27 problems related to engine and engine cooling have been reported for the 2010 BMW X5. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2010 BMW X5 based on all problems reported for the 2010 X5.
My husband and I brought our 2010 X5 (VIN ), mileage: to BMW of el cajon on 09/29/2025 for a recall service. Before the recall repaire, the vehicale was in normal working condition: -no check engine lights or warning indicators -no unusual noises -fully drivable on a daily basis after the recall was completed, the dealership informed me that: -multiple check engine/warning lights appeared -the vehicle developed a very loud/high pitch noise -they do not recommend driving the vehicle in its currently condition. They did not warn us about his initial, they did after informed them we do not feel safe driving the car in this condition. The dealership explained this happened because they had open a valve to perform the recall, which they claim disturbed "sludge". They are now refusing to correct the problem unless we pay out of pocket. The issue did not exist before the recall and occurred only as a direct result of the recall repair. The recall left my car unsafe and undriveable, and I am being told to pay for a problem that only arose due to a federally mandated recall work. The recall resulted in a vehicle that is no longer safe to drive, with multiple warning lights and severe engine noise. The dealers refusal to fix this without charing me undermines the purpose of a recall, which is to ensure safety at no cost to the owner. I ask NHTSA to investigate this matter and ensure BMW and its dealerships perform recall repairs properly, at no cost to consumers, and do not return vehicles in unsafe conditions.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the fuel pump. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 23v707000 (engine and engine cooling); was included and the vehicle was repaired by the dealer. The contact stated that the vehicle operated normally prior to the repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 128,000.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, her nephew attempted to start the vehicle, and the vehicle failed to start. The contact stated there was an abnormal odor coming from the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact replaced the battery; however, the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to firestone, where it was diagnosed that the starter and fuel pump had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 116,546.
Hello. I am reporting the remedy that is still not available for my car. It effects the vanos bolts which you know is a big part of how the car engine works and can end up allowing my car to stall mid trip. This recall began in October, and I have yet to see a remedy. I understand this process takes time, but it is affecting my day to day driving and I feel unsafe. I am hoping to put more pressure to provide us with a remedy soon.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 23v707000 (engine and engine cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that when the vehicle wase cold started the vehicle was idling rough and vibrating abnormally. The contact stated that check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle was running rough, with abnormal sounds coming from underneath the floor. The contact stopped the vehicle and towed the vehicle to residence. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 200,000. Parts distribution disconnect.
See attached document for complaint.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 23v707000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle idled unusually rough. The check engine warning light illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle was leaking oil. The vehicle was taken to the dealer twice where it was diagnosed with failed vanous bolts and valve cover gasket and the vanous bolts and valve cover gaskets needed to be replaced. The dealer was made aware of the failure but confirmed that parts were not yet available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 149,000. VIN tool confirm parts not available.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 23v707000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
There is a recall for the vanos variable camshaft timing somehow my vehicle although listed has not received a recall and this is the exact problem I am having with my 2010 X5 BMW 4. 8.
This is the 3rd time in 2 months that the engine just shut off driving on a highway. I have noticed that it happens if I have driving on a highway for 2 hours or more. The car does not show any sign of issues and does not have any code or check engine light. All of a sudden the engine shuts down and it loses all power, power steering does not work, and brake does not work. It makes for very dangerous condition with traffic coming behind me at 70 miles an hour. I pulled over and tried to start it. It would just crank but not start. All 3 times, after waiting for 30 minutes, it would start just fine and won’t have any further issue. I got the code scanned and it came clean. There is no check engine light either. It just happens all of a sudden without any warning and car shops can’t figure out what’s wrong because every time they test drive it , it works fine.
Been having issues with the car for over a month, changed water pump thermostat fuel pump, but it still would crank, got another diagnostic and now I have an engine leak, and frm ) a serious electrical problem, I feel like some of these things should have been done before the dealer sold the car, I’m asking for help, with getting my car fixed or replaced.
