2011 BMW X3 Powertrain & Transmission Problems

I own a 2011 BMW X3 with an N55 engine and am experiencing VANOS-related issues consistent with TSB SIB 11 02 13 and Recall 23V-707. While my VIN isn’t currently listed, my vehicle falls within the affected model years, and I’m seeing identical DME fault codes (130E11, 120408) and drivability symptoms. I’m concerned about potential engine damage and request an inspection and consideration for goodwill repair or inclusion in the recall.

In July 2022, the VANOS bolts in my 2011 BMW X3 xDrive28i failed, causing major internal engine damage. This is the exact defect later identified under BMW Recall 23V-707. The bolts sheared off while driving, disabling the vehicle. I paid $5,000 out of pocket for full repairs using OEM parts at Masny Motorwerks (BMW specialist in Rochester, NY). BMW did not issue the recall until more than two years later. At that time, there was no remedy available. A fix was not released until December 2024. I followed BMW’s reimbursement process: I visited BMW of Rochester in person on January 28, 2025 and submitted my invoice to the service advisor. I followed up by phone twice — no response. I submitted a full reimbursement claim to BMW North America on March 31, 2025 with all documentation. BMW replied on April 8 with a boilerplate response redirecting me back to the same dealership. I then followed up again with full documentation. BMW replied again, refusing to take responsibility and offering no support. I have submitted everything twice and followed the TREAD Act process in good faith. BMW has failed to reimburse me or process the claim properly.

I AM CONSTANTLY GETTING DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION ERROR MESSAGES. THE CAR'S PERFORMANCE IS REALLY BAD. NOT GETTING FULL POWER. CAR HAS STARTED SHAKING A LITTLE. ALSO EXHAUST SOUNDS LOUDER THAN IT SHOULD.

BMW X3 XDRVIE35I POWER TRAIN MALFUNCTION SHOWED UP VERY FREQUENTLY WHILE I DROVE ON HIGHWAY, SHUDDERING VIOLENTLY AND I HAD TO STOP THE VEHICLE. THIS PROBLEM BECAME A SERIOUS ISSUE LATELY THAT I COULD NO LONGER DRIVE MY X3 ANYMORE. I MADE AN APPOINTMENT AT A LOCAL BNW DEALERSHIP AND HOPE THEY WOULD TAKE CARE OF IT.

SUA. I WAS IN A FRIGHTENING ACCIDENT ATTEMPTING TO PARK MY CAR ON THE ROOFTOP OF MY 4 STORY OFFICE BUILDING. I PULLED INTO A SPACE ON THE EDGE OF THE LOT AND CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. MY FOOT WAS ON THE BRAKE, I WAS ABOUT TO PUT THE CAR IN PARK WHEN THE ENGINE LOUDLY AND SUDDENLY REVVED AND THE CAR SURGED FORWARD UP ONTO A CONCRETE CURB AND RAMMED INTO A 4 FT HIGH CONCRETE RETAINING WALL. THE FORCE OF THE IMPACT TORE THE WALL APART FROM THE ROOF - MY CAR WAS STILL ACCELERATING, WHEELS SPINNING. THE BROKE WALL STOPPED BY CAR FROM COMPLETELY GOING OVER AND I WAS ABLE TO TURN THE ENGINE OFF AND GET OUT. THERE WERE WITNESSES WHO CAN VERIFY THAT I WAS AT A COMPLETE STOP, BRAKE LIGHTS ON AND IT ALL HAPPENED IN A FEW SECONDS. IT WAS SO SHOCKING THAT I WILL NEVER DRIVE A BMW AGAIN.

POWER TRAIN MALFUNCTION NOTE APPEARED. TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP AND BATTERY WAS REPLACED. IT HAPPENED AGAIN ONE WEEK LATER. THEY REPLACED THE COILS. THE WARNING APPEARED AGAIN.

RECALL 16V311000,DRIVE SHIFT, MY CAR HAS DEVELOP THE SAME ISSUE THE OTHER MODELS OF THE SAME YEAR WHEN THIS RECALL WAS ISSUED,HOWEVER MY MODEL X3 IS NOT ON THIS RECALL.IF DRIVE SHIFTS BRAKES IN MY CAR DOES THIS MEAN IT COULDN'T CAUSE ME TO HAVE A ACCIDENT? THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.PLEASE ADVISE.

WHILE DRIVING ON A TX STATE HIGHWAY ON 13AUG2016 THE BMW X3 35I SUDDENLY STARTED SHIFTING ROUGH AND WOULD DROP IN AND OUT OF OD WITHOUT PROMPTING. ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY WE GOT A MESSAGE ON THE DISPLAY, DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION, DRIVE MODERATELY.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 BMW X3. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE SHOOK VIOLENTLY AND THE TRANSMISSION WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED WHILE TRAVELING VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER WHO REPROGRAMMED THE COMPUTER BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 26,000. THE VIN WAS UNAVAILABLE.

