2009 BMW X5
This year drew an ordinary 161 complaints for a BMW X5 — the model's median is 143. What they were about is the unusual part: 31.7% of them mention fuel, against 12.1% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the BMW X5, which began in 2007 and ran to 2013. 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 | 161 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 143 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 9 |
| Recalls | 12 |
| EPA combined | 18 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- fuel — 31.7% of this year's complaints, against 12.1% across the other years of this generation (2.6×).
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
IN HEAVY TRAFFIC, THE VEHICLE LOST POWER [VIN]. THE FUEL INJECTOR MALFUNCTIONED. THIS WAS DUE TO WATER LEAKING TO THIS AREA AS IT IS NOT PROPERLY PROTECTED.
MY CAR CAUGHT FIRE WHILE DRIVING UNDER MY PASSENGER BACKSEAT WHERE THE FUEL PUMP IS LOCATED UP UNDER. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT CAME, SNATCHED OUT SEAT AND PUT THE FLAME OUT.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V017000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V016000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V017000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V336000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 18V030000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V020000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V746000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 17V683000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 12. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2009 BMW X5? What happened to yours?
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