2020 Bmw X3 - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2020 BMW X3 SUV AWD has an excellent overall safety rating of 5, with top scores in various crash categories including front crash, side crash, and side pole crash. It also comes equipped with electronic stability control and forward collision warning as standard features, providing additional safety measures for the driver and passengers. Additionally, the car offers lane departure warning as an optional feature for further safety enhancement.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the vehicle has had 45 complaints reported and 13 recalls issued. While the number of complaints is relatively high, it is important to note that the car's strong safety ratings and advanced safety features contribute significantly to its overall safety performance. It is recommended for drivers looking for a safe and reliable SUV option.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

45

Recall Count

13

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

5/5

Search Vehicle Details

Advanced Search

The advanced search lets you search by safety ratings and features. This will return a list of vehicles that match your search criteria.

Safety Features

2020 BMW X3 SUV AWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2020 BMW X3 SUV AWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

Standard
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

Optional

2020 BMW X3 SUV AWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2020 BMW X3 SUV AWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2020 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating Not Rated 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated 5 5

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2020 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2020 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2020 Bmw X3

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"was driving the vehicle home and while driving i heard a loud pop and a thump. had the vehicle towed home to see that the real differential bolt had sheared off the head!"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-08-07
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2020 bmw x3. the contact stated while driving 10-15 mph, he heard an abnormal noise from the rear differential bolt. the contact stated no warning light was illuminated. the contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 35,000."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2024-03-05
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2020 bmw x3. the contact stated while accelerating from a stop, there was a loud, popping sound coming from the vehicle. there was no warning light illuminated. the contact inspected the vehicle and discovered that the upper rear differential mounting bolt head had sheared off. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and the failure was confirmed. the vehicle was repaired under warranty. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 36,000."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2024-09-05
Complaint:
"the issue is with the rear differential carrier bolt, part # 33176760336. this bolt shears at the hex head and causes the differential assembly to misalign with the rest of the driveline components and causes further failures of the driveshaft and other items. just in the past month i have seen several people post on the bmw x3m facebook groups and also on internet forums about their broken bolt causing issues. the oem bolt is a 10.9 grade bolt that does not appear to be able to take the stress put on it for daily driving. my car is exhibiting symptoms that others have heard in their cars before the failure occurred, clunking when putting the car into drive or reverse. this can also be heard while going into second gear and driving at 5-20mph on light throttle then letting off the gas pedal and getting back on, this will cause the differential to clunk back onto the bolt and off. this is a failure due to a simple bolt component that could be enhanced by bmw to a higher tensile strength to avoid this situation from happening on the highway."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-07-06
Complaint:
"consistently breaking differential bolt that hold the rear differential in place, very widespread issue as well as being consistently noted in forums. also a high number of differential completely failing across all years. mine failed recently, two other vehicles at the same dealership had a broken differential. there needs to be a recall on both of these issues."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-02-06
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2020 bmw x3. the contact stated that while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle made an abnormal sound. the contact stated he self-inspected the vehicle and noticed a loosened blot in the rear differential. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the failure was a common failure with the year, make, and model. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to file a complaint with the nhtsa hotline. the failure mileage was approximately 25,000."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-07-05
Complaint:
"the rear differential bolt is a known failure point on these cars. i see it time and time again where there is a clunk noise coming from the rear of the car and sure enough, the bolt has broken on the rear differential and leaves the car undriveable. bmw has said that they are unable to do anything without nhtsa informing them of the issue. there needs to be a recall or active service bulletin to address this issue. this failure is not a matter of “if”, it is a matter of “when”. there needs to be a stronger bolt in place otherwise it is a near $5000 repair to replace the rear differential if not covered under warranty."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-01-06
Complaint:
"rear differential disconnected from vehicle due to mounting bolt snapping, rear differential was also previously replaced by bmw before i purchased vehicles due to rear differential failure"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-01-03
Complaint:
"the differential is making clicking noises at low speed especially when on and off the gas."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-03-05
Complaint:
"vehicle engine rpm will arbitrarily increase from 500-600 rpm to 1200-1500 rpm while idling in drive and at operating temperature, such as at a stoplight or in a drive-through. the vehicle also makes a distinct clunking sound under normal stop-and-go driving conditions."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-07-02

Recalls for the 2020 Bmw X3

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"bmw of north america, llc (bmw) is recalling certain 2020-2021 x3 sdrive 30i, x3 xdrive 30i, x3m 40i, x3 xdrive 30e, x4 xdrive 30i, x4m 40i, 530i, 540i, 540i xdrive, m550i xdrive, m5, 550e, 550e xdrive, and 550e iperformance vehicles. a small portion of the rearview image may be slightly obscured. as such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard number 111, "rear visibility.""
Consequence:
If the driver relies on only the rearview camera image, the reduced rearview image view can increase the risk of a crash or injury.
Remedy:

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, program the rearview camera with updated software. The recall began November 18, 2020. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

Component(s) Involved: BACK OVER PREVENTION > SENSING SYSTEM > CAMERA
Date of incident: 2020-09-30
Recall:
"bmw of north america, llc (bmw) is recalling certain 2019-2021 x3 sdrive30i, x3 xdrive30i, x3 m40i, x3m, x4 xdrive30i, x4 m40i, m550i, x4m, x5 sdrive40i, x5 xdrive40i, x5 xdrive50i, x5m, x5 m50i, x7 xdrive40i, x7 xdrive50i, x7 m50i, alpina xb7, 330i, 330i xdrive, m340i, m340i xdrive, and 8 series coupe, convertible and grand coupe, 840i, 840i xdrive, m850i xdrive, m8, 2020-2021 530e, 530e xdrive, 330e, 330e xdrive, 745le, 745le xdrive, x5 xdrive45e, x3 xdrive30e, x6 sdrive40i, x6 xdrive40i, x6 xdrive50i, x6 m50i, x6m, 530i, 530i xdrive, 540i, 540i xdrive, m550i xdrive, m5, 740i, 740li, 740li xdrive, m760i drive, m760li xdrive, 750li xdrive alpina, alpina b7 xdrive, and 2021 4 series coupe 430i, 430i xdrive, m440i xdrive vehicles. when shifting into reverse, a small portion of the rearview image may be obscured, or the screen may not illuminate. as such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor..."
Consequence:
If the driver relies on only the rearview camera image, the missing or reduced rearview image view can increase the risk of a crash or injury.
Remedy:

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the rearview camera software and update it if necessary, free of charge. The recall began April 16, 2021. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

Component(s) Involved: BACK OVER PREVENTION > SENSING SYSTEM > CAMERA
Date of incident: 2021-02-19
Recall:
"bmw of north america, llc (bmw) is recalling certain 2018 540d, 2018-2020 530i, 530i xdrive, 540i, 540i xdrive, m550i xdrive, m5, 530e, 530e xdrive, x3 sdrive, x3 xdrive, x3 m40i, x3 m, and 2019-2020 x4 xdrive, x4 m40i, x4 m, x7 xdrive, x7 m50i, 740li, 740li xdrive, 750li, 750li xdrive, 8 series convertible and coupe 840i, 840i xdrive, m850i xdrive, x5 sdrive, x5 xdrive, x5 m50i, x6 xdrive, x6 m50i, 330i, 330i xdrive, m340i, m340i xdrive, z4 sdrive, z4 m40i, 740le xdrive and 745le xdrive, 2018-2019 640i xdrive gran turismo and rolls-royce phantom, 2019 m850i xdrive gran coupe and rolls-royce cullinan and 2020 toyota supra vehicles. the back-up camera and display settings can be adjusted such that the rear view image is no longer visible and the system will retain that setting the next time the vehicle is placed in reverse. as such, these vehicles fail to comply with the..."
Consequence:
The lack of an image in the back-up camera display increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will update the back-up camera software, free of charge. The recall began November 8, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Rolls-Royce at 1-877-877-3735. Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.

Component(s) Involved: BACK OVER PREVENTION > SENSING SYSTEM > CAMERA
Date of incident: 2019-09-27
Recall:
"bmw of north america, llc (bmw) is recalling certain 2020 x3 sdrive40i, x3 xdrive40i and x3m40i vehicles. these vehicles were not programmed with rearview camera software during assembly, therefore, when the transmission is shifted to reverse, a rearview image is not displayed. as such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard number 111, "rearview mirrors.""
Consequence:
An inoperative rearview camera display can increase the risk of a crash when reversing.
Remedy:

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will program the affected vehicles with rearview camera software, free of charge. The recall began August 14, 2020. All vehicles have been remedied as of November 9, 2020. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

Component(s) Involved: BACK OVER PREVENTION > SENSING SYSTEM > CAMERA
Date of incident: 2020-07-29

BMW Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

BMW ranks 12 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

Related Vehicles

Why not check out other BMW vehicles?

2016 M3
BMW
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 5
  • Recall Count: 3
View Car
2024 X4 M
BMW
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 0
  • Recall Count: 0
View Car
2023 2 SERIES COUPE
BMW
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 2
  • Recall Count: 2
View Car
2024 M8 GRAN COUPE
BMW
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 0
  • Recall Count: 0
View Car