2012 Bmw X3 XDRIVE35I - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

"my wife was driving the vehicle on the highway, and the power steering failed causing a loss of control of the vehicle. luckily she was not injured and the vehicle drifted to the right hand lane and off onto the shoulder. after the vehicle was brought home, the electronic steering unit later reset itself after the ignition had been turned off and back on again."

"when driving on the highway for more than 10 minutes in warm weather, the steering feels "sticky" and is hard to keep in the lane. it feels as though you are fighting to make the small corrections necessary to keep the car from drifting outside the lane, and that the steering is "locked" into position. it makes driving the car for an extended period on the highway unbearable. this problem has been reported in online bmw forums by multiple other bmw x3 owners. neither the dealership nor an independent repair shop can identify what causes the issue, nor how to fix it. a number of solutions have been tried: new battery, new steering module software, a replacement steering shaft, and an alignment. none have fixed the issue. the problem has also been reported to bmw usa."

"steering is sticky and difficult to control when driving straight on the highway in warmer weather."

"when the temperature is above 90-degrees and while driving on a straight highway, the steering gets stiff and the car is difficult to steer. after many miles of this type of difficult driving across several days, the stiffness disappears. first occurred a year ago; went away, returned last month."

"while driving at highway speeds the steering becomes stiff and sticky causing decreased responsiveness on control of the vehicle. as a result it takes extra effort on traveling in a straight line. once the sticking is released could cause the driver to overcompensate the steering in one direction or another. i feel this is a major safety concern that needs immediate attention."

"electronic steering suddenly fails and car becomes instantly not drivable. loss of steering control can cause accident. *tr"

"tl* the contact owns a 2012 bmw x3. the contact stated that while driving 45 mph, the power steering system malfunctioned and caused the contact to experience extreme difficulty in steering the vehicle. the contact took the vehicle to a dealer for a diagnostic test however, the test results were unknown. the failure mileage was 6,200."

"on 19 october my wife and i drove our new bmw x3 to a shopping center at the corner of gosnell and virginia route 7 near tysons corner virginia. when we attempted to drive the x3 out of the parking lot the steering wheel locked. the steering wheel could not be turned using both hands. the x3 would go forward. it would go backwards. however, the steering wheel would not turn to the left or right. after 30 to 45 minutes the tow truck arrived and i was able to turn the steering wheel. the x3 was towed to the bmw dealer. the failure was attributed to a steering angle sensor out of position. in my opinion, if the failure had occurred on the highway, we could have had a serious accident."