2019 BMW X3
This year drew an ordinary 166 complaints for a BMW X3 — the model's median is 96. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.6% of them mention following, against 1.8% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 3 of the BMW X3, which began in 2018 and ran to 2024. 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 | 166 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 96 |
| Involving a crash | 5 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 10 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 25 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- following — 6.6% of this year's complaints, against 1.8% across the other years of this generation (3.6×). Owners wrote it as: following, blank, occasion.
- crash — 7.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.8% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: crash, increases.
- randomly — 6% of this year's complaints, against 1.7% across the other years of this generation (3.6×).
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
WE PREVIOUSLY HAD AN ISSUE WITH THIS VEHICLE WHERE THE DASHBOARD GAUGES WERE SHIFTING A FEW INCHES TO THE LEFT AND LOST VISIBILITY TO THE SPEEDOMETER. THIS WAS RESOLVED AFTER A FEW VISITS WITH THE GAUGE CLUSTER BEING REPLACED. WE ARE NOW HAVING AN ISSUE WHERE…
HATCH BACK OPENS RANDOMLY. KEY FOBS WERE NO WHERE NEAR VEHICLE AS IT WAS PARKED IN OUR UNDERGROUND GARAGE.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V374000 LANE DEPARTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 18V453000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 21V096000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 20V152000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 19V563000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V684000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 21V521000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V291000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 10. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2019 BMW X3? What happened to yours?
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