BMW X3 hesitation on acceleration

markdi · June 2007

My dealer actually acknowledged the problem. The service department was aware of the issue. They where aware that software updates could fix it.
Although, there was one person I spoke with, and I do not know their title, actually told me that the car was perfectly fine, but BMW would program it for my driving style. I find it hard to believe that I would get my own custom programming! That was nonsense. :lemon:

markdi · June 2007

In my state of PA, the dealer has 3 attempts to fix the problem. This is a MAJOR safety issue in my opinion. This is not a minor inconvenience. They have to fix it 100 percent, or replace the vehicle, or refund your money. Simple as that. I already spoke with an attorney, and PA laws will make the car manufacturer pay for the legal costs. It wont cost me a penny. I dont want to go that route. I actually like the car-that is why I bought it! BMW's are nice cars. Apparently they have a problem with this one that they just need to fix. Unfortunately I am not paying for a car with THEIR problems! I just want it to work properly!!

vsaxena · June 2007

Thanks steve.

Hope you folks are able to enjoy your car as much as I do. I too have felt the hesitation and jerk and it is very easy to explain why it is happening. That is why not doing what causes it to downshift will require some adaptation of the driving habits.

The manufacturers have to meet their mpg efficiency quotas. That is why they have such tricks like starting from the 2nd gear, or reducing gas when it anticipates a stop.

Instead of lawyers, NHTSA, etc., why dont you give it a try?

markdi · June 2007

You gotta be kidding me? Vsaxena, after reading all of your posts, I have not found anywhere where you said that you felt the hesitation problem until in the last one.
Cars have been around for years and years, and now you think that thousands of x3 owners should suddenly change the way they drive? Is this precious BMW so utterly ahead of our time? That is absurd! Listen....when I press the gas with constant pressure, without letting up, it still hesitates. I can press it gently, or floor it, and it will still stumble and hesitate at times. I pulled out the other day and it stumbled and hesitated so bad, that I had to slam it in reverse so I would not annoy the oncoming traffic. Did you ever have to do that with ANY car? So much for that theory.
And as far as mpg efficiency quotas are concerned, this car is not really fuel efficient at all. I did not buy it for that purpose. I only get 16mpg in the city-not very impressive at all.
I can explain the hesitation very easily-the software program that controls the transmission and throttle control still has issues!
My car is going in next week for the third time in 3 months of owning it. How can I be happy with my purchase? How can I be enjoying this vehicle?
A BMW engineer is going to look at it.

miniok · June 2007

Just what driving habit do you suggest changing when atempting to accelerate away from a light in a straight line? Applying constant pressure in that situation results in hesitation. Any more bright ideas?

vsaxena · July 2007

All I can say is that I am thoroughly enjoying this vehicle and am not affected by the issues which seem to be bothering you so much.

If I try hard, I can reproduce the transmission behavior you have referred to. Luckily my driving style does not result in that behavior under normal driving conditions.

I like hitting it hard at the apex of the turn as much as I can; so the hesitation when you slow down during the turn does not come into play.

I either accelerate slowly from a straight-line stop (so that it doesnt downshift to 1st from 2nd) or put it in S/M1 to let it rock. The downshift from 2 to 1 does take time, since the RPMs have to go up significantly and the engine will take time to react. That is why there is the long "hesitation" before the power kicks in again.

The reason I am suggesting a change in the driving style is that most likely this is a software issue (as many of you agree). If our software is the same, then clearly it is the driving style which is affecting the reaction of the car.

We have multiple BMWs in our extended family, including two X3s, and people are very happy with the experience including the X3s.

If you value silky smooth trannies more than the blend of efficiency and performance which the BMW offers, you should have seriously driven the Lexus. And never buy a new car, especially if it is a new brand, without a good test-drive.

miniok · July 2007

You are fortunate that you are not affected by the transmissions issue.

It isn't hard to experience the transmission issue since it happens all the time without regard to dirving style.

Unlike what you seem to think, the problem happens especially bad whne accelerating slowly from a stop. It isn't as severe with more agressive driving, although still bad.

We have also had multiple BMW's, have enjoyed them tremendously, but we are willing to admit when they have a problem.

While you are gloating, keep in mind that we did drive the X-3, it did not have a problem, and BMW is not a new brand to us.

vsaxena · July 2007

Best of luck in getting this resolved.

As I think more about it, it could be an issue related to sensors. The 2006 5 series had a bad steering position sensor which had to be recalled. When a car has such complex systems, any part of the chain can cause a problem. The 2007 x3 has a new tranny which might be exacerbating the problem. One big challenge with such systems is that if the self-check diagnostics do not detect the problem, it is almost impossible to diagnose except on a test-rig in a lab.

jrynn · July 2007

Sorry to hear that a handful of X3 owners have had transmission issues. The transmission in my 2006 X3 3.0 has been perfectly fine.

