BMW Reviews

However, when I arrived at a local dealership for the software update, I was informed that the update would cost $450 and take anywhere from 2 to 6 hours. This was incredibly frustrating and unacceptable. I just purchased this vehicle, and now I’m being asked to pay out of pocket and spend half a day fixing something that should have been fully operational before I ever drove it off the lot.

To make matters worse, the dealership I purchased the vehicle from is over an hour away, and I had already made two separate trips there within a 4-day span during the negotiation and purchase process. After that time investment, I expected the car to be fully ready and all features operational at delivery. After playing phone tag with the dealership I purchased from for the past week, I was repeatedly told I would receive a call back the next day. It has now been three days with no follow-up at all. When I finally did get information, I was told that Comfort Access is actually a separate feature and that my X3 does not include it—something that was never clearly communicated during the sales process.

I was also told that Amazon Alexa was a feature I could use, but that it expires at the end of this month, which is surprising as I’ve never encountered that with previous BMWs. Even more frustrating, after getting home and attempting setup, Alexa does not appear as an installed app in the vehicle at all and the dealership has informed that I will need to bring the X3 back in for them to do further updates. To add further context, this is my sixth BMW, and by far the worst experience and level of service I have ever had with a vehicle purchase.

This experience has left a very negative impression. For a brand that prides itself on luxury and customer experience, this level of oversight, lack of transparency, and poor follow-up is disappointing. Buyers should not have to deal with additional costs, unclear feature availability, and lack of communication immediately after purchase just to have basic advertised features working.

I contacted BMW USA to complain about the car being fairly new with mileage little over 50k miles to have such an instrument failure with costly repairs. I searched online and there were a few people with similar situation. I was told by the Customer Service representative that a case has been registered and the experts are looking into the issue for a possible resolution. Later I was told by the customer service that the expert want another diagnosis from BMW of The Woodlands on the same issue. I paid another $249 to get a 2nd diagnosis done by the BMW of The Woodlands. No change in the results. They also recommend to replace and program “ HEAD UNIT RADIO“ with an estimate of $4233.96 plus tax.

I forwarded the report to the CS representative. It took the experts one week to come up with a rejection to the claim stating since the vehicle has passed the warranty mark therefore they would not honor any help. I paid twice to get diagnosis, I am still trying to figure out why the BMW USA did not trust on the diagnosis from BMW of West Houston. I was reluctant to believe that an expensive card have such a vulnerable “Head Unit Radio”. Not only vulnerable but also cost a lot.

Two week ago I saw that all of a sudden the screen came back up with all the functionalities. While iDrive start working I did a factory reset of the iDrive and then upgraded the software to the latest version. I think this solved the problem. IDrive till today is working as expected. I am still hesitant to believe, why BMW trained technicians were unable to diagnose and carried of these basic steps? Why I have to pay twice to diagnose? Why does BMW USA not have access to the dealership record to pull the maintenance records? Very poor customer and very poor diagnosis.

Half the time I start driving and can't listen to my favored channel on Sirius Radio because it takes an act of war to figure out why the system is quietly confused when both my wife and I (with separate BMW IDs) are in the car together... We owned the car for only about 2 months now but seriously regret our purchase! It's dangerous to drive with all the distractions from trying to set something on the display... Way too many options are very confusing and hard to set/choose on the go (or stationary)... BMW! It's time to concentrate a little to make this car user friendly, stop overcomplicating things please!!

My lease was a custom build I intended to buy out after the 3 years however, after dumping $10,000 into the car in maintenance, I’m done. The windshield had to be replaced 4 times, the first time being the first week I had the car and it taking them 2 weeks + me moving out of town and pressuring them to return the vehicle before I was in my new city. They would mislead me constantly over those 2 weeks, telling me the part is in, and then it would be given to someone else, and I would have to repeated wait for a new one to be in stock (on the most standard BMW model on the road, so why it wasn’t just in stock is a question).

