Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11281479

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2019 BMW X5

Manufacturer

BMW of North America, LLC

Components

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Dates

Incident: 05/01/2019
Filed: 11/21/2019

Owner complaint summary

INTERMITTENTLY AND WITHOUT EXPLANATION THE VEHICLE CANNOT BE STARTED USING NORMAL PROCEDURE EVEN THOUGH THE KEY FOB IS ON THE DRIVER'S PERSON. SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED NEW IN APRIL 2019, THE DEALERSHIP HAS HAD FIVE OPPORTUNITIES TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM WITHOUT SUCCESS. I HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED THAT SHOULD THE VEHICLE FAIL TO START NORMALLY, RETRIEVE THE FOB; LOCK AND UNLOCK THE VEHICLE USING THE KEY FOB AND THEN START THE VEHICLE USING THE FOB WHICH (DEALERSHIP LANGUAGE HERE) HAS BEEN "AWAKENED." AS A SEMI DISABLED 73 YEAR OLD MALE THIS NECESSITATES THAT I EXIT THE VEHICLE AND, IN STANDING POSITION, CREATE THE ABILITY TO REMOVE THE KEY FOB FROM MY FRONT PANT POCKET IN ORDER TO FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE TO "AWAKEN" THE KEY FOB FOR PURPOSES OF STARTING THE VEHICLE. I CAN THINK OF ANY NUMBER OF SITUATIONS IN WHICH THIS COULD CREATE A HAZARDOUS SITUATION AND AM THEREFORE SUBMITTING THE PROBLEM TO NTSB FOR REVIEW.

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11281479). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11281479. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.