[viper689]

We finally got our X3 back from the dealership after 2.5 months! Happy dance! They replaced 6 cells and told us that we can use it just like when it was new. Felt so good to drive her after months of American rentals, so fingers crossed that it holds up.

We still have an open case with corporate that we’ll be pursuing in seek of further concessions. The lack of communication and mixed messaging from dealer and corporate was nauseating to say the least.

[andy318]

Anyone else waiting on their new X3 to finish recall servicing in the San Francisco Bay area?

I booked a PHEV X3 from a dealer who told me the car left the dealership to their Richmond depot for recall work earlier this month but doesn't have an ETA.

[penn128]

Hi, I'm brand new to this forum. I'm looking to buy a 2021 X3e when I came across this forum and the posts about the recall. Should I be concerned that the 2021 X3e that I test drove yesterday will have battery issues? For those of you that have had this recall, would you still recommend getting this car, or would you recommend looking elsewhere due to this issue?

[cobbalt76]

Originally Posted by andy318

Anyone else waiting on their new X3 to finish recall servicing in the San Francisco Bay area?

I booked a PHEV X3 from a dealer who told me the car left the dealership to their Richmond depot for recall work earlier this month but doesn't have an ETA.

I am from SF Bay area too. SF dealer called me today to informed me all the battery parts shipment has arrived, I can bring in the X3 this week for the battery swap repair work.

[andy318]

Originally Posted by cobbalt76

I am from SF Bay area too. SF dealer called me today to informed me all the battery parts shipment has arrived, I can bring in the X3 this week for the battery swap repair work.

Good to know. Thank you!

[viper689]

Originally Posted by penn128

Hi, I'm brand new to this forum. I'm looking to buy a 2021 X3e when I came across this forum and the posts about the recall. Should I be concerned that the 2021 X3e that I test drove yesterday will have battery issues? For those of you that have had this recall, would you still recommend getting this car, or would you recommend looking elsewhere due to this issue?

Dealers should know which of their vehicles were affected by the recall, and are not legally allowed to sell those vehicles prior to getting fixed. You should be confident that any vehicle you purchase will either already be fixed, or unaffected. I still love the car and see this as an issue with BMW support more than anything, but wouldn’t hold it against the car itself.

[ECinEI]

Originally Posted by viper689

Dealers should know which of their vehicles were affected by the recall, and are not legally allowed to sell those vehicles prior to getting fixed. You should be confident that any vehicle you purchase will either already be fixed, or unaffected. I still love the car and see this as an issue with BMW support more than anything, but wouldn’t hold it against the car itself.

As an owner that was luckily unaffected by the recall the above is a good read on things. I will say though that after living with the car for eight months, I wish it had about double the battery range. While ~ 20 miles, in warm weather, does cover about 80-90% of my wife's local driving (she's the primary driver of the 30e) I can see where having 35-50 miles battery range would be better. Our 30e now has about 5,700 miles on it 2,400 of which have been on battery. According the the car's computer, our overall mpg is about 54mpg. Who knows how accurate that calculation is in reality. It's amazing how quiet and smooth the car is in battery mode.

[Ldb25]

Originally Posted by ECinEI

As an owner that was luckily unaffected by the recall the above is a good read on things. I will say though that after living with the car for eight months, I wish it had about double the battery range. While ~ 20 miles, in warm weather, does cover about 80-90% of my wife's local driving (she's the primary driver of the 30e) I can see where having 35-50 miles battery range would be better. Our 30e now has about 5,700 miles on it 2,400 of which have been on battery. According the the car's computer, our overall mpg is about 54mpg. Who knows how accurate that calculation is in reality. It's amazing how quiet and smooth the car is in battery mode.

Love mine as well. Bought last July but has been under battery recall (meaning no charging) since Oct. it's in the shop now waiting on parts. Love the car, also wish for more range but given what was available last year it was the right car for local driving on battery with gas range for 300 mile trips when needed. Biggest disappointment is the base hi-if stereo. It's really subpar for a luxury car at this price point. If you enjoy music, get the H-K upgrade. I couldn't order new and bought what was available. Aftermarket stereo upgrade seems difficult and v expensive.

[TXBDan]

I'm really liking ours as well. We live in a somewhat dense metro area with short commutes and can get by on battery 90% of the time. Electric mode is such a nicer driving experience than gas. Within a week I knew my next car would be a full BEV. I'll be bummed if the LCI model gets a range bump, but ah well, this is working out.

I'm also finding that charging on 120V overnight works out fine for our use. I was going to install a 240V charger at first, but now don't think I'll bother.

