Across the 3 model years we’ve synced, NHTSA lists 5 recall campaigns and 692 owner complaints for the BMW X3. The 2006 model year has the most complaints (345).
| Year | Recalls | Complaints | Crashes | NCAP overall | MPG comb. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 2 | 345 | 13 | Not rated | 18 | |
| 2005 | 2 | 128 | 5 | Not rated | 18 | |
| 2004 | 1 | 219 | 14 | Not rated | 18 |
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2006-2010 BMW X3 2.5i, X3 3.0i and X3 xDrive30i Sports Activity Vehicles. The front passenger seat occupant detection mat that determines if, and how, the passenger frontal air bag should deploy in a crash may fatigue and develop cracks which could lead to a system failure.
BMW IS RECALLING 200,000 MY 2006 3 SERIES SPORT SEAT, MY 2004-2006 5 SERIES STANDARD AND SPORT SEAT, AND MY 2004-2006 X3 PASSENGER VEHICLES. DEPENDING ON THE MANNER AND FREQUENCY OF THE FRONT PASSENGER'S ENTRY AND EXIT, SMALL CRACKS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THE MAT. IF THIS OCCURS, THE FRONT PASSENGER AIR BAGS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE HEAD PROTECTION SYSTEM, WILL BE DEACTIVATED AND THE AIR BAG WARNING LAMP AS WELL AS THE PASSENGER AIR BAG "ON-OFF" LAMP WILL BE ILLUMINATED.