2019 BMW X3

PHANTOM BRAKING ISSUE - Twice now while driving 50-55 MPH on clear roads the brakes slammed on without cause - COMPLETE SHUTDOWN - While going thru a restaurant drive thru - the car completely shut down and would not move forward - I had to back up in order to get out of drive thru - thankfully no one was behind me. AFRAID TO DRIVE CAR - bringing it in for service

At some point in June 2025, between approximately 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., I was driving southbound on the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles, just south of the 134 interchange, at approximately 45 mph. Traffic was light, with no vehicles in front of me and no vehicles attempting to merge into my lane. Without warning, a bright red alert appeared on the dashboard of my 2019 BMW x3 and the vehicle suddenly applied full braking. The position of my arms at that moment caused an injury to my right elbow, which has remained painful since the incident. In January 2026, under nearly identical circumstances, the emergency warning appeared again. This time, the brakes did not engage. In July, I contacted BMW Corporate and service center regarding these incidents. I found their response dismissive, stating that “sometimes that happens.” A service center later informed me that this is a known issue referred to as “phantom braking.” Having experienced this firsthand, I believe this represents a serious safety concern. In addition to my injury, I could easily have been rear-ended at freeway speed. Despite acknowledging the issue, BMW Corporate requested that I sign an indemnity waiver in exchange for covering only the inspection cost. This response feels inappropriate, as their initial focus appeared to be limiting liability rather than addressing a known safety defect. Given that this is reportedly a known issue, I believe an inquiry is warranted into how often this has occurred and whether others have been injured.

I own a 2019 BMW x3 that I leased in December 2018 and then purchased in Dec 2021 at the end of the lease. It has about 22k miles on it. A few weeks ago, a warning light came on, telling me that my rear brakes needed to be inspected. I took it in and the dealer told me that rear brake PADS and ROTORS had to be replaced. They should not have to be replaced so soon especially since I am not a teenager, and my driving is 90% on freeways. I am in my sixties and my family and I have owned/leased more than 25 foreign and domestic cars and have never come across one that required a complete brake replacement with so few miles. When I contacted the Service Department at my dealer, they said this is a common problem with all BMW’s and especially X3s. I asked even if we assume that the pads need replacement, why the need to replace the rotors at the same time. They said the original rotors are so thin that they cannot be machined. They have seen many that had warped at low miles, some that had cracked and a few that had broken into pieces. They said that they and other area dealers have brought this serios concern to BMW of North America but they keep getting ignored. They said that I was lucky that my braked did not seize and that I did not get into a serious accident. Please investigate this serious safety issue before someone dies. Thank you.

MY CAR HAS BEEN AT THE BMW DEALERSHIP TWICE FOR THESE INCIDENTS. THE INCIDENTS HAVE HAPPENED A TOTAL OF 4 TIMES. THE FIRST TIME, I WAS DRIVING ABOUT 45 MILES PER HOUR ALONG THE CITY STREET, WOODRUFF AVE IN LONG BEACH. IT WAS A SUNNY DAY AND THERE WERE NO OTHER CARS AROUND ME WHEN THE CAR SUDDENLY STARTS BEEPING AND DASH BLINKS AND THEN CAR SLAMS ON BRAKES AUTOMATICALLY UNTIL IT COMES TO A STOP. I AM NOT SURE WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM BUT I THINK IT MAY BE THE SENSORS FOR THE AUTOMATIC COLLISION BRAKING SYSTEM. THE SECOND TIME I WAS GOING ABOUT 15 MPH COMING UP TO A RIGHT TURN IN THE RIGHT TURN LANE OF A CITY STREET. THERE WAS A CAR IN THE LEFT LANE THAT WAS STOPPED AT THE TRAFFIC LIGHT. MY CAR THEN SOUNDS THE ALARM, FLASHES THE WARNING AND SLAMS ON THE BRAKES TO A STOP. MY BUSINESS PARTNER WAS IN THE CAR WITH ME DURING THIS TIME. THE THIRD TIME WAS OCTOBER 16, 2020 WHEN I WAS DRIVING ON A CITY STREET AND THERE WAS A CAR STOPPED ABOUT 30 FEET AHEAD. I WAS SLOWING DOWN WHEN THE CAR SOUNDED THE ALARM, FLASHED ON THE SCREEN THE WARNING (WHICH I TOOK A PIC OF) AND THE BRAKES APPLIED AUTOMATICALLY AND THE CAR STOPPED. THE FOURTH AND LAST TIME, THE CAR DID NOT APPLY THE BRAKES BUT THE WARNING SYSTEMS CAME ON AND THE DASH FLASHED. I TOOK THE CAR AGAIN TO BMW AND BMW NORTH AMERICA SENT OUT A FIELD ENGINEER. THEY HAVE THE CAR FROM OCTOBER 23, 2020 TO NOVEMBER 18, 2020 AT WHICH TIME THEY SAID THEY COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR.