The only thing even remotely resembling hesitation that I've experienced has come after my Volvo driving wife has spent some time in the X3's driver's seat where the adaptive transmission has come to expect lead-footed pressure on the accelerator. But the X3 has also quickly "re"-adapted to my style.

markdi · July 2007

Plain and simple-there you have it.
3000 miles on a brand new car. Latest software update. Sure it is better, but it STILL hesitates, and you dont know when it will happen. There is NO performance in hesitation! So I know BMW did not engineer performance into this tranny.
SD mode is useless because the downshifting is horribly rough and uncomfortable. Steptronic is lame as well, since the tranny program will override your commands. This is a sav. It should not drive like a MACK truck.

gmacpany · July 2007

Horrible hesitation, horrible steering, just God awful BMW.

Major mistake in leasing this SUV. With only 300 miles on it taking it in for service this Friday.

Marc

arthurw · July 2007

Latest communication with my dealer:
Im just taking a few minutes to document what weve talk about yesterday. My 2007 X3 was brought in to Park Ave. BMW by my son for emergency service on the morning of 4/23/2007 with only a few thousand miles on it. The claim check number on the vehicle was #2318 (I have it). On the evening of 4/22/2007, I was traveling over the GW Bridge when the X3 lost all forward mobility and started to slow completely down in the middle of traffic. I pushed the gas pedal and the engine revved but it didnt help. I noticed that the D indicator wasnt showing. I also noticed a transmission waning indicator was amber on the console. I shifted the X3 into S for sports drive and the D came back up (not the S) and the vehicle continued to move staying in one gear until I was able to exit off of the bridge. When I pulled next to the curb and attempted to put the X3 in reverse it wouldnt move. After turning the X3 off and letting the vehicle rest for 10 minutes, I was able to resume driving and the warning indicator did not appear again. The next morning the X3 was brought in by my son as mentioned above. After several hours, the vehicle was brought out and my son was told that alarms were cleared and adjustments made and that all would be OK. He wasnt given any service report of the work done I am amazed that Park Ave BMW claims there is no record of this service. Especially since the X3 hasnt been right since then. So, after four more visits to your service area and your recent statement that the car is functioning as it should, I started to do some research and heres what I found and, I think the reason why BMW may not want anything specific recorded about this problem.

Please follow this URL, http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f11ffdc/13. The problems detailed about how dangerous the hesitation I am experiencing is explained by numerous other X3 owners and they say it better than I can. I am most upset at the fact that initially Larry W. told me he never heard of any problems with X3s of the type I am having. The best explaination I can give about what BMW did that caused some of my problem from the many postings was:

In DRIVE mode the trans software is programmed to start off in second gear as an economy measure to help save gas. BMW did that on purpose. If you're fairly light on the throttle it will stay in Second, accelerate, and eventually shift into Third, Fourth and Fifth. Try it out and count the shifts. (You may need to watch the tach to notice the shifts, this trans can be really smooth at very light throttle and the higher gear shifts may only vary a few hundred rpm)

But if you put a little more foot into the throttle on take-off (i.e.: from a dead stop) the trans will shift down from Second to First to give you better acceleration. This is what it is supposed to do. It happens in an instant but you can still feel the car start to move, then "hesitate" from the shift, and then take off. If you have a light enough foot it may never even happen to you. If your foot is rather heavy you may notice it more at first but it will "teach" your trans really quick that you want a fast start most of the time.

Now in SPORT mode the trans ALWAYS starts in first, thus no "hesitation". The drawback to always using SPORT mode to avoid the "hesitation" (gear change) is that it almost NEVER shifts into Fifth gear in city driving. The vehicle has to reach a certain speed before it will upshift to Fifth. That can really hurt your mileage in town if you never get over 35-45 mph. AND your trans never gets a chance to "adapt" to your style in DRIVE mode.

Nevertheless, what really sticks out is the concern about how dangerous many of the X3 owners feel the hesitation problem is. I have experienced it first hand and am afraid to pull out of a gas station onto a highway without a very large open window in the road  people honk at me, but I cant trust the car. Moreover, my wife feels she cannot put our grandchildren safely in it.

Next, lets discuss the other issue  I hit the jackpot  I have both of the major, hidden problems that BMW has with this vehicle. The transmission failure I experienced and the resulting inability to shift into reverse. Its all over the place, Consumer Affairs knows it and its been there for several years  good job BMW on the PR front, if a potential buyer doesnt do their homework on the internet, theyd never know there was a problem.