They nickel and dime on EVERYTHING. You want seat heaters? That’s extra. You want seat coolers? That’s extra. You want a back seat heaters? Oh, you bet that’s extra. It really surprised me, especially going over to Tesla and everything you pay extra for on a BMW is atomic on the base models for Tesla (not to mention the fact that Tesla’s drive themselves, I can’t imagine what price gouging will go on with BMW if they ever get to that point).

The tech in the car is iffy at best. I’ve done long drives in silence because the Apple Play wouldn’t connect at all and when I took it in for service, they didn’t even look at it; they responded with “Oh that’s just how it works”. The service department clearly prioritizes the order in which they service the cars based on who brought it in. I once stood there for 30 mins after being told my car was ready, watching guys who dropped their cars off way after me get theirs and be on their way after high-fiving and chopping it up with the service guys.

I could keep going, but all in all, BMW has single-handedly ruined their reputation for being luxury with how cheap they are in their price gouging and delivering even cheaper car parts. I got this car thinking I would have the top of the line German engineering experience, I even *paid extra* for the M package, but alas, I basically paid $1k/month for a big Corolla. These cars aren’t even made in Germany anymore. Not to mention my lease buyout was WAY ABOVE market value and BMW refuses to negotiate on that. I was told, “Well we overproduced the X3s so the market is really saturated. We can’t bring down the price on yours”. As if overproducing is my fault, and I need to cover their losses? Very odd experience, never thought I would leave BMW, let alone for Tesla but here we are.

The alignment was affected by defective suspension components. Although those parts were covered under warranty, the dealership refused to cover the alignment, even after a sales associate said it would be handled. Each visit ends with them claiming they cannot duplicate the problem, even when video evidence is provided, and the vehicle is returned without being repaired.

The car performs poorly in high wind conditions and feels unstable, as if it is being pushed across lanes. The doors are extremely lightweight and feel poorly constructed, giving the impression the vehicle is made of plastic or fiberglass. This does not reflect the build quality expected of a luxury sedan. The leather seats are cracking, including the driver’s seat, despite the vehicle having an MSRP of approximately $96,000. I previously owned seven Mercedes Benz vehicles and never experienced leather failure like this. I chose the BMW 740 because it was slightly cheaper than the Mercedes S Class, and that decision has been a major regret.

The brakes have squeaked since the vehicle had less than 2,000 miles. Two independent repair shops confirmed the noise is caused by the brake components themselves. BMW requires replacing both pads and rotors together, yet considers the squeaking normal. Loud brakes on a nearly new luxury vehicle are unacceptable and embarrassing.

My first repair occurred at about 3,000 miles when the air conditioning blew hot air during the summer. I have returned repeatedly for AC and cooling issues, and the transmission is now lagging, pulling, and slipping. The vehicle has depreciated significantly, dropping from an MSRP of $96,000 to approximately $46,000 in less than two years, a loss of about $50,000 in value.

I am currently in court because neither BMW North America nor the Alpharetta BMW dealership will take responsibility. Sales and service departments deflect blame and deny accountability. Publicly they claim their vehicles are excellent, but behind the scenes they are aware of the defects. I have owned this car for nearly two years and remained patient, but enough is enough.

To make matters worse, I am paying $1,535 per month for this vehicle. The stress has become overwhelming, and I feel emotional every time I drive it because there is always something else wrong. I referred my grandmother to BMW after purchasing my car, and she bought an X3 and began having issues almost immediately, which points to broader quality problems.

Additionally, both my grandmother and I were sold vehicles represented as having about 17 miles, when both actually had over 800 miles. This was only discovered through the BMW app. Buyers should verify mileage before purchasing from the Alpharetta location. My title and registration were also sent to the wrong address.

My lease ends in March 2027, and I cannot wait to be done with this vehicle, either through lease end or a successful court outcome. I am grateful I leased instead of purchased. BMW corporate refuses to take accountability, and the dealership does not stand behind its product. I am sharing this experience to be transparent. Please buy at your own discretion. This vehicle has been a constant source of stress and disappointment from day one, and it is the worst car I have ever owned. Buyers Beware!!!