Vehicle is subject to recall 12v550000 due to idler pulley bolt which can break, causing accessory drive bet to dislodge and loss of power steering, alternator, etc. This vehicle's idler pulley and bolt were replaced as part of the recall 2.5 years and 35,000 miles ago, but experienced the exact same failure, again, last month. Bmw USA and the local dealer were contacted, both refused to fix the issue, stating that the repair is only valid for two years. The new idler pulley bolt that was installed sheared off at its mounting point, just as the original bolt that was subject to recall did. It is clear that the replacement bolt is subject to the same failure as the original - worse, as this failure occurred in under 3 years and 40,000 miles, it appears that the "fix" is worse and more dangerous than the originally recalled part. In my vehicle, the pulley bolt snapped while the vehicle was being driven on a city street, causing a "bang" noise and the complete loss of power steering.
2009 BMW X5 electrical complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 16 of 16, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Sudden failure of water pump at 72k miles without warning while driving at 35 MPH. Vehicle lost power steering, became impossible to drive. Pulled over. Bmw said well known issue but bmw not willing to provide any assistance. Very dangerous defect. Takata air bag recall - listed on bmws website as available but bmw service center said still not available. Want to sell the car but cannot because buyers are aware of the recall and do not wish to purchase the vehicle. Bmw also refuses to purchase the vehicle as a trade in. Will owners be compensated? Rear air springs failed at 72k miles. Bmw said known issue but not willing to provide any assistance.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 bmw x5. While driving 65 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The steering wheel became difficult to turn and the gear selector shifted from the drive position to the neutral position. Afterwards, the engine light illuminated. The contact could not restart the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic, but was not able to be diagnosed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.
Driving through the neighbor hood after some rain, ended up driving through a few inches of rain water, while the opposite traffic struck the same puddle, it caused the front of intake system right under the hood to suck in water causing the bmw SUV to light up multiple sensors, loose alot of power and 4x4 traction stability to act up. The rainwater that got ingested almost causing the engine to hydrolock or sieze up. The SUV became undepedable due to all the error codes acting lighting up and causing the SUV to run at low power.
The idrive system on the x5 controls the reverse camera and park distance sensors. My vehicle currently has 36,000 miles. The reverse camera and park distance system has a major lag when engaging from park to reverse when you would want to use it. The lag can be measured in minutes, and takes away a major safety feature. Bmw's response is that the system takes time to warm up, but other cars I've driven by other manufacturers have zero lag.
The fuel gauge does not register "full" when the tank is indeed full. The needle will creep towards "full", but stops short of full. The car has run out of gas with the fuel gauge registering half full. Dealer has replaced both fuel pumps and fuel sensors/sending units as well as an electronic junction box to no avail. Likelihood of becoming stranded is high, in addition to never knowing how much fuel is actually in the tank. Must guess by keeping track of miles traveled after last fill-up. In addition, rear lift gate will not function (very) intermittently with "comfort access" option. Must use key to manually open the lift gate. Dealer has not been able to reproduce this phenomenon in the shop, but it continues to occur and has occurred since the car was brand new.
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