2012 BMW X3 problems
The 2012 BMW X3 has 67 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (27%) concerns air bags. Next are engine (15%) and drivetrain & axles (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 67 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 27% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 8 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 65,000 miles 45 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 8 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 6 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 11 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 6 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 8 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 45 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 65,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 8 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 1 injury reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2012 ranks 18th most-complained-about out of 22 model years of the BMW X3 with enough data (29 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 BMW x3. While making a left turn at an unknown speed, the contact's vehicle was reversed into by another vehicle. All of the air bags deployed abruptly causing the driver to sustain injuries to the face, including swelling and nerve damage. Medical attention was received and a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but the diagnostic report was unavailable. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 34,000.
Spontaneous engine fire while parked on a city street. Coolant pump replaced the morning of nov 8th 2017. One hour after picking up the vehicle from the dealer and a few short trips, vehicle was parked, shut off and locked. It drove normally and there were no warning lights. 15-20 min later engine was on fire.
Our x3 new x3 has surged violently ahead on two occasions now, on one occasion with foot on brake. BMW are denying any other examples of this problem exist, which by viewing this website clearly is not the case. I encourage all that have had this problem to lodge an official complaint to cause a full recall of this dangerous design flaw. Please note that we are in australia, and that BMW in germany are denying any knowledge of this problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 BMW x3. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, the power steering system malfunctioned and caused the contact to experience extreme difficulty in steering the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer for a diagnostic test however, the test results were unknown. The failure mileage was 6,200.
Takata recall: I recently bought my used car from a nissan dealership. Within the first month of operation, I noticed that a "passenger restraint system malfunction" would appear in the center console. It has not gone away since then. It will only display this message in the beginning when I turn my car on, while it's stationary. After that it just display's the airbag symbol in the bottom left corner of the odometer.