2007 Bmw X3 Steering Problems
20 owner-reported steering complaints from NHTSA data
Data sourced from NHTSA public database. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified mechanic.
Owner Complaints (20)
After a $3,000+ service and oil change at the BMW dealership in August 2023, your steering felt tight and the car wasn't driving normally. Less than two weeks later, while your daughter was stopped at a stop sign, the car suddenly spun out of control in circles, nearly causing an accident. The dealership later identified a transfer case issue as the cause, but this problem wasn't caught during the initial $3,000 repair service.
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I just purchased a bmw x3 2007 the 2nd week of March 2022. Immediately, after driving home and parking the car. I turned the car off and the car began to make a loud noise and the engine start smoking very bad. I contacted bmw via email, and was told that there is not a remedy to the recalls effecting my car. The bmw x3 2007 is my only form of transportation and bmw cannot fix the problem. This car can catch on fire or worse kill me and children in the fire in the car. After research this is an ongoing problem with bmw. Bmw should be liable for any damages caused my this recall. I have car that i cannot drive because it is not safe to drive, by no fault of my own.
POWER STEERING PULLEY COMES INTO CONTACT OF AXLE CARRIER, IT'S A CLEAR DESIGN FLAW AND THIS CAR HASN'T HAD MUCH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DONE, THE COMPANY KNOWINGLY PUT AN UNSAFE BETA CAR ON THE MARKET. MY BELT BROKE BECAUSE OF THE PULLEY TO FRAME CONTACT AND STALLED ON THE 405 FREEWAY AND ENDED UP GETTING INJURED WHEN THE CAR WAS REAR ENDED AT 60MPH. THERE IS A SERVICE BULLETIN WITHIN BMW'S SYSTEM DESCRIBING THIS ISSUE AND THEY WANT CONSUMERS TO PAY OUT OF POCKET FOR REPAIRS. I SPOKE TO CORPORATE AND THEY HAVE GIVEN ME THE COLD SHOULDER SO FAR. MY MISSION IS TO GET THIS ESCALATED TO A RECALL BEFORE SOMEONE GETS SERIOUSLY HURT.
THE ELECTRONIC STEERING WHEEL IS MALFUNCTIONING AND PREVENTING THE CAR FROM STARTING.
STEERING WHEEL LOCK (RED SYMBOL ON THE NOTIFICATION SCREEN). VEHICLECLE WILL NO LONGER START. NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK.
THE STEERING LOCK WARNING LIGHT IN RED DISPLAY. I TOOK TO THE DEALER AND THEY RECOMMENDED ME TO REPLACE THE STEERING LOCK "ELV" AND PROGRAM NEW CONTROL MODULE. IT COST $1,975.00 TO REPLACE. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND IT SEEMS THIS MIGHT BE KNOWN PROBLEM TO BMW, BUT YET, I HAVE NEVER HEARD ABOUT IT, UNTIL THE INCIDENT HAPPENED TO ME. WHEN THE WARNING SYMBOL DISPLAYED, IT DISPLAY EVERY TIME EVEN WHEN I OPEN THE DOOR.
RED ELECTRIC STEERING WHEEL LOCK ICON ON SCREEN AND CAR WILL NOT START OR TURN OVER. RADIO WORKS AND EVERYTHING ELSE BUT CAR WILL NOT START. WHEN BATTERY DIED, AND I CHARGED IT FULL, THEN WENT TO START THE CAR AND THIS RED ELECTRIC STEERING WHEEL LOCK CAME ON. HAD TO GET CAR SERVICED
NO STAR NO LIGHT NO POWER ONLY LIGHT FOR STEERING LOCK
I PARKED MY VEHICLE AND WHEN I WENT TO START IT IT WOULD NOT START. I GOT A RED ELV STEERING COLUMN LOCK ERROR, BMW CC-ID 186. CAR WILL NOT START.
BATTERY DIED. JUMPSTARTED, DROVE FOR A BIT. TURNED OFF, TURNED BACK ON DROVE HOME. PARKED THE CAR. TRIED TO RESTART AND THE RED ELECTRONIC STEERING WHEEL LOCK INDICATOR WAS ON. PLENTY OF JUICE IN THE BATTERY, CAR WILL NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO TURN OVER. CAN NOT GET INTO NEUTRAL TO TOW OUT. CAR IS DEAD WHERE IT SITS BECAUSE OF THE ELECTRONIC STEERING LOCK. THANK GOODNESS WE WEREN'T IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.
