints to NHTSA whose own words name a engine failure. Raw counts: popular years get more complaints. A complaint is a report, not proof of a defect.
Engines in these years
BMW B48 · BMW B58 · BMW M54 · BMW N20 · BMW N55 · BMW S58
Engines with a page of their own that this model was sold with in the years above. Owners don't always say which engine they had.
Keep going
Other repairs BMW X3 owners reported
The details
How we count
Every number here is a repair bill an owner reported, never a shop's price list. Two sources: the bills owners wrote in their own complaints to the U.S. government (NHTSA), and the dollar amounts owners said out loud in YouTube repair and ownership videos. A figure counts for a repair when that repair is the part named nearest to it. Left out: purchase prices, payments, rentals, towing, warranties and deductibles, amounts under $50 or over $15,000, parts-only prices ("the part was $80 on Amazon"), bills for two different repairs named together, and money someone else paid. One number per complaint (or video) and repair: the biggest, so it's the bill, not the diagnosis fee.
The range is the middle half of the bills (the 25th to the 75th percentile), so one wild number can't swing it. Owners who complain to the government often had expensive repairs, so a typical bill can be lower. Costs vary by shop and region, by dealer vs independent shop, by parts and by miles. This is what owners reported, not a quote for your car.
Check the bills yourself
NHTSA complaint numbers (search them at nhtsa.gov): 11721098, 11529559, 11377538, 11352326, 11351800, 11340384, 11339660, 11196747, 11194092, 10715063, 10366823.
Quick answers
How much does engine replacement cost on a BMW X3?
BMW X3 owners reported a median of $11,200, and the middle half paid $7,500 to $14,000, from 11 owner reports. Costs vary by shop and region.
Is a BMW X3 engine replacement more expensive than on other cars?
The BMW X3 middle bill of $11,200 is higher than the $8,000 owners of all 168 models we have reports for paid.
Where do these BMW X3 repair costs come from?
From 11 complaints to NHTSA: what owners themselves said they paid. They aren't verified bills or a shop's quote.
Which BMW X3 years report this failure most?
In complaints to NHTSA, owners of the 2013 (48) BMW X3 named it most. Raw counts, not a failure rate.
Sources: NHTSA owner complaints and YouTube videos (amounts said out loud), sorted by The Lemon Index. Owner reports, not a price quote. Costs vary by shop and region.