Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||||
| SIB270212 | 12/01/2012 | 10051459 | Bmw: dsc warning light is on. the warning lamps for dsc, abs and brake warning illuminated. there may also be a warning in the control display for chassis control system failure. *js | 03/07/2013 | |
| SIB-12-17-07 | 06/01/2008 | 10028464 | Bmw vehicle: engine electrical systems. poor throttle response; lack of power when accelerating; engine may crank too long before starting; loss of power at idle or when slowing to a stop. e83 (x3) models. *pe | 05/05/2009 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 08/04/2012 | 98000 | 1 | |
| The transmission on our 2007 model year is a 6 speed automatic transmission. there has been gradual increase in upshift kick and downshift kick affecting the accelerator foot pedal feeling. at times it feels like the vehicle is ready to move from a dead stop, this is specially concerning on stop and go traffic where the transmission is constantly upshifting and downshifting in low gears. the downshift kick is more prevalent in the lower gears 3rd to 2nd and 2nd to 1st. the upshift kick is more prevalent in 2nd to 3rd. a sense of concern has creeped up on my wife every time she drives the vehicle with no sense of security as she tries to make left turns or in slow stop and go traffic that the transmission will not react and be involved in an accident. *tr | |||
| 08/04/2012 | 98000 | ||
| The transmission on our 2007 model year is a 6 speed automatic transmission. there has been gradual increase in upshift kick and downshift kick affecting the accelerator foot pedal feeling. at times it feels like the vehicle is ready to move from a dead stop, this is specially concerning on stop and go traffic where the transmission is constantly upshifting and downshifting in low gears. the downshift kick is more prevalent in the lower gears 3rd to 2nd and 2nd to 1st. the upshift kick is more prevalent in 2nd to 3rd. a sense of concern has creeped up on my wife every time she drives the vehicle with no sense of security as she tries to make left turns or in slow stop and go traffic that the transmission will not react and be involved in an accident. | |||
| 04/03/2012 | 64000 | ||
| Tl - the contact owns a 2007 bmw x3. the contact stated that while driving various speeds and attempting to engage the accelerator pedal, the vehicle would hesitate and then lunge forward abnormally. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnose the failure. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 64,000. kmj | |||
| 04/03/2012 | 64000 | ||
| Tl - the contact owns a 2007 bmw x3. the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, and attempting to engage the accelerator pedal the vehicle would hesitate and then lunge forward. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnosed the failure. the manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 64,000. pm | |||
| 03/01/2011 | 45000 | ||
| There is a delay in throttle response through the 1-2, 2-3 upshift when accelerating from a stop; there is a lack of power or hesitation when reapplying throttle, during either a 4-3 or 3-2 tip-in downshift. this may occur after slowing and coming to a stop on a hill and then continuing into a turn; harsh downshifts when slowing on a roadway with hills; downshifts become violent. bmw dealer has looked at vehicle twice for same concern but seems to be getting worse. this all happens under light acceleration. the vehicle has almost stalled 3 times in the last 2 days, once making a left turn with oncoming traffic at an intersection with no light, and the other two times while entering a roundabout. bmw na says see a dealer and the dealer does nothing. | |||
| 06/12/2010 | 38800 | ||
| Transmission continues to hesitate @ low gears, especially at initial accelerations while stopped @ a stop sign or signal light. automatic transmission hesitates,car jolts trying to find the right gear. the car then jumps into a higher gear and dangerously accelerates rapidly. in addition, when driving on a steep downhill decline, the car adjusts well; however, when transitioning to a level surface street after a steep downhill, the gear will not shift into the appropriate gear (i.e., was stuck in previous gear). on 6/14/2010, took car to dealer. they performed bmw diagnosis control unit function, there is no fault recored in control unit, and at test drive i9 could not duplicate customer complaint at this time. no fix was provided. after years of minor jolts when accelerating (i believe in 1st and 2nd) & then a rapid kick acceleration to 3rd, no major incidents have occured but safety on road has been compromised. i have learned to ease into accelerations with this car and do not allow anyone to drive this car because of unexepected hesitations/accel. on 1/14/2012, i had a close call entering an intersection after i was stopped at a light. as i proceeded into the intersection to turn left, the car hesitated & stalled in middle of intersection, then jerked forward and yellow transmission light came on. i parked on the side of the road, put it in p & turned engine off. turned it back on and tranny light remained on and car would not accelerate in d; however, it would allow me to reverse. it took three attempts (on/off engine) and the car went into d with hesitation. i attempted to drive home and car stalled at the next light. was stuck in middle of road for 2 minutes trying to get it in gear. d finally worked. i parked in a lot, turned engine off for 15 minutes. car has been working ok rest of day but it is not safe! this is seriously dangerous!!!!! | |||