[Sam320]

My car is at the dealer getting 3 battery cells replaced and I can see through BMW connect that they've fully charged it at 100% and it says:

14mi / 100%
Fully Charged

Is this the normal miles on a full charge? They are still testing it and I haven't gotten it back from the dealer yet for the recall repair. Thanks

[viper689]

Originally Posted by Sam320

My car is at the dealer getting 3 battery cells replaced and I can see through BMW connect that they've fully charged it at 100% and it says:

14mi / 100%
Fully Charged

Is this the normal miles on a full charge? They are still testing it and I haven't gotten it back from the dealer yet for the recall repair. Thanks

Mines usually (in the app) says around 19mi on fully charged, but when I get in the car, it’ll tell me 17mi on full charge. 14 seems pretty low.

[ECinEI]

Originally Posted by viper689

Mines usually (in the app) says around 19mi on fully charged, but when I get in the car, it’ll tell me 17mi on full charge. 14 seems pretty low.

I'm out out of town and charged our 30e overnight with the car outdoors. App reads 20 miles at 100% charged. We live in a mild climate and the car is garaged and charged indoors normally. It's not uncommon for the app to read 24-25 miles at 100% charged when charged in the garage. Car reading is usually 2-3 miles less. The app does seem a little optimistic. As mentioned above, 14 seems low. It may be though that repeated charging will bring that number up.

[Sam320]

Thanks for the info. When I get my car back from the recall repair I'll have to test it for a few weeks and see if it stays at 14mi or goes up.

[405sux]

Update on my situation (TL;DR version is that I got a recall notice and a check, then when this thread alerted that repairs were being made, I called and suddenly found I was no longer on any lists and my car was no longer affected).

I reached out to corp and escalated. They had another rep call me back, but we had a death in the family so I wasn't in any hurry to get back to him. He left messages over the course of two weeks, the final saying that they were going to provide additional comp.

In case this issue ever showed up in the future (ie. flagging the vehicle in a third party database BMW has no control over and affecting resale) I requested a letter on corp letterhead saying that the vehicle was cleared of the recall. They complied and I got the letter via Fedex a week ago.

They also sent me another check for $1000 for the aggravation. I appreciate the resolution and am back to hooning the car in Sport mode regularly at the urging of my 8 year old back seat driver son. (Every time we approach a freeway onramp, it's "Sport Mode dad! Sport Mode! Paddle shifters!!!")

Unfortunately, closure of this issue is tempered by the fact that I took a rock to the windshield a few weeks ago and now have a 30" crack through my line of sight. I haven't dealt with that saga yet, made more expensive because I have the HUD option and apparently there's a special coating in the glass required.

And the CA DMV is taking forever to send my carpool stickers, which is the whole reason I bought the vehicle. I submitted my application on Jan 1, certified mail. To those folks asking about range, I typically get ~18 miles on a charge in stop-n-go LA traffic. But I am mostly interested in carpool access over mileage and would drive a kersone-powered tractor if I could get diamond lane stickers for it.

Other than that, I really like the car. I started with the list of CA carpool sticker cars and was seriously considering a Hyundai just to be a commuter, but when I discovered the AWD X3 was an option, it was a no-brainer because we could actually use it as a family car on the weekends. I ended up with a well-appointed black-on-black model with HUD, exec package, H&K sound, and M Sport stuff. It had been on a lot for a while and I got a good deal through a corp buying program, plus rebates from Edison and other incentives. So although this has been a hassle, I'm still cool with what I'm driving.

Thanks again for this thread. I hope the rest of you who are truly affected get things resolved in an acceptable manner.

[Ldb25]

Originally Posted by 405sux

Update on my situation (TL;DR version is that I got a recall notice and a check, then when this thread alerted that repairs were being made, I called and suddenly found I was no longer on any lists and my car was no longer affected).

I reached out to corp and escalated. They had another rep call me back, but we had a death in the family so I wasn't in any hurry to get back to him. He left messages over the course of two weeks, the final saying that they were going to provide additional comp.

In case this issue ever showed up in the future (ie. flagging the vehicle in a third party database BMW has no control over and affecting resale) I requested a letter on corp letterhead saying that the vehicle was cleared of the recall. They complied and I got the letter via Fedex a week ago.

They also sent me another check for $1000 for the aggravation. I appreciate the resolution and am back to hooning the car in Sport mode regularly at the urging of my 8 year old back seat driver son. (Every time we approach a freeway onramp, it's "Sport Mode dad! Sport Mode! Paddle shifters!!!")

Unfortunately, closure of this issue is tempered by the fact that I took a rock to the windshield a few weeks ago and now have a 30" crack through my line of sight. I haven't dealt with that saga yet, made more expensive because I have the HUD option and apparently there's a special coating in the glass required.

And the CA DMV is taking forever to send my carpool stickers, which is the whole reason I bought the vehicle. I submitted my application on Jan 1, certified mail. To those folks asking about range, I typically get ~18 miles on a charge in stop-n-go LA traffic. But I am mostly interested in carpool access over mileage and would drive a kersone-powered tractor if I could get diamond lane stickers for it.