YELLOW WARNING LIGHT INDICATED WHEEL IS LOCKED; CAR WILL NOT START. THIS HAS HAPPENED MULTIPLE TIMES. WHEREAS IT DID NOT AFFECT MY DRIVING, IT AFFECTED DRIVEABILITY. HAVE BEEN FAR FROM HOME LATE IN THE DAY -WORK RELATED. DEALERSHIP SAID THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM. WHAT IF WHEEL LOCKS WHILE DRIVING? SHAME ON BMW. *TR
STEERING WHEEL LOCK MECHANISM. ITS BEEN REPORTED BY THOUSANDS OF OWNERS BUT BMW DOESN'T ISSUE A RECALL BUT WILL REPLACE AND REPAIR FOR 1500.00. *TR
EXPERIENCING RECURRENT ELECTRICAL ISSUES INCLUDING MULTIPLE EPISODES OF COMPLETE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER, POWER STEERING, AND POWER BRAKING WHILE DRIVING AT 15-25 MPH. THIS INCLUDES AN EPISODE OF THE VEHICLE'S ENGINE CUTTING OFF WITHOUT WARNING DURING A TURN ON A BUSY STREET RESULTING IN IMMEDIATE LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND BRAKES, NEARLY RESULTING IN A HEAD-ON COLLISION. VEHICLE WILL RESTART IMMEDIATELY AND WITHOUT DIFFICULTY AFTER INCIDENT OCCURS. VEHICLE HAS ALSO EXPERIENCED MULTIPLE EPISODES OF A BATTERY DRAWING DOWN VOLTAGE AND NON-START IN THE MORNING DESPITE A NEW AND FULLY CHARGED BATTERY. BATTERY HAS BEEN REPLACED AND PROBLEM PERSISTED. SOFTWARE WAS UPDATED YET PROBLEM CONTINUES TO PERSIST. NO ISSUES FOUND BY MECHANIC. *TR
DRIVING ON A SIDE STREET AT ~20MPH AND ABOUT TO MAKE A LEFT TURN AND THE STEERING COMPLETELY LOCKED (AS WHEN YOU TURN THE ENGINE OFF AND PARK THE VEHICLE, WITH NO ABILITY TO TURN THE STEERING). THE BATTERY AND OIL LIGHTS CAME ON, BUT THE ENGINE WAS STILL RUNNING. ENDED UP HAVING TO BUMP INTO THE CURB AND STOP THE VEHICLE. UPON TURNING THE IGNITION OFF AND TURNING IT BACK ON, IT WAS FINE. DEALER DOES NOT KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS INSPITE OF HAVING IT FOR A COUPLE DAYS AND DRIVING IT AROUND. SUSPECTS THE STEERING LOCK UNIT MAY NEED TO BE REPLACED BUT IS NOT SURE SINCE THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO REPLICATE THE ISSUE NOR WERE THEY ABLE TO SEE ANY LOGS OF ISSUES IN THE ON-BOARD COMPUTER. VEHICLE IS RUNNING OK NOW. *TR
MY 2007 BMW 335I BECAME VERY HARD TO STEER DURING A DRIVE DOWN A STEEP GRADE. A BATTERY NOT CHARGING ERROR WOULD APPEAR ON DASH SHORTLY AFTER... HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED. WHILE DRIVING DOWN A STEEP HILL AND NEEDING TO BREAK HARD ON A TURN TO AVOID HITTING A DEAD ANIMAL ON THE ROAD I SMELLED BURNING RUBBER AND THEN HEARD A NOISE THIS NOISE I DISCOVERED LATER IN THE DAY WAS MY POWER STEERING BELT BREAKING. I LOST ALL POWER STEERING WENT OFF THE ROAD OUT OFF CONTROL DUE TO LOSE OF POWER STEERING AND ALMOST HIT A BIKE RIDER AND CAME VERY CLOSE TO GOING OFF THE SIDE OF ROAD. LATER THAT DAY I DECIDED TO GOOGLE MY PROBLEM AND SEE IF THERE WOULD BE AN EASY FIX TO THIS PROBLEM. I DISCOVERED THERE IS NOT AN EASY FIX FOR A BROKEN BELT ON MY MODAL OF CAR. I DISCOVERED THIS IS COMMON ON MANY BMW MODELS AND BMW IS AWARE OF IT SEE SIB 11-09-08. I QUICKLY DISCOVERED THAT I AM NOT THE ONLY OWNER OUT THERE WITH THIS PROBLEM. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS. BMW KNOWS OF THE PROBLEM AND HAS NOT RECALLED ANY CARS. THERE DOCUMENTATION OF THE PROBLEM IS UNDER SIB 11-09-08. I WILL BE BRINGING MY CAR BACK TO DEALER TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM RESOLVE AND HOPE THEY FOLLOW THE SIB 11-09-08 WHICH NOTES NEW STYLE SUB FRAME REPLACEMENT WILL BE REQUIRED. I BELIEVE AN INVESTIGATION NEEDS TO BE MADE REGARDING POWER STEERING BELTS BREAKING. THESE BELTS SHOULD NOT BE BREAKING UNDER THE CONDITION I WAS DRIVING AND SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE. I HOPE TO SEE THIS RESOLVED SOON BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED. AT THIS TIME I DON'T FEEL THE CAR WILL BE SAFE TO DRIVE. *TR
RED STEERING WHEEL LOCK WARNING LIGHT. I'VE SPOKEN TO MANY BMW OWNERS AND HAVE RESEARCHED ONLINE AND THIS APPEARS TO BE HAPPENING QUIET OFTEN. *TR
A WARNING LIGHT CAME ON IN MY CAR (STEERING WHEEL WITH PAD LOCK). I CONTACTED THE DEALER AND THEY ASKED ME IF I HAD CALLED EARLIER WHICH I HAD NOT. I WAS SOMEWHAT ALARMED THAT THIS SOUND LIKE A COMMON ISSUE ALTHOUGH IN ALL OF THE CARS I HAVE OWNED IN THE PAST, I HAVE NEVER HAD TO REPLACE A STEERING WHEEL COLUMN. I BELIEVE THIS IS A DEFECT AND THIS IS WHY I AM FILING THIS CONCERN. I WAS INFORMED THAT NORMALLY THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKS UP AND YOU ARE UNABLE TO DRIVE. *TR
I WAS DRIVING AND A RED LIGHT WITH A STEERING WHEEL AND PAD LOCK CAME ON. I CONTACTED SOMEONE REGARDING THIS LIGHT AND THEY INDICATED THAT THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE ON AND THAT IT COULD POTENTIALLY LOCK UP ON ME. I CONTACTED IRVINE BMW TO INQUIRE ON THE COST AND SOMEONE ANSWERED ASKING ME IF I HAD SPOKE TO HIM EARLIER ABOUT THIS PROBLEM, I RESPONDED NO IT WAS MY FIRST TIME CALLING. I BELIEVE THIS IS POTENTIALLY A PROBLEM WITH THIS VEHICLE AND AM REQUESTING THAT SOMEONE LOOK INTO THE MATTER. I'M HAVING TO REPLACE MY STEERING COLUMN WHICH COST $1460 AND MY EXTENDED WARRANTY JUST ENDED AND MY VEHICLE JUST CAME ON ITS 5TH YEAR. *TR
THE STEERING LOCK SENSOR IS ON. MIGHT HAVE TO CHANGE STEERING WHEEL. GOOGLED THE PROBLEM AT IT SEEMS THAT IT IS A FACTORY DEFECT AS TONS OF PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED. *TR
ON 10/27/08 I PURCHASED AND DROVE A 2007 CPO BMW X3 3.0SI SAV FROM BMW ENCINITAS IN CALIFORNIA. FROM THE TIME I DROVE VEHICLE FROM THE LOT TO MY HOME THE X3 PULLED TO THE RIGHT. ON 11/06/08 I TOOK THE VEHICLE BACK TO BMW ENCIITAS. THE DEALER PERFORMED A FOUR WHEEL ALIGNMENT AND RELEASED THE VEHICLE TO ME. DURING DRIVING THE VEHICLE HOME THE CAR STILL PULLED TO THE RIGHT, MAKING IT UNSAFE TO DRIVE. ON 11/13/08 I TOOK VEHICLE BACK TO DEALER FOR SERVICE. THE DEALER PERFORMED A WHEEL ALIGNMENT AGAIN, AND ADJUSTED THE CAMBER TO FAVOR THE LEFT SIDE. ACCORDING TO THE SHOP FOREMAN, A DRIVING TEST WAS CONDUCTED AND REPORTED THAT THE VEHICLE DROVE STRAIGHT AND RELEASED THE VEHICLE TO ME. AFTER I DROVE THE VEHICLE HOME THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO PULL OR VEERED TO THE RIGHT. AGAIN THIS MAKES THE VEHICLE UNSAFE TO DRIVE AND DIFFICULT TO CONTROL THE STEERING. BMW OF USA IS REFUSING TO ACCEPT THAT A PROBLEM EXISTS WITH VEHICLE AFTER SEVERAL REPAIR ATTEMPTS. *TR