Hi, New to the forum. Just thought I could add some insight to the Dead Battery problem! I wrote a letter to my salesman and also fowarded the letter to BMW Corp. This explains the problem so I will post a copy.

Hi Rui,

This is the fourth BMW I've owned. The list is a '84 533i, '91 525i, '99 328i and this '06 X3. They have all been wonderful cars with the exception of the '06 X3.

This is a synopsis of my experience with my 2006 X3:

Shortly after buying the X3 about ...3 months maybe... I started having problems with the battery going dead and the BlueTooth and Assist being intermittent. Over the coarse of the first year the battery went dead at least five times. The car stranded my wife several times Usually when I was out of town. She had friends jump her off to get home from work. At that time I wasn't really sure what the problem could be. As it progressed it became apparent this problem was not being caused by leaving things on.
I began talking to BMW of Macon to get the car in for service. I was told that loaner cars were all booked up 2 weeks out. A rental car was never mentioned. The traveling I do with my job and the loaner rental car problems made it difficult to get the car in for service. I decided to just have the car serviced at the one year oil change period as that was approaching.
I dropped the car off in May '07 for the yearly service along with a grocery list of the things that needed to be fixed. The main items were the dead battery and the BlueTooth and Assist. I believe they changed the battery at that time. I believe that the battery was damaged because of something draining the battery. I believe they changed the Telephone control unit (TCU) also. I was told that the phone I was using was not a BMW approved phone and that if I continued to use it BMW would not cover the TCU under warranty so I haven't used the BlueTooth since then even though that's why I got the Premium Package in the first place. I'm amazed that BMW is allowed to use the BlueTooth symbol. That symbol tells me that if my phone has that symbol then it is compatible with the car. I realize I may not have all the functions but to blame my phone for this problem does not say very much for the Technology in a $43,000 BMW.
I got the car back from service in June '07. About three weeks later the car dies again right before our vacation. Back to the shop in Macon. Luckily They were able to get a loaner after about a week in the shop so the vacation was not ruined. Still no mention of a rental car. The car was in the shop for about four weeks. They replaced the TCU again. They still had a drain on the battery. Trace Finally stumbled on to the fact that the car came from the factory without a specific wire from the radio to the TCU to make it go to sleep. The solution was to replace the radio with one designed to fix the same problem on the Z4. I got the car back at the end of July '07 and on September the 1st it died again and BMW Assist towed the car to Critz BMW of Savannah where it sits now. Still no loaner available for 2 weeks and no mention of a rental car.

Needless to say, but I've been very disappointed with the owner experience. I know this is not the norm from previous experience plus if it was BMW would be out of business.

Thanks Rui for all your help. I know if anyone can help, you can, as it always seems you go above and beyond for your customers.

Sincerely,



P.S. I have to say that I have lost all confidence in this car. I'm out of town a lot and will constantly be worried about my wife and if her 2006 BMW X3 is going to leave her stranded in a bad situation.



I have since learned that the warranty will cover reimbursement for a rental under certain conditions. I have the car back. The last time in the shop they could not find a battery draw, but they did change the battery. The car is now on battery #3 in 15 months. I expect the battery to die again. If that happens I will have to hold their feet to the fire. Anyway if anyone is having a battery problem maybe this will help in the diagnosis.

Don't get me wrong. I think the X3 is a great car. I'm just a little disapponted with this one. I would'nt park it at the airport and expect it to start when I returned.

aaiv8tor
2006 X3
gray/with black
premiun/sport