| 04/01/2011 | 45000 | ||
| In acceleration the car will hang and hesitate, and lunge. in a slow down situation the car will violent lerch from one gear to the next, and can not things out of the seats. | |||
| 02/26/2010 | 21000 | ||
| After multiple attempts to remedy the situation, bmw has been unable to resolve the transmission and the intermittent loss of power and most recently limp-home mode occurrence associated with the drivetrain on the 2007 bmw x3. the symptoms 1st presented itself as a loss of power from a start. upon pressing the accelerator, the vehicle did not respond and then responded with a surge or lurching forward. this makes for unpredictable and dangerously erratic vehicle performance. after multiple visits (+4) and multiple complaints along with the sound of gear or differential noise, the dealership finally did some type of ecu update that appeared to resolve the problem. the noise never subsided and recently the car was inoperable forcing a tow after upon pressing the accelerator the vehicle went into transmission limp-mode. as usual, the symptoms can't be duplicated once codes are cleared yet the ecu is throwing multiple codes for transmission limp-mode and code 56be for clutch gears 2 and 6. i believe that this is a very dangerous situation to either press the accelerator and for it to be non-responsive then have a delayed vehicle surge not proportional to the input and timing of the accelerator depression and/or press the accelerator and experience significantly curtailed vehicle power due to the limp-home condition. this has been a recurring issue since the purchase of the vehicle on 5/31/2009. | |||
| 01/24/2011 | 78000 | ||
| Transmission shudders in second and third gear around 2000 rpm uphill. the shudder gets worse and worse as miles add up. they have had the car two weeks this time and still not fixed. | |||
| 09/15/2009 | 36000 | ||
| Over a year ago i began hearing loud noises underneath my 2007 bmw x3. i have had it serviced four times for the following: loud popping from underneath especially with slow driving (5mph ), problems with jerking with acceleration, & a significant rattleing and or shaking from under the car between 35-45 mph. the first two times it was taken to the dealership they claimed to hear nothing. the 3rd time they told me the tires were to blame. wherein they further told me that if it was transmission issues ( i told them each time it was taken in we thought it was a faulty transmission) then they would not be responsible because the tires were causing an issue with the transfer casing. the fourth time was the same as before with still no resolution. | |||
| 11/20/2008 | |||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2008 (na) bmw x3. the contact stated that the brake lights illuminated automatically several times. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for service, but they found no failures. the light illuminated again and the contact was able to reset the system by turning off the vehicle. the light illuminated again and remained lit. he took the vehicle to the dealer and they stated that the electrical switch failed. in addition, the brakes failed while driving at an unknown speed. the contact drove onto a curve and crashed into a tree. there were no injuries. the gear shifter failed and stuck to the floor when it was pulled. the transmission is also failing. during acceleration, the vehicle pulls backwards violently and the contact's hands released the steering wheel. the instrument panel indicators also illuminate. a report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that nothing was wrong with the vehicle. the vehicle has not been repaired. the current mileage was 7,300 and the failure mileage was unknown. | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 02/20/2011 | |||
| Transmission on my 07 bmw x3 is not handling properly. i have had it in for service multiple times, and yet again for redlining and stalling. this is extremely dangerous, and i would have never expected this from a bmw. waiting for service dept. to call back with a crazy price that i have to pay to fix this problem now. | |||
| 09/20/2010 | 47000 | ||
