2016 BMW X3
This year drew an ordinary 82 complaints for a BMW X3 — the model's median is 128. What they were about is the unusual part: 19.5% of them mention accelerate, against 7.8% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 2 of the BMW X3, which began in 2011 and ran to 2017. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 82 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 128 |
| Involving a crash | 7 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 24 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- accelerate — 19.5% of this year's complaints, against 7.8% across the other years of this generation (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: accelerate, catastrophic, accelerate vehicle, situation vehicle.
- accelerator — 8.5% of this year's complaints, against 1.8% across the other years of this generation (4.6×). Owners wrote it as: accelerator, car accelerated.
- instead — 7.3% of this year's complaints, against 1.3% across the other years of this generation (5.8×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WHILE APPROACHING A STOPLIGHT, BRAKED, THEN WENT TO ACCELERATE AND THE VEHICLE TOTALLY SHUTDOWN AND STOPPED WHILE DRIVING IN TRAFFIC. THIS WAS A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE, WHICH COULD HAVE KILLED BOTH OCCUPANTS OF THIS VEHICLE. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ACTIVATED.…
2016 BMW X3 XDRIVE28 I I PULLED INTO A FRIEND'S DRIVEWAY AND APPLIED THE BRAKES APPROXIMATELY 2 FEET FROM THE CLOSED GARAGE DOOR. MY CAR "LEAPT " INTO THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE, THEN CAREENED INTO THE GARAGE DOOR. THE CAR [VIN] WITH SUCH FORCE THAT BOTH AIRBAGS WE…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V755000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 21V907000 FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL Fixed free of charge.
- 21V586000 FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL Fixed free of charge.
- 16V333000 CHILD SEAT
- 24V608000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the BMW X3 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2016 BMW X3? What happened to yours?
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