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.Com

January 11, 2007

BMW owners find themselves facing thousands of dollars in transmission repair bills while the highly profitable German automaker refuses to accept any responsibility for the mounting number of failures.

The complaints being filed with ConsumerAffairs.Com are similar and describe a transmission that hesitates or refuses to be shifted into reverse.

Therefore, Phil, please dont insult my intelligence by offering that an expert take a ride with me in the car so I can show him whats wrong. You know the problem is intermittent, persistent and for the most part unfixable. Either you get a good one or you dont. If you get the good one, you are a happy X3 owner. If you get what I have, its a well-rehearsed policy line.

Let me know if you want to try the software fix again  it has improved some but not all of the issues for other owners as far as the hesitation goes. In the mean time, Im looking for a new group that wants to do a class action against BMW and sending this e-mail to as many interested parties as I can find.

Who would have believed what BMW is knowingly doing to people.

Let me know if I should bring the loaner back today or if you want to try and improve the performance of the X3 to a non-dangerous state.

arthurw · July 2007

The BMW X3 has 3 separate buttons for the automatic seat adjustments numbered 1, 2 and 3. If the herkey-jerkey transmission adjusts over time to the "driver's style of driving", is that for driver 1, driver 2 or driver 3. I was never told by my dealer that the X3 was designed with only one driver in mind, were you????????

sansnil · July 2007

Hi,
I have the transmission hesitation problem with the new X3 I leased and am trying to find out how to tell what software versions I have installed. Does anyone know?

Thanks!

trr1 · July 2007

Car Leased in the beginning of Mar/2007

Rallye BMW, Westbury

Here is our latest update with our X3 issue. Our car has been in 3 times for the same problem. Rallye Service tried putting the fix in for the 2nd time. They had their head man worked on the car. The head tech stated he had worked on 4 such cars out of 200 sold this year and not one had come back. To top it all off the head tech test drove the car with my wife for the sole purpose of seeing if she was an erratic driver. She noticed this in the notes of the service advisor. I guess this is such a temperamental car that BMW now needs to start putting folks through driving school? 25+ years of driving experience is not good enough to drive an X3. Maybe its the shoes we are wearing?
Well, they are getting this piece of crap back once again. My wife is absolutely livid - she was making a U-turn this morning and for several seconds the X3 went into la-la land, nothing, no engine noise, no acceleration, just stayed nice and quite in the intersection while the gas pedal was being pressed down and traffic was heading towards her. The fix was re-applied about a month ago and the car had been performing better. I had noticed many times where the car would hesitate and buck forward from dead stops or in making turns but not as much as before. It had started to get worse recently. I guess the nightmare of a transmission started to 'adapt'. My wife had been ok with the car as she claimed she did not notice any major issues - until this morning. She immediately called our service advisor and after a few hours of phone tag she finally get through to him. He stated he had to talk with the service manager because there were several other car issues. I dont know if he meant X3 issues or general car issues. He assured my wife he would call back by the end of the day. No call. I am sure we will be talking with both Service and Sales in the AM as they must be putting their ducks in a row. I am sorry to say I strongly believe they will have no answers.
All and all the dealership, both sales and service, have been very accommodating - I dont hold it personally against them that they have to sell and service this crap. This is clearly coming from the top down. BMW North America is clearly aware of this major safety issue yet they continue to sell these unsafe vehicles. We have leased for ~15 years and never had any issues. This is the first BMW we have leased. This car is a nightmare. You folks that feel the need to chime in on how great your cars are should feel very lucky as many of us are suffering months of agony and wasted time with this defective product.
BMW appears to be waiting for someone to get seriously injured or killed in this vehicle. I will be contacting my Attorney first thing in the morning to see what my legal options are. Its crystal clear there is no fix for this issue. I own a flawless 2004 330XI, what a disappoint.

tidester · July 2007

While you're waiting for a reply here you may also want to look at Engine Hesitation (All makes/models) in the Maintenance & Repair and section.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

aewcarman · July 2007

Has anyone noticed that while the A/C is on the engine makes a horrible sound? I have also had problems with acceleration. I drove in Sport mode with A/C and had the same problem. As soon as the A/C is off the engine sounds better but still has acceleration issues.

markdi · July 2007

Well it seems that you are having EXACTLY the same problems as I am. I am going to take this thing in for the 3rd time. I am not going to hesitate lemon law attorney if it does not perform perfectly. You are right-Somebody is going to get hurt with this car! I dont think there is a fix for it!