| Transmission or torque converter has some serious problems. when pressing on the gas pedal from low speeds there is barely any acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear under 2,000 rpms, but when 3rd gear goes in car accelerates more than desired most of the time. this is most apparent when car is cold, but never goes away completely. this really bothers me as this usually happens during turns when you slow down and when you want to accelerate you don't know how hard to press on the pedal, if you press too much car jumps ahead, if not enough you barely move. another problem is that when coming to a complete stop when transmission downshifts you can hear a faint thump of every downshift somewhere under the vehicle and a little surge forward. i've been to the dealer as the car is still under warranty, they reprogrammed the computer but there was no change. | |||
| 04/20/2010 | 30000 | ||
| 2007 certified pre-owned bmw x3 needed an entire new transmission after only 30,000 miles. | |||
| 12/28/2009 | 30000 | 1 | |
| Faulty transmission. the gearbox will fail to respond at random times usually in critical life threatening situations such as merging into traffic or avoiding other careless drivers. can't seem to decide what gear to be in when making quick uphill turns. while downshifting in sd the driver may experience down shifts so rough it seems like you have been rear ended by another driver. cold temperatures seem to always make the shifting issue worse and the vehicle may red line or not shift at a normal rate. | |||
| 08/20/2007 | 4800 | 1 | |
| Slowing down to take a left hand turn at a traffic light, once the coast is clear, pressed accelerator to turn and the vehicle hesitates and does not react to the input. traffic is now oncoming and vehicle still not moving, finally it starts to go. barely get across the lane before the oncoming traffic is in the spot we just left. vehicle does not shift smoothly; it has a jerky motion between 1,2 and 3rd gears. often times when slowing down it down shifts harshly, searching for the correct gear. in the morning when first started and driven down the street to the stop sign, it will lurch forward several times while you are holding your foot on the brake. this vehicle is not safe to drive in it's present condition because the operator does not know whether it will react to input or not. you are forced to cross traffic with extreme caution. *tr | |||
| 02/09/2009 | 1 | ||
| 2007 bmw x3 automatic transmission: have been complaining to bmw about this problem since spring of 2007. the vehicle has been in the shop more than a month (total from numerous visits). at a stop light the transmission will occasionally surge & if not for foot firmly on the brake that surge would throw me into the car ahead. it has surged when parking almost ramming me into the side of a building. i almost went through a file cabinet and into the wall in my garage yesterday. hesitates when changing lanes & through intersections. i've almost been hit numerous times. almost rammed from the rear at 70mph on the freeway when transmission hesitated & wouldn't accelerate. the engine will rev and the transmission won't kick in for a few seconds. then the car takes off like a rocket. this vehicle with this particular transmission is dangerous. i've been trying incessantly to get bmw to help me for well over a year. all levels say they will help but it never happens short of a transmission reprogramming which doesn't eliminate the problem...and they know it. bmw states the vehicle is operating as designed. what a stunning admission! this is a huge problem and quite easy to verify. service managers admit the problem too...and bmw is saying they designed the vehicle this way??? who has to die in an accident before this is taken care of? bmw had a regional tech engineer evaluate my vehicle. he says it's operating as designed. he also said there are no 'faults'. a service mgr once told me that 'faults' don't always register in the computer so having 'no faults' isn't unusual. by the way, bmw had me take the car in to get reprogrammed shortly before that regional tech did his evaluation. yes, they reprogrammed it then sent him in! nothing was found? go figure! what could i do? it's a leased vehicle. i couldn't just sell it or take it back to the dealer. why do they refuse to help me when it would cost next to nothing. they love my $$$. *tr | |||
| 11/10/2007 | 1 | ||
| My car hesitates to change gears during a cold start and there it is a clicking noise when i press the gas pedal. *tr | |||
| 09/03/2008 | 16000 | 1 | |
| The vehicle hesitates and is quite unsafe especially when making turns at intersections. cars would be coming at you while you are 'praying' for it to move! it happens regularly but unpredictably. sort of like playing russian roulette! the main problem, aside from performance is safety-safety-safety! the car was purchased new and is still under bmw warranty. it's been in the dealership for 3 weeks now! according to them, they are replacing the trans-axle! the same exact problem is happening to all of its owners. check: http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f11ffdc/0 subject: bmw x3 hesitation on acceleration. *tr | |||
| 06/04/2008 | 2000 | 1 | |
| Bmw x3 sav surges forward or looses power unexpectedly. unexpected power surge happens mostly when taking turns, coming out of the turn the car takes off. loss of power, happens often when going up a hill or sometimes after a stop to take a turn then all of a sudden accelerates uncontrollably. have had car in to dealer 5 times and still is not resolved. *tr | |||