Ongoing issues with the engine and turbochargers in this SUV. Give no warning of an issue and lose power while driving. Replaced one of the turbocharges in 2017. The car is now smoking, smells like something is burning, using a lot of oil, and losing power, and now being told both turbocharges need to be replaced. Dealer, downtown BMW in denver, CO who did repairs in 2017 on turbo did not report the previous repairs in car repair history.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 22v119000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted several times. The contact stated that white smoke was coming from underneath the hood. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The failure mileage was 107,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 mph the smell of burning oil or plastic started coming from the vents. The contact stated "overheating" warning was illuminated. The contact had pulled off the road and turned the vehicle off after setting it to park (p). The contact made several attempts to drive the vehicle back to his residence, however he eventually had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic. The mechanic determined that the "accumulator" had to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired, however the overheating failure reoccurred. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 22v119000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 138,000. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 22v119000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had experienced a failure the vehicle over heated and had to be towed. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 22v119000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated while accelerating from a complete stop at the stop light, the vehicle hesitated. The contact smelled a burning plastic odor within the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle had become inoperable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to replicate the failure. The dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 95,310. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
My vehicle was covered under a 10 year BMW limited extended warranty to address factory defective bolts that caused a dangerous failure of the vanos system (bolts backing out) - which can be read about in service bulletin sb-10057335-7958 or si b01 10 14. I started experiencing the symptoms (warning lamps, rough engine, engine noise, stalling) outlined in this bulletin in 2018, then in 2020, after several failed repairs, I was made aware of the warranty. I immediately scheduled an appointment at my local BMW dealership (BMW of rochester) and when they called to give me the diagnosis they told me that my car needed an oil change and that if I wanted them to check for the broken bolts they would need to take apart the motor, potentially costing me hundreds of more dollars in labor if the part in question (bolts, covered under warranty) was not broken. They told me the car was running as designed and not to worry about it. I spent the following year and a half attempting to fix persistent issues I thought were unrelated to the part in question. I recently replaced some major parts and upon the mechanic concluded to me that in fact the remaining issues could only be related to the part in question, and to have BMW take another look. I made a new appointment with the dealership to diagnose the issue once again, only this time explaining that I was confident they had misdiagnosed it originally. This time they did not threaten extra costs to take the motor apart and in fact told me it only took them 10 minutes to "scope" the motor with a camera. They confirmed the part in question is broken and are now charging me $6000 out of pocket to fix it, even though the part was under warranty just months ago, the first time I brought it to them. The part being broken makes my car unsafe to drive, and BMW recommends not driving it until it is fixed. BMW na refuses to honor the warranty due to expiration, and the dealership is also refusing to pay for the repairs. Car is unsafe.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at 55 mph, the engine temperature warning light was illuminated. The contact's wife pulled over to a service station to let the engine cool off before restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed as a water pump failure. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated while driving 50 mph, she saw smoke exiting the hood. The contact stated the low coolant warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and call for roadside assistance. The contact states the smoke detained independently, once she turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed the radiator and the water pump was needing to be replaced. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The contact stated she purchased the radiator and the water pump from the local dealer but had the repairs completed at independent mechanic. The vehicle was repaired but she experience the failure for a second time. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 22v119000 (engine and engine cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. VIN tool confirms parts not available. The failure mileage was unknown.
Clean diesel system had some failure and gave a warning that the car cannot be restarted in 200 miles. Wife was out of state on vacation in the car. He had to drive non-stop home and now the car software has locked out the ability to start the vehicle. I can't even drive it to the dealer. Has to do with the src system that BMW extended the warranty to 10 years because of known problems. I called them to report the problem before the warranty expired but could not bring in because my wife was driving it out of state. Called 12/28/2019 and warranty expired on 12/30/2019. Now they refuse the honor the warranty and I have to have the car towed for repair. Independent mechanics do not want to touch this problem.
As I was driving on a bridge my car completely went into a stop. Breaks instantly locked and my car would not drive, turn on, or go on neutral the breaks stayed in lock. Police offerup even tried to see if it's a simple break button. Nothing worked I was in the middle of a bridge lucky the car behind me swerved right away and myself and my daughter were safe. I called my sister who lived down the street, she came right away and parked behind me with her emergency safety lights on. The car went into shock I couldn't even put it in neutral so I can move it from the middle of the bridge. Towed it to BMW now they say it's the computer system and the wires of the car that connects to the computer. Cost to fix is over 3,500 I can not afford to fix. I have 4 teenage kids and now no car because I cannot afford to pay for the car services. In the past 3 years I have paid over 8k in repairs by BMW dealership services. This is not fair.
Repairing the twin-turbo in my car again in less than a year. Last year the hoses were all replaced this year the dealer says one of the two turbo units in the vehicle needs to be replaced (smaller one). The car is doing the same thing it did last year losing power and making it dangerous to drive in traffic. If I am at a light, it takes about half a block for it to accelerate to normal speed. I ended up having the care towed to the BMW dealer because it was not safe to drive in traffic. After doing some research, the turbo has been an ongoing problem in the X5d. The car is just under 85,000 original miles and since I purchased two years ago, have logged less than 20,000 miles. .
Takata recall. The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. While driving various speeds, abnormal fumes entered the vehicle and the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to autogermana BMW (located at 298 calle carlos f chardon, hato rey, pr 00919), but was not repaired due to lack of parts. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 16v071000 (air bags), 16v364000 (air bags), and 16v746000 (fuel system, gasoline); however, the parts needed for the repairs were not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Passenger door got locked - unable to open. Deler had to take door out to fix. This major safety issue with very expensive repair from BMW dealer. Got engine light for diesel fuel tank sensor. BMW told me to take two month to get part from germany. Waiting for part and high repair bill. Again got engine light for other reason. I am com earn about safest of my 2010 BMW X5 diesel model and like help from NHTSA. Thanks.
On three separate occasions my BMW X5 has lost engine power on the highway. It has happened after driving a few hours. The engine suddenly loses power. The last time it happened the transmission problem light went on. Our car has now been at the fresno BMW dealership for one month. Nothing has been fixed and we are not getting any information from the service department. This car is unsafe to drive.
While driving the engine loss power and put the car into neutral. All power steering was loss as well. Thankfully I was able to pull off the road safely. The car restarted once, then loss power when one tried to accelerate. The car would not restart. During this whole time no warning or service lights came on, the vehicle status said all systems were ok, when obviously they were not since the car just stopped working while driving.
Continual problem - car hesitates when accelerating from a stop or low speed. There is a pause between stepping on the accelerator and response from the engine. Complained numerous times over the years to several dealers - some acknowledged the problem but stated that it was normal for that engine. They seemed to have fixed the problem in later models but did not even try in the earlier ones. It can be a serious safety issue when acceleration is needed.