2019 BMW X5
This year drew an ordinary 180 complaints for a BMW X5 — the model's median is 143. What they were about is the unusual part: 23.9% of them mention start, against 7% across the other years of this generation.
First year of a new generation. The BMW X5 was redesigned for 2019. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 180 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 143 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 13 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 20.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- start — 23.9% of this year's complaints, against 7% across the other years of this generation (3.4×).
- cold — 10% of this year's complaints, against 1.5% across the other years of this generation (6.6×). Owners wrote it as: cold, forums, feels, twitch.
- common — 7.8% of this year's complaints, against 2% across the other years of this generation (3.9×). Owners wrote it as: common, evaporator.
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
DURING COLD [VIN], THE STEERING HAS A TWITCH WHICH CAUSES SMALL MOVEMENTS LEFT AND RIGHT WITHOUT ANY MANUAL INPUT. IT HAS THE FEEL THAT IT IS RECEIVING INPUTS FROM A SENSOR OR OTHER SYSTEM, WHICH REQUIRES OVERRIDE BY THE DRIVER. IT CREATES A DANGEROUS SITUATIO…
IN [VIN] BELOW 15 DEGREES, THE STEERING BECOMES ERRATIC AND WILL PUSH THE CAR IS DIRECTIONS WHEN DRIVING AT LOWER SPEEDS (BELOW 35). AT HIGHER SPEEDS ON FREEWAYS THE STEERING IS REQUIRES CONSTANT [VIN], VEHICLE FEELS LIKE IT IS DRIVING THROUGH HIGH WINDS. BOTH…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V918000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 19V513000 FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER Fixed free of charge.
- 18V732000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 21V096000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 19V541000 WHEELS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V684000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
- 20V434000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 21V062000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 13. 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 2019 BMW X5? What happened to yours?
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