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What 106 owners told NHTSA about the 2020 BMW X3

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (106)Crash / fire / injury (8)Electrical system (33)Engine (24)Transmission & drivetrain (13)Airbags (8)Body & structure (8)Fuel system (6)Lights (4)Backup camera & sensors (3)Driver assistance (3)Brakes (2)

1 of 106 complaints match · Body & structure · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Oct 15, 2024Electrical systemBody & structureSpeed controlCrash

The accident happened at Noon on [XXX] at the Amazon Fresh/Post office parking lot’s far right exit lane facing [XXX] The address is [XXX] . We were leaving the parking lot and I stopped at the exit lane with 2 cars in front of us. After the first car exited, the second car, a black Ford Explorer, moved forward. I released the brake slightly but my foot was still on the brake pedal. At this moment, my car suddenly accelerated and quickly approached the Explorer. I immediately pressed the brake pedal hard but was unable to stop my car and hit the back of the Explorer. The Explorer was forced out in front of the stop sign but the driver was able to turn right to park at the roadside. With my foot still firmly on the brake pedal, my car kept on accelerating into [XXX] , crossing 5 lanes of traffic until we hit the roadside curb of westbound [XXX] . The car then swerved left and hit a roadside tree, turning sideways into [XXX] middle turn lane. During this entire time, I did not press the accelerator and the car was violently shaking and jerking right and left. As the car slowed down, I was able to steer the car to the right eastbound lane of [XXX] , next to the parking lot near Bank of America’s ATM sign. After I got out of the car, I noticed the front and right sides of the body and tires were damaged including crushing, dents, and significant scratching. The problem I believe is as follows: 1.Sudden Unintended Acceleration and Control Circuit Malfunction. 2.Airbags did not deploy even though we hit a car, curb and tree. 3.Onboard Data Recorder should have the information needed. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11619886

Working with the data? Download all 106 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 10, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2020 BMW X3 verdict →