general problems of the 2007 BMW X3

I was driving my daughter to school this morning and turned on the seat warmers/heaters. After a few minutes on the road, I started to smell something burning. I couldn’t identify the smell and wondered if it was coming from the heater. I touched the left edge of the driver seat and was immediately burned on my hand. I quickly turned off the seat heaters and noticed that the left edge of the seat was burning. Yes, the safety of me and my daughter was at risk. I swerved when it burned me. No accident, fortunately. This is a known issue from what I’ve researched and it seems a recall was issued in 2006. So why not for this year. Same seat. Very dangerous. Could have been much worse. No, it has not been inspected. The damage is obvious and the only solution is to disable/not use it until a recall is issued. There were no warning lamps, etc. And the fuse didn’t blow, either. Problem has been reproduced.

The contact owns a 2007 BMW X3. The contact stated the while the heated seat was in the on position the driver's side seat became hot and caught fire. The fire burnt through the seat and left a hole. There were no reported injuries. The driver was able to extinguish the fire. The contact called the local dealer and left a message but, vehicle was diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 180,000.

While driving, I turned on the seat warmer. Within a few minutes, I smelled burning and my left thigh felt hot. I turned off the seat warmer and the smell abated. The resulting burn mark was left in the seat.

I call the brooklynbmw dealer to schedule a recall repair on three items for my truck and I was told it would takes days for the repairs and I would have to get my own means of transportation during this time even after I stated I have an elderly mother whom lives with me and that I would need some type of transportation during that time and was told there was no loaner car to offer me and that I would have to pay $40 a day for a rental car. This is an inconvience since I should not be responsible for out of pocket expense for the companys negligence of defective/cheap/recalled auto parts. My car is drivable and the inconvience is not of my fault.

The driver's seat heating element burned and damaged the skin of the seat and burned my back while driving in the city. I was so surprised when this happened that I jumped in the seat and caused an accident.

The heating element in the drivers heated seat burned through the leather seat and and burned me. This is the 2nd time this incident has happened with this car. It also happened 4 years ago. The seat was replaced with another faulty seat, obviously. There is an obvious burn mark on the seat. Vehicle was moving, I was 2 blocks from my suburban house, first time using it this fall.

Recall no. 17v-605 - perillo BMW claims not a 'recall' I have a �important safety recall - final remedy available� notice for recall campaign no. 17v-605 for my 2007 X3 VIN: wbxpc93457wf23679 the notice states that BMW �will replace the front passenger seat occupant detection sensor mat�. . Read more...

This is the info. Directly from BMW website regarding the reacll safety issue. Sep 28, 2017 | recall campaign no. 17v-605 front passenger seat occupant detection mat description of problem this safety recall involves the front passenger seat occupant detection mat. Depending on seat configuration and vehicle geometry, the mat can fatigue during field usage depending on the manner and frequency of the front passenger's entry and exit. Specifically, over time micro-cracks could develop in the side flanks of the mat. If a micro-crack leads to a break of a conductive path, the system will recognize a failure. Consequently, the front passenger air bags with the exception of the head protection system will be deactivated. Safety risk in a crash of sufficient severity, the front passenger air bags may not deploy, increasing the risk of injury. Description of repair BMW will replace the front passenger seat occupant detection sensor mat. Final owner notification letters are being mailed on a staggered basis as parts become available.

The interior of the BMW X3 has an unfamiliar odor that has given me itchiness in the eyes and makes all the passengers sick to the stomach.

Since the beginning of November BMW confirmed me that my car has 2 recall involving pcv valve and seat occupant detection mat. My car is overheating and I can smell plastic smell . The smoke comes from the hood compartment when and I have to tow the car to BMW minnetonka. I was so scared to drive vehicle in such condition and I have tried so many time to get these issue resolved or get alternative transportation which BMW gave me authorization through BMW repair center in minnehaha, mn. But until no loaner vehicle is gave to me nor my car is not completely repaired. I still have the car with BMW minnetonka and the service manager would ask me to talk to BMW services and when I talk to BMW services they also ask me to talk to my service manager. I need help to get the alternative transportation. Thanks.

While idling for less than five minutes with the seat heat turned on, I smelled smoke but wasn't sure where it was coming from and ignored it. After driving home I found that there was a hole burned through the leather driver's seat and an exposed wire was showing through the hole. Luckily my jacket didn't catch on fire. The outside temperature was in the mid 20s at the time.

While driving smelled something burning and also realized my upper leg was in pain. Turned off the seat warmer and investigated after reaching my destination. There was a scorch mark in the seat near the bottom left bolster. Lucky this didn't cause a fire or bodily injury.