trr1 · July 2007

I went passed the dealership and went to corporate. They are active in trying to resolve the issue. The car is in for the 4th time. Gut feel is I will be forced to terminate the lease, I cant belive they will fix this. I asked around my office to see if someone knows someone with an X3. One guy said his son has one. Sure enough, he has the same issue. The car was in a few weeks ago. His wife drove the car since dec, 2006 and never complained. He finally drove the car and noticed it had a several sec delay. The car was leased in NJ. It went in for service 2 weeks ago for the first time. All seemed fine. Today he told me the problem is back once again. Seems BMW blew it big time with this car.

trr1 · July 2007

BMW cant fix our car. Corporate has authorized a new car for us. At least they stand by their product. We hope there will be no issues with the new vehicle.

jrynn · July 2007

"Seems BMW blew it big time with this car."

If you really believe that, it seems strange that you would accept another X3 as a replacement for your "defective" X3.

dan12 · August 2007

This probably has been asked before, but does the hesitation develop over time or is it something you can notice on a test drive. I kind of noticed a slight hesitation when I test drove the X3, X5, and 328i. All use basically the same engine and I think all start in 2nd gear by default. The X5 was a bit scary because I really had to step on the gas to get out of the way of an oncoming car. The acceleration delay was a bit of a surprise..

But I think what I experienced on these test drives is by design to save gas. Does it get worse over time?

trr1 · August 2007

It may. It did with mine. It also did with 2 other folks I spoke with. It is very inconsistent. The service department said the up and down shifting of the vehicle from different speeds is what enigneering is trying to fix. It seems to be an issue with all implementations of the adaptive transmission. It is a very tempermental transmission, unlike the prior non-adaptive transmission cars. I noticed it on the 3 series loaner cars I have been given.

tahoe07 · August 2007

Let's get it straight once and for all .... the X3 has a faulty transmission. The dealer fully admits this and they state it is a software problem. The car needs to be reprogrammed (reference SB 24-08-07). Even after reprogramming the car, the transmission is not great. The shifting is erratic in turns, in stops and on hills. Before the reprogramming the X3 is a horrendous automobile .... after reprogramming the X3 is tolerable but is surely no ultimate driving machine. I look forward to the engineers finding a fix to this maladaptive transmission. Please report your problems to the www.nhtsa.gov :sick:

dan12 · August 2007

Strange that the problem is so much worse on the X3 than the other BMWs that also have the adaptive transmission. I would expect that all of them have the same software controlling the transmission as well as the same mechanical parts. While the 328i and the X5 3.0 also start in 2nd gear and are therefore slower to start, I don't see lots of complaints from owners on those boards. I just find it a bit strange.

davidc1 · August 2007

I was set on getting the X3 for my wife but after reading all the posts on this forum and others, I changed my mind. Can't afford to take the chance since my wife will be driving it w/daughter on board most of the time. Good thing I read all these the day I was to visit the dealer. Thanks everybody for letting me know.

arthurw · August 2007

Per BMW: There is a known drivability issue with this vehicle. I am being offered a new vehicle (2008 X3 or other model of comparable value).

sansnil · August 2007

Arthur,

That's very interesting! Did that come from the Dealer or BMW Corporate?

I'm meeting with my dealer's VP of Quality Assurance next week and would love to be able to cite something officially about this as my X3 consistently hesitates and bumps/jerks when accelerating from stopped or low speeds.

Thanks!

arthurw · September 2007

Sorry for the late response - been away on business. The offer is being handled by the dealer but approval came from BMW corporate.

miniok · September 2007

My dealer is going to re-program my X3 next week. I hope it helps! Let us know what replacement vehicle you get and if the transmission issue is solved in it.

aatherton · September 2007

I was looking at the X3 but the transmission issue has got me to look at the Subaru XT Limited. Faster for $10K less.

jiminwa · September 2007

I got an 2007 X3 with the stick. Don't know if that is an option for you. Mine of course has NO hesitation since it is a stick shift. :-)

italia1 · October 2007

I am leasing an 05 X3 to be turned back in December. I am thinking about an 08 X3 nut worry about the transmission problems everyone has mentioned on the 07 models. I did not have the problem with my 05 3.0 X3 Was this problem particular to the 07 models???

dwga · November 2007

WOW! i'm really shocked and disappointed. i had my heart set on getting my first bmw. just was about to test drive and pick out colors.from all the info on this website you all helped me make a informed decision thanks guys.sorry about your headaches.

trr1 · November 2007

I received my replacement 2008 BMW X3 last week. This was due to the 2007 X3 transmission issues we had since lease inception. Its early going but for 200 miles this car has been awesome! The transmission is like I would expect from BMW. Dont know if the issue was with the 2007's in general or it is hit or miss. The car has a completely different feel to it. I will post once we hit about 1000 miles.