Other than that, I really like the car. I started with the list of CA carpool sticker cars and was seriously considering a Hyundai just to be a commuter, but when I discovered the AWD X3 was an option, it was a no-brainer because we could actually use it as a family car on the weekends. I ended up with a well-appointed black-on-black model with HUD, exec package, H&K sound, and M Sport stuff. It had been on a lot for a while and I got a good deal through a corp buying program, plus rebates from Edison and other incentives. So although this has been a hassle, I'm still cool with what I'm driving.

Thanks again for this thread. I hope the rest of you who are truly affected get things resolved in an acceptable manner.

Glad you're back to a good place with the car, and my condolences for your family's loss. Back east, mine has been at the dealer for 3 weeks waiting on battery cells. Two have come in and we need one more. They've given me a decent loaner so no complaints, though I am looking forward to commuting on the battery and driving my own car again.

[viper689]

Originally Posted by 405sux

And the CA DMV is taking forever to send my carpool stickers, which is the whole reason I bought the vehicle. I submitted my application on Jan 1, certified mail. To those folks asking about range, I typically get ~18 miles on a charge in stop-n-go LA traffic. But I am mostly interested in carpool access over mileage and would drive a kersone-powered tractor if I could get diamond lane stickers for it.

Same! I submitted our request in January 3rd and nothing since then. I’ve already got our tax refund (thanks to the PHEV tax credit &#128513 but can’t be bothered to get carpool stickers lol.

[TXBDan]

Originally Posted by Sam320

My car is at the dealer getting 3 battery cells replaced and I can see through BMW connect that they've fully charged it at 100% and it says:

14mi / 100%
Fully Charged

Is this the normal miles on a full charge? They are still testing it and I haven't gotten it back from the dealer yet for the recall repair. Thanks

It changes based on your past efficiency. If you drive it really hard, the range prediction will drop. I got the car in November before it got too cold I saw 21miles of range. Now that its cold I get around 16.

[cobbalt76]

Dealer had my vehicle yesterday. Told me it may take 1.5 week to get done for 6 battery replacement. If I look at the SIB document dated 2/19, it requires 11 FRU for lid attach/detached/ final testing and 34 FRU for all 6 battery modules replacement. That will come out to 45 FRU x 10 minutes , about 7.5 hours of work.. lets round to 8 hours. Even with COVID restriction, they have less technician work in shift .. I would expect max of 4 days. Dealer is San Francisco BMW. Is it reasonable for the dealer to take so long to get work done?

[FizzyElf]

Originally Posted by cobbalt76

Dealer had my vehicle yesterday. Told me it may take 1.5 week to get done for 6 battery replacement. If I look at the SIB document dated 2/19, it requires 11 FRU for lid attach/detached/ final testing and 34 FRU for all 6 battery modules replacement. That will come out to 45 FRU x 10 minutes , about 7.5 hours of work.. lets round to 8 hours. Even with COVID restriction, they have less technician work in shift .. I would expect max of 4 days. Dealer is San Francisco BMW. Is it reasonable for the dealer to take so long to get work done?

1 fru = 5-7.5 mins depending on which way the wind is blowing in bmw land.

[TXBDan]

Originally Posted by cobbalt76

Dealer had my vehicle yesterday. Told me it may take 1.5 week to get done for 6 battery replacement. If I look at the SIB document dated 2/19, it requires 11 FRU for lid attach/detached/ final testing and 34 FRU for all 6 battery modules replacement. That will come out to 45 FRU x 10 minutes , about 7.5 hours of work.. lets round to 8 hours. Even with COVID restriction, they have less technician work in shift .. I would expect max of 4 days. Dealer is San Francisco BMW. Is it reasonable for the dealer to take so long to get work done?

Does that include parts or tools lead time? Believe me, they don't want cars taking up space there any longer than they have to.

[cobbalt76]

Originally Posted by TXBDan

Does that include parts or tools lead time? Believe me, they don't want cars taking up space there any longer than they have to.

All parts has arrived according to the dealer, they had my car in at end Jan the 1st time only to tell me parts arrival was late and returned my car unfix. This is my 2nd time turning the car in after 1 month of waiting for parts. X5 forums says they do need a special tool to unload the few hundred pound battery module after jacking up the car.


from X5 forum:Originally Posted by jad03060 View Post
FWIW, to remove the battery pack requires a special bracket and lift to hold it all in alignment while lowering it from the vehicle. The pack is really in three sections that need to remain aligned so it can be bolted in place without damaging the cabling between the modules. With out that, there's a big risk of damage from what I have read. It's too heavy and awkward to try to do it otherwise, but with the tool, it seems to be easy. Once removed, the actual maintenance or replacement of a module is fairly simple.

[viper689]

Can someone explain what FRU means? Thanks!