Driver side heated seat switch was turned on while driving. Few minutes after switch turned-on, burning smell was felt inside the car. Stopped the car and checked the engine (first guess). It was not from the engine. Sat on the seat and then realized the fume was coming from the seat. The driver seat was burned, my pant bottom was burned and my butt was also burned (not serious).

The contact owns a 2007 BMW X3. The contact stated that the front passenger side air bag sensor illuminated and dimmed intermittently even though the front passenger seat was unoccupied. The air bag sensor would not illuminate when a passenger occupied the seat. The dealer stated that the front passenger seat needed to be replaced. The test plan indicated that the sensor was defective from the local dealer. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 91,000. Updated 08/19/lj BMW agreed to pay half of the charge for the repairs. Updated 08/21/14.

The passenger seat heating element got so hot that it started to smoke, burnt through the leather and burnt my wife's coat and leg.

Heated seat was on "medium" setting, within one minute I noticed a burning smell then felt pain in left leg. Heated seat element burned through seat material and burned pants! no real injury but seat was hot enough to burn through the leather and my pants. Seems extremely dangerous.

The contact owns a 2007 BMW X3. The contact stated that the driver's seat emitted a strong burning odor. The contact found that the driver's seat was on fire and had burned through her clothing, injuring the contact. The contact was able to extinguish the fire by pouring water on the seat. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to have a diagnostic performed but was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 68,000.

Driving vehicle noticed a burning smell, at first thought it was coming from outside of car, then while in heavy traffic and unable to pull over felt a burning pain on thigh. Immediately turned off seat warmer and tried to pull over. Found that drivers side seat warmer had burnt a hole thru the leather seat cover and burned my pants. This could have very easily caused a wreck!.

I had car heating system on and felt some thing very hot under my thigh. I got down to inspect and found a hole in the car seat. I put off the heating system to reach home safely. I have sent pictures and my complaint to BMW ag and BMW USA.

While driving last night , I started to feel something hot in the seat, and within a few moments there was a burning smell. I leaned forward and looked back at the seat, and it had a flame coming out of a hole melted in the leather. (left side of the driver's seat) luckily, I was wearing a coat and driving in an area that I could pull over quickly. After I hopped out & turned off the heated seats, it continued to spark as my son and I waited outside in the cold for someone to come pick us up. Could have been a lot worse, but I'm starting to hear that this is not that uncommon of a an occurrence. Thanks!.

Turned on heated seat on driver's side. After approximately 2 minutes, felt burning on left side of seat. Turned off the heated seat, turned on the light and the seat was smoking substantially. A small hole was burned through the leather seat (about the size of a dime) and through my pants. I have a small red mark on the top of the back of my leg. The vehicle smells like smoke. Luckily, I was in the driveway when this happened or an accident might have occurred. Very concerning and will likely be a costly repair. Have noted several other similar incidents repoted on-line.

I was driving to work early in the morning and since it was a bit chilly, turned on the seat warmer. Within seconds I felt a painful burning in my left rear "cheek" and smelled smoke and something burning. I immediately turned off the seat warmer and the smoke and smell cleared. When I was finally able to stop and assess the damage, there is a burned spot on my leather seat and I have a burn on my backside. I took the car in to my mechanic and he states that I was lucky it didn't start a fire because the damage to the heating element/wiring is so extensive. I was advised not to use it until it could be repaired. I bought this vehicle used and I did purchase a warranty with it, but it doesn't look like this item is covered. However, BMW needs to step up and fix this. I almost got into an accident because of the pain and I actually thought the car was on fire. I was very lucky that turning off the seat warmer stopped any further damage. I've already noted 7 other seat warmer issues for the 2007 X3 model, I've read numerous other complaints on various other internet blogs (which would definitely increase the number of complaints if those individuals knew where & how to file a complaint like this), and I also know that there have been other BMW models with similar issues where there has been a recall (04v575000 recall date : Nov 24, 2004 ). What are you waiting for? for someone to get seriously hurt or worse, die? this is a serious safety issue that needs to be addressed by an immediate recall. This issue nearly caused a fire while I was driving on the freeway and could have caused an accident!!!.

Driving through residential area I fell a little pain on my buttocks, pull over and there is a hole the size of a pea on the seat and similar hole on my pants. Got a mild burn too since I am heavy and was sitting heavily on the affected burn area of the seat.

Tl- the contact owns a 2007 BMW X3. The contact stated that the driver side seat warmer overheated and burned a whole in the seat, while driving on the highway. The manufacturer and dealer were contacted, but denied any assistance with repair to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 66,500 and the current mileage was 66,655. Nw.