2019 BMW X3

I am writing about the BMW Telematics Control Unit (TCB). This is a safety device installed on all BMWs for the past 6 years or more. It is an electronic tracking and communication device that is activated either automatically on manually in the event of an emergency. For minor emergencies such as a flat tire or running out of gas, the driver can call for roadside assistance. For serious emergencies such as accidents the system automatically contacts the BMW emergency center who contacts local emergency assistance providers such as police, fire, ambulance. The system provides information such as the vehicle's exact location and the severity of the accident. Obviously, this can be lifesaving information. I have no way to determine how frequently these systems fail, but judging from the countless number of accounts described on the internet and the number of YouTube videos I see, it would appear that these systems are very unreliable. These systems fail for a number of different reasons and are very expensive to repair. This is a serious safety issue. In my own case, water had leaked through the roof aerial and damaged the electronic communication device rendering it useless. Cost of repair would be nearly $3,000. There is at least one BMW Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) that applies to this issue for my vehicle. It is number B651222. There are probably many other TSB's that apply to other models and other causes of failure of this device. BMW owners have spent a lot of money for this device with the expectation of providing themselves with some additional safety in the event of an emergency. This is largely a false sense of security because these devices are very unreliable. I respectly request the the NHTSA look in to this issue. I believe that there are many people that are unknowingly in a dangerous situation.

On May 20, 2022 at around 10 AM. I pulled into my work parking lot. I proceeded to park the car in front of the main building. I put the car on park but the car accelerated on its own at high speed. It curved around the bushes yanking them out and then smashed into the building. The airbags opened. I called 911 for help. Ambulance took me to a hospital nearby. I lost a lot of blood due to a large cut in my mouth. I had some other minor injuries including a fracture in my sternum and nose.

The contact owns a 2019 BMW X3. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, an unknown warning light was illuminated with a message displayed stating that the vehicle would turn off shortly, and to keep the vehicle function active, switch to Ready Mode. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact stated that an unknown part was replaced however, the warning light remained illuminated. The manufacturer was contacted by the dealer but the contact was unaware of what was said. The failure mileage was 9,000.

My digital gauges were frequently going off center in my vehicle. I scheduled service with the dealer however they did not have a loaner available for weeks so they scheduled the appointment for a few weeks out, my car subsequently completely died on the road and after a minute or two I was rear ended by a truck and the car was completely totaled.

After having 'repaired' the instrument panel relay which was causing the display to intermittently blank out, I am now experiencing the following dangerous events: 1) instrument panel will still occasionally blank out, with no consistent causal reason. 2) on occasion, firm acceleration has preceded an instrument panel glitch, but I cannot get a consistent result from this cause/effect. 3) on occasion, instrument panel glitch will result in a warning that indicates a loss of 4 wheel drive system. This glitch currently seems to remedy itself on its own after a few seconds 4) on occasion, while stopped with the auto parking mode engaged, pressing the gas pedal results in a complete engine shutdown. This requires a restart of the engine to proceed and the previous mentioned instrument glitches.

BACKUP CAMERA NOT ON WHEN REVERSING: 1. ~AUG. 2019 WHEN I REVERSED MY CAR, THE BACKUP CAMERA DID NOT SHOW UP. MY CAR WAS IN BMW SPRINGFIELD NJ FOR REPAIR FROM 25 TO 27NOV2019. I WAS TOLD THERE WAS A RECALL (NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID 19V684000) AND SOFTWARE WAS UPDATED. 2.PROBLEM STILL EXISTED, MY CAR WAS IN SAME DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIR ON10FEB2020. 3. RAISED MY CONCERN (LEMON LAW) TO BMW CORPORATE, BMW ARRANGED MY CAR FOR REPAIR ON MAR. 19. 2020 AFTER THE REPAIR, MY REAR CAMERA VIEW WAS BACK BUT THE LEFT IMAGE (SENSING OBSTACLE WAS MISSING). 4. MY CAR WAS IN BMW ON APR. 9 2020 FOR REPAIR, STILL NOT WORKING. 5. MY CAR WAS IN BMW FOR PAIR ON MAY 26, 2020 AND I WAS TOLD TO WAIT THE COMPUTER TO BOOT UP AND THEN DRIVE. 6. I FOLLOWED BMW'S ADVICE, THE LEFT IMAGE (SENSING OBSTACLE WAS MISSING) IS BACK WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM, BUT MY REAR VIEW IMAGE SOMETIME DID NOT SHOW UP. I THINK THE LACK OF AN IMAGE IN THE BACK-UP CAMERA DISPLAY INCREASES THE RISK OF A CRASH, WHICH NEEDS FURTHER INVESTIGATION. PICTURE IS ATTACHED, SHOWING THE WHOLE BACKUP PROCESS, THE REAR VIEW CAMERA WAS MISSING THE IMAGE (~1MIN).