| 07/01/2008 | 70 | 1 | |
| The transmission on the 2007 bmw x3 (gm6 transmission) hesitates in acceleration during drive mode. it has become unsafe to make a fast lane change. i almost got rear-ended today. i live in a mountain top community so driving down hill the down shift in manual (steptronic) 4th to 3rd and 3rd to 2nd pretty much allows the car to lung forward as if in neutral. in relying on the transmission to safely slow the car it practically forces you into the rear of another car or does not allow me to safe slow the car without having to use hard breaking. my car has been in the shop 5 times now. i am being told this is just the way it is i spent 6 hours with the bmw regional engineer test driving and doing software modifications. we compared this to a 2008 model. any x3 with the same transmission is going to have the same issue. *tr | |||
| 06/22/2008 | 5000 | 1 | |
| Bmw x3 stalls/hesitates when accelerating to merge into normal traffic flow. vehicle has problems when accelerating from a stoplight or sign. transmission rev's very high. have experienced dangerous or life threatening moments when driving this csr. have had previous bmw's and never had this problem. have taken car in for servicing once and it is going in again. *tr | |||
| 10/10/2007 | 1 | ||
| We had a new 2007 bmw x3 that had horrible transmission problems. it was very scary - the car would hesitate when you wanted it to accelerate, it would seem to lose power at times - a real disaster and safety concern. bmw was totally unresponsive - told us all sorts of nonsense about us not knowing how to drive. initially they kept the car for a month claiming they needed software. then they replaced the transmission. that still didn't fix the car. we sent the car back for service again, and after another month they said they couldn't fix it. finally, after jerking us around for a long time, they agreed to swap the car out for a 2008, but even then, the way it was handled was abominable. the whole time we were dealing with bmw, they kept acting like they had never heard of the problems we were having, yet a simple search of the internet revealed the many many complaints that are exactly the same. obviously, bmw is trying to avoid a recall. *tr | |||
| 05/16/2008 | 11000 | 1 | |
| The vehicle has a tremendous lag when u step on the gas.... *tr | |||
| 01/14/2008 | 800 | 1 | |
| Faulty transmission/engine - hesitates and causes many near fatal accidents when getting on a highway. hesitation is also seen when stepping on the gas pedal when accelerating from a stop. this is frightening and very stressful to drive. *tr | |||
| 03/28/2008 | 22000 | 1 | 05/24/2007 |
| Car always hesitated when accelerator was pressed. one day even with the car in d it did not move and engine raced. i was in the middle of a busy intersection and unable to move. a gentleman got out of his car and stopped traffic in all directions. i was finally able to move the car by switching between p and d until it caught and the car moved. i narrowly escaped getting hit when the light changed but my car did not move. i had it towed and the dealer installed the upgrade program. *tr | |||
| 03/01/2008 | 500 | 50 | 10/26/2007 |
| Vehicle hesitates from stop. transmission constantly hunts for proper gear. vehicle exhibits loss of power when merging into traffic, or making turns. *tr | |||
| 03/24/2008 | 17500 | 3 | 10/12/2007 |
| On 3 occasions, the transmission on my 2007 bmw x3 3.0si has resulted in near crash situations. the transmission either does not respond (a significant delay) in response to the accelerator or lurches nearly uncontrollably in response to only a slight accelerator depression. i have taken the vehicle to the bmw dealer 3 times with no substantive improvement. because of the transmission's erratic unpredictability, it really is only a matter of time before it will not respond in a critical situation resulting in a crash. *tr | |||
| 01/08/2008 | 500 | 365 | 12/29/2007 |
| 2007 bmw x3 (build date 09/06) transmission problem, potentially very dangerous (deadly). vehicle surges, lags, hesitates, can't find gear, red lines, fails to respond to accelerator. first three service department visits, no attempt was made to repair. 4th visit = software upgrade. problem not fixed. *tr | |||
| 11/15/2007 | 400 | 100 | 11/15/2007 |
| The automatic transmission does not appropriately respond to driver input, variously displaying hesitation of up to 3 seconds, abrupt upshifts and downshifts, and occasional stalls. it is so unpredictable that one avoids pulling into traffic, or turning left across incoming traffic. not an ultimate driving machine. this is a bmw x3 2008 model. *tr | |||
| 02/03/2008 | 1000 | 1 | 11/18/2006 |