WHILE DRIVING ALONG SECONDARY ROADWAY , WITH NO OTHER CARS WITHIN SIGHT OR OBSTRUCTIONS WITHIN VIEW, AUTOMATIC BRAKING OF THE VEHICLE OCCURRED. BRAKING ACTION WAS SEVERE ENOUGH TO CAUSE DRIVER TO BE PROPELLED AGAINST THE SEAT BELT SHOULDER STRAP. BRAKES RELEASED WITHIN APPROXIMATELY ONE SECOND AFTER APPLICATION. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER NEXT DAY AFTER EPISODE TO DIAGNOSE PROBLEM. SERVICE TECHNICIAN FOUND, " NO FAULTS " STATED, " OPERATION OF AUTOMATIC BRAKING ON OCCASION IS NORMAL OPERATION DUE TO THE SENSITIVITY OF THE FEATURE". IT WAS INDICATED TO ME THAT THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN CONTACTED BMW NA AND WAS GIVEN THIS EXPLANATION. WHEN ASKED IF THERE WAS A , "FIX I N THE WORK'S " TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE , BMW NA REPLIED THEY CONSIDERED THIS OPERATION NORMAL FOR ALL OF THEIR VEHICLES WITH THIS BRAKING SYSTEM. I FIND THIS ANSWER UNACCEPTABLE. INADVERTENT BRAKE APPLICATION BY THE VEHICLE WHEN THERE IS NO VEHICLES OR OBSTRUCTIONS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY IS A SAFETY HAZARD. DRIVERS RUN THE RISK OF BEING REAR ENDED BY THOSE DRIVERS FOLLOWING TO CLOSELY ESPECIALLY WHEN THE FOLLOWING DRIVER HAS AN EXPECTATION THAT THERE IS NO TRAFFIC SITUATION THAT WOULD NECESSITATE THE CAR IN FRONT TO APPLY THEIR BRAKES. AUTOMATIC BRAKING SYSTEMS SHOULD BE DEACTIVATED UNTIL BMW NA CAN RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM.

WAS DRIVING IN THE CITY ABOUT 40MPH, AND AUTOMATIC BRAKING SYSTEM ENGAGED BUT THERE WAS NO HAZARD. NO CAR NEAR BY IN FRONT, BACK, OR BOTH SIDES. THIS HAPPENED 2/26/20 AROUND 10AM PT TOOK CAR TO DEALERSHIP. THEY CLAIMED THE CAR WAS DIRTY ON WINDSHIELD AND IS THE ONLY POSSIBLE REASON. CLAIMED THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO RECREATE THE ISSUE

WHILE DRIVING HOME JANUARY 11, 2020 AT APPROXIMATELY 8:30 PM ON A MAIN STREET THANKFULLY IN VERY LITTLE TRAFFIC, WHILE PROCEEDING TO TRAVEL THROUGH A TRAFFIC CONTROLLED INTERSECTION AT APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH THE AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM ACTIVATED. THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME AND IF IT HAD BEEN A DAY/NIGHT WITH NORMAL HEAVY TRAFFIC, THE POSSIBILITY OF A REAR END COLLISION WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT. PREVIOUSLY AS WELL AS DURING THIS OCCURRENCE, THE DRIVER IS FORCEFULLY PITCHED FORWARD BUT THE SIMULTANEOUS HIGH PITCHED SOUND DID NOT OCCUR AND I DID NOT NOTICE AN ICON FLASHING ON THE DASH AS BEFORE. THIS OCCURRENCE DID SEEM TO BE OF LONGER DURATION THAN THE PREVIOUS INCIDENT. THESE HAPPENED ON 1/11/2020 WITH THE TWO PREVIOUS INCIDENTS ON 12/02/19 AN 12/11/19 RESPECTIVELY.

WHILE DRIVING ON A BUSY CITY STREET IN MOVING TRAFFIC THE AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM ACTIVATED WITHOUT CAUSE. THE VEHICLE WAS TRAVELLING AT APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH WITHOUT ANOTHER VEHICLE OR OBSTACLE NEAR THE VEHICLE. THIS CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO SUDDENLY PITCH FORWARD, THROWING THE DRIVER FORWARD WITH THE FORCEFUL MORE WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY MAKING A HIGH PITCHED SCREECHING SOUND AND FLASHING A DASHBOARD ICON. THIS HAS HAPPENED ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS, 12/02/19 AND AGAIN ON 12/11/19.