2013 Bmw X3 XDRIVE35I - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

"the timing chain guide broke while i was driving on the highway. the broken guide did not allow oil to lubricate the engine which destroyed the engine. bmw settled a class action lawsuit several years ago due to the premature failure of the primary and secondary timing chain assemblies for n20 & n26 engines. the time limit has expired for me to file a claim. however, owners of these vehicles should have been notified of this documented and potentially extremely hazardous problem. my guess is that there are thousands of these vehicles on the road with this defective part that could suddenly cause the engine to cease working, resulting in an accident that could cause injury or death."

"drive train warning goes off & the n20 timing chain belt needs replaced. very dangerous when driving. car goes in limp mode, not being able to go over 30th. engine blows if not fixed immediately. quoted 7,000-10,000 to fix. more than vehicle is worth. happened 3 weeks after warranty expired. has never failed inspection previously and havent any issues. should be recalled for being a lemon. 2013 bmw x3 28i."

"the engine malfunction light came on, it was later diagnosed as the timing chain. this was especially scary as i was not close to my home. i looked into this issue and it is very common. it is a shame that this is not an active recall. up until that point there had been no issues. this was the second incident with this vehicle and a timing chain failure, it is also the 3rd power train related incident."

"it appears that bmw may be hiding a fact from customers and victims and refuses to issue a class action or address concerns for cars older than 2015. bmw na’s negligence has caused too many hardships for many people and today is the day they need to stop; this company needs to be held responsible for its actions and stop blaming the consumer. as a result, you have been impacted by this issue with your 2013 bmw x3 i28 4-cylinder turbo with 70,383 miles, i purchased the vehicle with 56,832 miles on it. after owning the car for a year and a half (11/12/2020 – 07/14/2022) and only 13,551 miles driven, i was forced to voluntarily give it back to the finance company due to financial hardship caused by the car issues. the vehicle had oil issues on several occasions which i always ensured i had extra in my vehicle, however, since bmw na offered no solutions to the n20 engine, the maintenance centers did nothing for a solution. as a 52-year-old male with disabilities, you relied on bmw for the maintenance of your car, which was serviced at a bmw service center in ft. lauderdale, fl. in june of 2022, i boarded the autotrain from florida to virginia, this was to ensure i didn’t add more wear and tear, as well as mileage on my vehicle, it was cleared to travel a month earlier by bmw of fort lauderdale. while traveling from buffalo, ny to rhode island on july 14th, 2022, the engine suddenly died on me while driving on the nys thruway, which could have been a potentially deadly situation. i had the car towed to towne bmw in williamsville, ny, where they conducted a diagnostic and claimed the problem was just the battery. however, the engine died again as soon as you left the dealership, and they claimed it had seized up. they refused to take responsibility and never provided a clear diagnosis of what they had done on both days. when i contacted bmw north america, they accused me of being negligent with your vehicle, despite having documentation from fort lauderdale bmw to p"

"march 9, 2023 @ 7: 53 pm, timing chain failure. mechanic confirmed march 10, 2023 at 11:10 am. that i need a new engine due to this failure. had oil changed less then 1000 miles prior to this failure. never received recall notice for this timing chain issue, which is a class action lawsuit against bmw. my x3 has only 95000 miles on. the engine in my 2013 x3 is the n20 which is what this lawsuit is about. i was driving on a highway 60 mph when "oil dangerously low, drive moderately, pull over and shut off engine warning appeared on dash. less than 30 seconds later "drivetrain malfunction" then appeared on dash. engine stopped, the engine just stopped while i was going 60 mph on a major highway. i was able to gradually coast off highway on the exit i was approaching. coasted into a shopping plaza where auto stopped in the centre of the parking lot and stopped. could not move it or get it out of park to push it out of the path of other cars entering and exiting the plaza. bmw should have notified me of this pending issue; they should be responsible for the repair of my x3."

"on tuesday, january 31, 2023, my engine failed while driving my car. the answers to your questions regarding the incident are listed below: •component or system that failed: the engine failed. •safety risk: my safety, as well as the safety of others was at risk. i was driving and suddenly without warning, i felt a strong jolt and noticed a loss of power. i looked down and noticed that my car shifted into neutral without warning. i tried to move the gear back into drive, but it would not shift. i had just enough power to glide into a parking lot and i turned the car off hoping i would restart it to place the car back into gear. after i turned the car off, it would not start and i had the car towed to the dealership. this is a dangerous safety issue and i could have been in a serious accident because my car suddenly stopped while driving. this could have placed other drivers at risk as well. after my incident, i researched the issue and discovered that other bmw x3 owners have had engine failures as well. this issue is known by bmw and they are putting their customers at risk by not issuing a recall for this problem. •problem confirmed by dealer: yes, the bmw dealership did confirm that it was an engine failure. please see attached file for details. •vehicle component been inspected: the vehicle has not been inspected by parties other than the dealership. •prior warnings: before my engine failed, i did not receive any warning lights or messages. also, my car did not exhibit any other symptoms. in fact, my car was repaired for another issue two weeks before my engine failed and the dealership did not alert me to any engine issues. lastly, they ran a diagnostic on my car when i got new brakes in december and there were no issues related to the engine."

"the vehicle (at 102k mileage) failed to start at the heavy traffic interaction without any warning signs, and was then towed to a local bmw shop. a mechanic found the broken timing chain guard with many debris of plastic guard recovered from the engine during repairing. a total cost to replace the timing chain was $3685.05. the vehicle had oil change at a local bmw dealership about 6 months before the incident."

"engine failure defective timing chain and components bmw part/guide unstable plastic on low mileage vehicle"

"i have a 2013 bmw x3 i28 4-cylinder turbo with 70 383 miles. i have maintained it regularly through my bmw service center here in ft. lauderdale, fl. i was away and had my car since i brought it north on the auto train to save wear and tear and mileage. unfortunately, on july 14th, i was headed from buffalo, ny, to rhode island on the nys thruway when my engine died on me; thank god i could get it to a shoulder, or i would have been dead, seeing there were a few semis behind me. i called a tow truck a nightmare since tow companies have a monopoly on towing off state thruways. it was towed to towne bmw in williamsville, ny, they did a diagnostic, and it was only the battery, so they said. so i went and returned my rental car and paid my bill, the time was now 6:00 pm, and i was good to go, so they said i didn't even make it across the street, and the engine did the same thing. this time they tell me my engine has seized up, and oh well, too bad, not their problem. they never gave me a diagnosis of what was completed on both days, and they continued to make a new narrative on the issue. in both instances, a light that said turn the engine off appeared after the engine shut down. i have contacted bmw north america, but they haven't done anything. best, ph"

"the timing chain broke at highway speed causing the engine to become completely inoperable. apparently this is extremely common in the bmw n20 engins. this is extremely dangerous considering literally everything from driving to steering and braking is powered by the engine. when it fails this puts people in severe situations. please do something to make bmw remedy this situation."