WE LEASED THE ABOVE BMW X3DRIVE 35I (SHIPPED ON 3.30.2011) FROM HUSKER AUTO GROUP, BMW OF LINCOLN, NE ON MARCH 30, 2011 FOR A 3-YEAR PERIOD. IN MID APRIL I NOTICED A VERY LOUD NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE AFTER I TURNED THE CAR OFF. THE CAR HAD 567 MILES ON THE ODOMETER AND WAS TAKEN BACK TO BMW OF LINCOLN FOR REPAIRS ON APRIL 26, 2011. WE WERE TOLD THE MAIN CRANKCASE SEAL WAS CAUSING HIGH PRESSURES AND WAS THE PROBLEM. APPARENTLY REPLACING THE VALVE COVERS WOULD RESULT IN IT BEING FIXED. WITHIN A WEEK, I NOTED THE EXACT SAME NOISE. THE CAR NOW HAD 1391 MILES ON THE ODOMETER WAS AGAIN RETURNED TO BMW OF LINCOLN ON MAY 12, 2011. THIS TIME I WAS TOLD THE MASTER SEAL WAS BROKEN. BMW OF LINCOLN REMOVED THE TRANSMISSION AND REPLACED THE REAR MAIN CRANKCASE SEAL. ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2011, WE WERE DRIVING AT 25 MILES/HOUR WHEN THE DASH LIT UP WITH A DRIVE TRANSMISSION ALERT. IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER, WE HEARD AN EXTREMELY LOUD SOUND COMING FROM UNDER THE CAR. IT SOUNDED LIKE THE CAR HAD BROKEN IN HALF AND THE ENTIRE ENGINE HAD FALLEN OUT. THE DASH THEN DISPLAYED A CHASSIS ALERT FOLLOWED BY A TRANSMISSION ALERT. THE CAR ROLLED BACKWARDS DESPITE BEING PUT IN PARK. BARON BMW'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT REPORTS THERE HAS BEEN A TOTAL DISRUPTION OF ALL THE DRIVESHAFT AND THE TRANSMISSION, FLANGES AND EBOW VALVE (?) AS WELL AS OTHER SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS. SOME REPLACEMENT PARTS HAVE TO BE ORDERED FROM GERMANY. WE WERE TOLD THAT WE WERE EXTREMELY LUCKY TO HAVE BEEN TRAVELING AT SUCH A LOW SPEED AND THAT IF IT HAD OCCURRED AT 70MPH IT COULD HAVE HAD FATAL CONSEQUENCES. *TR

THE VEHICLE IS HESITATING WHEN SHIFTING FROM FIRST TO SECOND GEAR, CAUSING A LAG IN ACCELERATION, PARTICULARLY ON HILLS OR WHEN STARTING OUT FROM A STOP.

CAR VEERING TO THE RIGHT, INCREASED ON SUDDEN STOPS; HAPPENS AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. THE PROMINENT AND DANGEROUS CONDITION IS LAG IN ACCELERATION. SENT THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL TO DEALER& BMW ALONG WITH 3 SERVICE REPORTS FROM DEALER ATTEMPTS TO ADDRESS: "THIS X3 3.5I WITH ALL IT IS ELECTRONIC ENGINE/DRIVE TRAIN CONTROLS IS A NIGHTMARE. IT?S A HUGE DESIGN FLAW THAT IS GOING TO KILL SOMEONE EVENTUALLY. YET AGAIN, YESTERDAY, I FELT UNSAFE DUE TO THE HESITATION. THE CAR DIDN'T MOVE FOR ABOUT A SECOND OR TWO WHEN I TRIED TO MAKE A LEFT TURN IN AN INTERSECTION AND THEN AGAIN WHEN I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY CHANGING LANES. THERE WERE CARS HEADING TOWARDS ME BUT THE INITIAL DISTANCE WAS QUITE COMFORTABLE AND SAFE. WITH THE HESITATION OF THE X3, I WAS ACTUALLY IN A PANIC AND STEPPED REALLY HARD ON THE GAS PEDAL TO AVOID A POTENTIAL COLLISION. AND SINCE THEN I HAVE BEEN STEPPING ON THE GAS PEDAL MUCH HARDER, GUZZLING GAS, NOT TO MENTION ROUGH STARTS OFF OF A FULL STOP. I HAVE SEEN COUNTLESS INTERNET THREADS OF PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE SAME THING WITH THE X3 MODEL, BOTH VERSIONS, HOWEVER EQUIPPED. I WOULD STRONGLY SUGGEST SOMEONE LOOK AT HOW THIS CAR?S SOFTWARE IS FAILING TO FUNCTION AND FIX THIS THING. I WILL REPORT THE PROBLEM TO THE APPROPRIATE GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES. THE VEERING IS STILL THERE AND EVENTUALLY I WILL COME TO PASS THE ISSUE WITH THE LOW TREAD LIFE RUN-FLATS BMW'S 2-23-11 VISIT, DEALER ALIGNED VEHICLE, KEPT CAR ONE DAY DUE TO FACTORY SPECS NOT YET BEING LOADED ON NEW VEHICLE MODEL; ON 7-13-11, DEALER NOTED CAR LEFT IN TRANSPORT MODE, REMOVED CODES FROM COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND CAR DROVE OK FOR 4 DAYS; 7-23-11 TOOK IT BACK FOR SAME ISSUE AS NOTED ABOVE WITH LAG IN ACCELERATION BECOMING DANGEROUS AND STILL VEERING, THIS TIME DEALER NOTED NOTHING WRONG WITH CAR AFTER TEST DRIVE COMPARISON. GAVE CAR BACK, STILL HAVE ISSUES WHICH PROMPTED E-MAIL.