Check Engine Light On problems of the 2012 BMW X5

2012 BMW X5. Consumer writes in regard to illuminated check engine light.

On August 7, 2018, I was traveling on interstate 95 in maryland (north of baltimore) in route to new york state. During the highway drive, my BMW drastically reduced speed to 10 miles per hour and the check engine light came on and stayed on. I had to move my car to a safe place to avoid being hit by the other vehicles on the highway. I could not continue to drive my car. And, I was worried about my safety and was at risk due to the BMW car issue. I called aaa and my car was towed to passport BMW in suitland, maryland for repair. On August 8th, passport evaluated my car and diagnosed the problem. I was informed by passport BMW that my car engine problem was due to a faulty fuel ignition system which had to be replaced. I approved this over $570 repair to my car. However, when I picked up the car, the engine light was still on. Again, I was concerned since my car was repaired by BMW yet the problem had not been fixed since the engine light was still on. I contacted the service advisor to inform him of the problem. He apologized and requested that I bring the car back in to passport BMW on the next day. The next day, I brought the car in to passport BMW, I was informed that the catalytic converter, an estimated $3388 repair, needed to be replaced. My car has been in for BMW service maintenance and recall repairs several time. My car was in for maintenance several times and was not accurately diagnosed or repaired. There is no indication that the repair diagnosed on August 8th fixed the problem that caused my car to stop running on the highway on August 7th. I paid for that repair in August and it did not fix the check engine problem and want to be reimbursed for this expense. I am concerned about the numerous repairs to my BMW despite the fact that my car has been serviced by the passport BMW service department.

This past winter the check engine light in my 2012 BMW X5 diesel (x35d) came on. Checking the code (4bcc) revealed that fill sensor for the passive diesel exhaust fluid (def) tank is malfunctioning. I had letters from BMW stating that BMW had extended the warranty on the active def tank and nos sensors to 10 years and 120k miles but not on the passive def tank. Checking various BMW forums I found that it is a very common failure. Many people are reporting this and so much so that there is a canadian company (xemodex) that is making better version of these parts and providing much longer repair warranty than BMW provides. . Read more...

The contact owns a 2012 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving at 65 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated, as all power was lost. The contact stated was able to restart the vehicle after several minutes. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with bolts to the variable camshaft timing adjustment (vanos) unit housing become loose or fractured. The vehicle was not repaired by the independent mechanic but was towed to BMW of santa maria dealer located at 2150 s college dr, santa maria, CA 93455 (805) 614-0306 to be repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 14v176000 (engine and engine cooling). The failure mileage was approximately 84,000.

I wish this complaint to be made public. This vehicle has had valvetronic motor components replaced three times, 5/2012, 10/2013 and 1/2015. In the first 34 months of ownership, it spent about 60+ days in service under warranty. The vehicle now has less than 29500 miles on it. I requested that BMW take this car back as an early lease return, and allow me to skip the last two months of lease payments. BMW denied my request. The most recent incident happened on 12/23/2014. While driving 65mph in the dark, pouring down rain of rush hour morning commute, the check engine light came on, and said "may be operating under reduced power. " the car quickly lost power, and could only do 25 mph as I tried to safely navigate myself off of the highway as I rapidly deccelerated. On the service ticket I was given at the dealership on 1/20/2015 when the repair was completed, it says: "faulty vvt motor and eccentric shaft mechanical tolerances. Followed and completed sib 12 14 10. Replaced eccentric shaft with eccentric shaft motor. Cleared faults and completed. During repair crank case vent pipe came apart due to brittle material. Also when refitting upper right micro filter/engine cowl trimming came apart due to brittle material. " unfortunately, this car is a lease, and I am concerned that BMW will sell this car to someone else. It is a safety hazard. I have refused to drive this vehicle off the dealer's lot, and have left it parked there so I may start the lease return ASAP. I have a moral obligation to keep others safe, and will post updated service record information to the carfax report for this VIN. BMW should be forced to answer to this problem.