tommygun45 · November 2007

We leased an 07 X3 last December. Since then we've only put about 3400 miles on it. I was hoping the transmission would 'adapt' eventually but it has not. While pushing the gas peddle at any time there is about a 2 second lag in the acceleration. The tach will rise from roughly 2k to around 5500 before anything actually happens. Also, while laying off the gas pedal there is a noticeable slow down in the car, as it almost lurches forward, its more noticeable at lower speeds. The lag is what is of most concern. One cannot reliably drive this car in any type of aggressive situation. Be it pulling into traffic or passing on the highway. I also own a 2006 Infiniti G35 Coupe. Driving that car, and the FX35 I am considering, is insanely different than driving the X3. Infiniti has their transmissions worked out, they are head and shoulders above our X3. It disturbs me that a car from a company like this would perform like that. I am going to take it to the dealer tomorrow. It is great that I found this board today as I will reference it while talking to them. Hopefully I can get them to give us a 2008 X3, as we enjoy the car, as long as we're not pushing it too hard.

sansnil · November 2007

BMW's put out a couple of software updates for the X3's that are affected by the acceleration issue which a lot of folks are having good experiences with. You can go to http://www.bimmerfest.com to the X3 forum and you'll see lots of posts about it. There's an official service bulletin out to the dealers from BMW so they should be able to update your X3 to latest software version through a service appointment.

dformica · December 2007

i'm reading alot of 07 trans. issues,are there any 04 or 05 trany issues. i just bought an 04, certified that is and i love it so far. i haven't experienced any issues yet.

kesnow · January 2008

The latest version came out in January. I am picking my X3 up today, so I'll see if it helped..... The previous revs made it worse.

kesnow · January 2008

An update came out in January, which was just performed on my X3. Picking it up this morning, so we'll see if it helped. Supposed to be for both the engine and DME, which I presume is the engine management module. I'll update.

akw8 · January 2008

I got the computer fix last month and it has been a different car ever since. Get the latest upgrade.

kesnow · January 2008

Well, it drives much better, but is not as smooth shifting as I thing it should be.(compared to my last BMW). At least I don't feel as though it will stall every time I step on the gas.

kesnow · January 2008

OK, I'm sold. It is a hundred times better than before. Not 100%, but I'll take it. Still kinda lurches off the start, but shifts happen when they should, and actually happen!. If you haven't had it done, DO IT!.

awinga · February 2008

We've taken our 07 X3 in 5 times to get the dangerous transmission problem fixed. The first 3 times, the service dept said they couldn't duplicate the problem (hesitation, lack of response to increased throttle, jerky downshifting, surges after a decline/incline transition) and did nothing. the 4th time, the software update was installed. The shifting is still erratic and jerky. All should check out bimmerfest.com thread about this. Many X3 owners are reporting the problems to NHTSA and BBB as their dealerships and BMW-NA are unresponsive and passing the buck. Absolutely incredibly disappointing lack of customer service by BMW and an awful vehicle for $40k. This is our 5th BMW. Unlike the first 4, this is a total :lemon: :lemon:

daddyman · February 2008

Don't waste your time with the SIB updates. After spending over $40k on this vehicle and having multiple updates done it still is unpredictable in its shifting behavior. Report it to the NHTSA complaints and recalls. Many of the owners are now having their vehicles bought back or traded out to avoid Lemon Law documentation. Dont Let BMWNA stall any longer. This issue has been going on for over a year. Ask BMWNA to take back your vehicle. If they stall or refuse get a Lemon Lawyer. :lemon:

edsurf3 · May 2008

Experienced the same issues with my 2007 X3 and took this back to dealer 4 times....after the fourth time they offered to buy it back...I did not even ask....that tells me this is a major known problem.....now I am negotiating as they want me to pay $$$ out of pocket.

kesnow · May 2008

Thanks for the info. I have an appointment with the factory rep Friday and hopefully they'll get me a new vehicle. I was hopeful with the last SIB update, but it has gotten almost as bad as the first time I took it in. Wish me luck......

gmacpany · May 2008

I now have a 2008 that replaced the 2007 BMW bought back.

Now I am writing to NTHSB and going to the local media here in NY area...this car is dangerous, unsafe, horrible, gross and disturbing. The transmission is the worst in any car I have ever had in 30+ years of driving.

BMW will regret I ever leased one.

kesnow · May 2008

So, I couldn't tell if the 2008 is better than the 2007?

bmlexus · May 2008

Nice posts here I've read many of them. i am already nervous with bmw problems you guys just made me a little more. :sick:

BMW X3 hesitation on acceleration

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