2005 BMW X5
This year drew an ordinary 103 complaints for a BMW X5 — the model's median is 146. What they were about is the unusual part: 16.5% of them mention seat, against 5% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 103 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 146 |
| Involving a crash | 5 |
| Involving a fire | 6 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 16 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- seat — 16.5% of this year's complaints, against 5% across the model's other years (3.3×).
- morning — 10.7% of this year's complaints, against 4.2% across the model's other years (2.5×). Owners wrote it as: morning, exit, driving work, resolution.
- deployed — 7.8% of this year's complaints, against 1.8% across the model's other years (4.4×). Owners wrote it as: deployed, medical, medical attention, totaled.
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 ATTEMPTING TO EXIT THE VEHICLE, THE DOOR INDEPENDENTLY CLOSED. THE CONTACT'S RIGHT THUMB WAS SEVERED AND MEDICAL ATTENTION WAS REQUIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO RALLYE BMW (1 BRUSH HOLLOW ROAD, WESTBURY, NY 11590) WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE VEHICL…
WHILE DRIVING 10 MPH, ALL THE FRONT AND REAR DRIVER'S SIDE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES TO THE ARM, WHICH DID NOT REQUIRE MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO PACIFIC BMW (800 S BRAND BLVD, GLENDALE, CA 91204)…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 05V367000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 05V504000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 07E069000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the BMW X5 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 2005 BMW X5? What happened to yours?
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