| 2007 bmw x3 >surging forward after releasing foot from gas peddle >rpm revving to red line before going into gear on acceleration >rpm going past red line and never into gear in cold temp as if thrown into neutral >bmwna refusing to repair stating can't duplicate although they admit there is a problem and have offered new software as of oct 07 which did not work. >80 people across the nation just on one web site with exact same car, exact same problem, have exact same responses from dealers and bmw na. *tr | |||
| 10/01/2007 | 1 | ||
| The transmission on the 2007 bmw x3 has jerkiness and hesitation issues, presenting serious safety concerns. an immediate investigation is warranted. bmw already has attempted to resolve the problem with two software fixes, with mixed results. a third software fix allegedly is on the way. please review the links below so that you can understand how serious and widespread this problem is. http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255335 http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242429 http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.phpt=203584&highlight=transmission+jerk. *tr | |||
| 01/11/2008 | 10 | 400 | 03/03/2007 |
| Transmission shifts erratically, hesitates on occasion and when cold it causes the engine to rev in excess of 3,000 rpm before shifting. *tr | |||
| 12/17/2007 | 2100 | 1 | 05/15/2007 |
| 2007 bmw x3. the six speed automatic transmission shifts poorly at slow speeds going up hills. vehicle will lunge forward after down shifting to too low of a gear and over rev before up shifting. the gear selection seems inappropriate when going slow speeds. the vehicle has been to the dealer twice to address these problems; however, the present software fix did not rectify the problem. *tr | |||
| 10/15/2007 | 1030 | 50 | 10/08/2007 |
| Transmission won't shift smoothly between the gears. this is a major safety issue. between gear 1 and gear 2. it seems to want to stall at the start. *tr | |||
| 11/07/2007 | 1000 | 100 | 02/12/2007 |
| This is related to the transmission. 1)there is a delay in throttle response through the 1-2 upshift when accelerating from a stop. 2)there is a lack of power or hesitation when reapplying throttle, during either a 4-3 or 3-2 tip-in downshift. this may occur after slowing with a closed throttle. 3)harsh downshifts when slowing on a roadway with a rising gradient. this is a very serious problem as it may cause an accident when trying to merge into traffic, or cause a rear end collision since the vehicle almost stalls at some points upon take off. life threatening. there have been 4 attempts so far to correct this issue by the dealer with little success. this was done by reprogramming the computer module that controls shifting. the 2007 model and back do not have this problem. it is specifically automatic transmission. *tr | |||
| 07/30/2007 | 550 | 1 | 01/30/2007 |
| Acceleration hesitation on bwm x3 especially when turning into traffic from stop (0 mph). unanticipated loss of acceleration while maintaining pressure on gas pedal. *jb | |||
| 07/14/2007 | 9500 | 4 | 10/06/2006 |
| Vehicle transmission hesitates to shift from 1st to 2nd, making it dangerous to pull out into traffic. vehicle also has difficulty shifting into reverse, causing it to roll forward when the brake is released. *tr | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - CONTROL MODULE (TCM, PCM) | |||
| 04/15/2007 | 200 | 100 | 03/24/2007 |
| Vehicle does not properly respond to my pressing the gas pedal and hesitates to move forward. also, severely lurches forward on deceleration, especially on declines. very unsafe. *tr | |||
| 12/09/2006 | 647 | 4000 | 12/09/2006 |
| Bmw x3 is extremely dangerous to drive it will not accelerate slowly . it hesitates in acceleration from a stop, on hills, on corners and then takes off very rapidly. the dealership in seattle has worked on it three times and reports that they cannot fix it, they are aware of it but no fix is available. bmw in fife refused to even try to fix it because it cannot be repaired. someone is going to get killed because of this defect. | |||
| 07/13/2007 | 14 | 15 | 07/13/2007 |
| My new 2007 bmw x3 hesitates when accelerating and seems to shift in peculiar ways. it suffers from a lack of response which is totally unlike my first 6 bmw's. it is quite un-drivable as it is. *jb | |||
| POWER TRAIN - DRIVELINE | |||
| 07/01/2008 | 70 | 1 | |
| The transmission on the 2007 bmw x3 (gm6 transmission) hesitates in acceleration during drive mode. it has become unsafe to make a fast lane change. i almost got rear-ended today. i live in a mountain top community so driving down hill the down shift in manual (steptronic) 4th to 3rd and 3rd to 2nd pretty much allows the car to lung forward as if in neutral. in relying on the transmission to safely slow the car it practically forces you into the rear of another car or does not allow me to safe slow the car without having to use hard breaking. my car has been in the shop 5 times now. i am being told this is just the way it is i spent 6 hours with the bmw regional engineer test driving and doing software modifications. we compared this to a 2008 model. any x3 with the same transmission is going to have the same issue. *tr | |||