THE SPEEDOMETER IS INACCURATE. BMW TOLD ME THAT THEY HAVE A DIRECTIVE WHICH STATES THAT IT IS NORMAL FOR A SPEEDOMETER TO BE OFF BY UP TO 7MPH. THEY TOLD ME IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO RECALIBRATE. I DO NOT KNOW MY TRUE SPEED WHICH IS DANGEROUS AND MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO KNOW IF I AM DRIVING WITHIN POSTED LIMITS. IT ALSO ADDS FALSE MILEAGE TO MY VEHICLE AS IT ALWAYS INDICATES A SPEED HIGHER THAN I AM ACTUALLY MAINTAINING.

WITHOUT WARNING, THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS AND INDICATORS GO DARK. THE VEHICLE CAN BE STATIONARY OR IN MOTION WHEN IT HAPPENS. I HAVE CONTACTED THE DEALER, FIELDS BMW, TWICE. THE FIRST TIME THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT REPLACED THE BATTERY ON MY REMOTE KEY CONTROL, THE SECOND TIME SERVICE TOLD ME IT WAS A KNOWN PROBLEM AT BMW AND THEY WERE WORKING ON A SOFTWARE FIX. MY SECOND CONTACT WAS PROBABLY SIX WEEKS AGO, BUT IT HAPPENED AGAIN TWO DAYS AGO WHEN MY WIFE LOST THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS IN THE EVENING. IT IS VERY STARTLING (AND UNSAFE) TO LOSE THE DASHBOARD LIGHTS AND INDICATORS, ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT. NEITHER BMW NOR MY DEALER HAS INFORMED ME OF ANY PENDING SOFTWARE FIX.

THE ISSUE IS BECOMING MORE SYSTEMIC AND OCCURS MORE OFTEN. ISSUE IS AS FOLLOWS: 1) WHILE DRIVING, DIGITAL INSTRUMENTATION WILL GO COMPLETELY BLANK FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. THIS INCLUDES SPEEDOMETER, TACHOMETER, CLOCK, CRUISE CONTROL INFORMATION. BASICALLY, ANYTHING THAT IS ON THE SCREEN DISAPPEARS. 2) IN ADDITION TO THE INSTRUMENTATION MALFUNCTION, THE FOLLOWING SYSTEM FAILURES ARE INTERMITTENTLY OCCURRING (NO PATTERN DETECTED YET): ALL WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM FAILURE (WHILE DRIVING) - WHEN DISPLAY DOES RESUME, VEHICLE WARNING SYSTEM INDICATES THE VEHICLE MAY BE DRIVEN, BUT THE ALL WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM IS INOPERATIVE. PARK DISTANCE CONTROL (OCCURRED WHILE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY) - WHEN DISPLAY DOES RESUME, VEHICLE WARNING SYSTEM INDICATES PDC SYSTEM IS INOPERATIVE. AUTO START/STOP FEATURE (OCCURRED WHILE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY) - WHILE AT A STOP AND THE FAILURE OCCURRED, THE ENGINE DID SHUT DOWN INCORRECT AVERAGE MILEAGE DISPLAY - NORMAL MPG FOR THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY AROUND 24.2. VEHICLE WAS REPORTING AN AVERAGE MPG OF 9.7 PRIOR TO ONE FAILURE.