11 of the
148 complaints about the 2021 BMW X3 are about the
driver-assist systems — 7% of everything
reported for this model year.
Half of the failures with a mileage on record happened before
74,000 miles.
F
11
Complaints
2
Crashes
0
Fires
2
Injuries
Exactly what failed
Automatic Emergency Braking
436.4%
Warnings
327.3%
Forward Collision Avoidance
19.1%
Assist
19.1%
Camera
19.1%
Rearview System Braking
19.1%
Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance across every BMW X3 year
The contact owned a 2021 BMW X3. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle in front suddenly stopped, and the contact moved over to the left lane and into the grass due to incoming traffic. The vehicle was 50 to 100 feet from a tree, and the vehicle crashed. The contact stated that the braking system and Forward Collision Avoidance failed to operate as designed. The driver's left arm was fractured. Medical attention was provided. The driver’s arm was still in a cast. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by the bank. The driver test drove a 2024 and 2025 BMW X5, and the Forward Collision Avoidance feature failed to operate as needed. The vehicle was towed. There was smoke coming from the driver’s side front of the vehicle. The air bags deployed, and there was smoke coming from the air bags. BMW customer service was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 74,000.
NHTSA complaint #11763390 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owned a 2021 BMW X3. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle in front suddenly stopped, and the contact moved over to the left lane and into the grass due to incoming traffic. The vehicle was 50 to 100 feet from a tree, and the vehicle crashed. The contact stated that the braking system and Forward Collision Avoidance failed to operate as designed. The driver's left arm was fractured. Medical attention was provided. The driver’s arm was still in a cast. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by the bank. The driver test drove a 2024 and 2025 BMW X5, and the Forward Collision Avoidance feature failed to operate as needed. The vehicle was towed. There was smoke coming from the driver’s side front of the vehicle. The air bags deployed, and there was smoke coming from the air bags. BMW customer service was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 74,000.
NHTSA complaint #11763390 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Carlisle, MA
LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
Lane keep assist performance has been degrading to the point that it very quickly disables itself when overcorrecting or an oscillation of the steering wheel is developed while system is trying to keep the car inside the lane (which eventually also disables the system). System always had a bit of “bounce” between the two sides of the lane and struggled to keep the vehicle exactly in the middle of the lane. But it is much worse now and I am now more often than not disabling it. System feels unsafe now. The KAFAS (camera) module is having random faults now that disable the system but go away and Lane Assist can be re-engaged without any change in the performance I described above. As an engineer I would simply call the Lane Assist control algorithm unstable with an oscillation that gets amplified. I’ve done simple tests where I center the vehicle inside the lane, engage the feature, and take my hands off the steering wheel (vehicle has some limited hands free capability—goal is to eliminate any disturbance from my hands to be the potential trigger for the oscillation). I used to be able to do this and now it rarely works and forces me to quickly take over. Another observation has been that the camera is also used to follow a vehicle ahead of me (in lieu of centering in the lane) and this rarely works now to the point of trusting it. Nothing recent has changed on the vehicle. At first I thought it may be a wheel alignment problem but when the camera module started to have sporadic errors I eliminated that root cause (recall that Lane Assist system always oscillated when engaged, but was definitely usable before). Seems like both problems originate at the camera module. Vehicle did have a windshield replacement and camera was recalibrated many months before this problem developed. Performance was the same immediately before and after replacement.
NHTSA complaint #11748083 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Euclid, Ohio, OH
BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
Per the manufacturer, the car requires an oil change every 10,000 miles. However, the engine has a known defect to the manufacturer so that the car only makes it to about 6000 miles before you have to do an oil change. And sometimes the car doesn’t alert you. So your engine could possibly burn up and catch fire. Also, it’s a known issue to them that the back up camera malfunctions suddenly. So it’s really like you don’t have a back up camera at all.
NHTSA complaint #11670316 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Upon starting the vehicle, the electronic dashboard comes on, declares “Reduced Driver Assistance” then about 15 seconds later, the entire dashboard goes dark and won’t come back on until the car has been shut down for several minutes. This sequence of events happens 95% of the time that I start the car. Upon restart, the dashboard will stay on about 40% of the time, the other 60% it shuts off again. While I can still see my speed in the heads up display, I have no idea how much gas I have, I can’t get any information from the dahsboard and I can’t use the cruise control. I’ve read about other owners of the 2021 BMW X3 M40i having this same issue however the dealership seems to have no idea and wants me to spend $1,000 in diagnostics to see if they can find the problem….then I would have to pay to have it fixed as well. This seems like a pretty big safety issue.
NHTSA complaint #11633069 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Plain City, OH
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Upon starting the vehicle, the electronic dashboard comes on, declares “Reduced Driver Assistance” then about 15 seconds later, the entire dashboard goes dark and won’t come back on until the car has been shut down for several minutes. This sequence of events happens 95% of the time that I start the car. Upon restart, the dashboard will stay on about 40% of the time, the other 60% it shuts off again. While I can still see my speed in the heads up display, I have no idea how much gas I have, I can’t get any information from the dahsboard and I can’t use the cruise control. I’ve read about other owners of the 2021 BMW X3 M40i having this same issue however the dealership seems to have no idea and wants me to spend $1,000 in diagnostics to see if they can find the problem….then I would have to pay to have it fixed as well. This seems like a pretty big safety issue.
NHTSA complaint #11633069 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Lithonia, GA
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
The malfunction involves the collision warning system and sudden braking functionality. The dealership inspection identified a problem with the KAFAS (camera) unit, specifically its housing being deformed from heat, which affected the functionality of the collision sensor and caused the system to malfunction intermittently. The component is still installed in the vehicle and available for inspection if required. The system triggered sudden braking without an actual threat, creating a serious risk of being rear-ended by vehicles behind me. This issue has occurred twice in the last month, with no warning or actual collision risk present. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes, the problem was confirmed by the dealership. Their inspection found that the KAFAS camera housing is deformed due to heat exposure, causing malfunction warnings and erroneous braking behavior. They stated this is not a covered warranty issue. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others? The dealership performed an inspection and provided an inspection report, but no other entities (e.g., manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives) have inspected the component or vehicle. Were there any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? Yes, the malfunction indicator light for the collision sensor appeared intermittently. The dealership’s report attributes this to the deformation of the KAFAS camera housing due to heat exposure.
NHTSA complaint #11629071 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Rockford, IL
BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING
The functioning of this feature has never worked. We have had a number of near misses in parking lots when exiting a parking space.
NHTSA complaint #11624845 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Traveling on 2 lane road with no cars around, bright day, 2:30pm about 40mph. Emergency braking beeped twice and immediately slammed on the brakes. Not sure what it thought it saw- tree shadows? The feature was set to medium. If another car was behind us it would have slammed into us. 5th time in 2 years. The dealer just shrugs and says to not set it to high responsiveness. This is a bad defect.
NHTSA complaint #11516916 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Lower Gwynedd, PA
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Traveling on 2 lane road with no cars around, bright day, 2:30pm about 40mph. Emergency braking beeped twice and immediately slammed on the brakes. Not sure what it thought it saw- tree shadows? The feature was set to medium. If another car was behind us it would have slammed into us. 5th time in 2 years. The dealer just shrugs and says to not set it to high responsiveness. This is a bad defect.
NHTSA complaint #11516916 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.