Normal use of ds sport mode involved moving the automatic transmission shifter to the left. This puts tension on the wires that support this function, crimping the wires and frequently leading to failure. The problem appears to be with the way the wiring harness is routed within the transmission lever. This is documented as a frequent occurrence in numerous diy videos on youtube and internet forums. Failure of ds sport mode means that car can no longer be used in this mode. However, it can be driven in normal mode. This does not appear to be a safety issue. It is a design flaw that, through normal use, results in a failure that may require an expensive repair. My local shop quoted me $1,500 to replace the shifter.

- Newcastle, WA, USA

The transmission malfunctioned while attempting to park. Car won't go in reverse, also car had no power to accelerate in drive mode. This was caused because the valve body sealing sleeve that is made of plastic broke.

- Forest Hills, NY, USA

The car has had numerous issues since purchased. This all came to a head when driving home, under normal conditions, it suddenly would not shift past 1st gear. I proceeded to pull off to a side street and attempt to idle home, as I was about 1 mile from home. After approximately.5 mile, the transmission suddenly lost first gear, there was an audible bang under the hood, and the car completely lost power. After being in a service center for a couple weeks, I am now informed that the engine is locked down and that the car will require a new engine to be working again. This car had been an absolute nightmare and has turned me quite calloused towards bmws quality standards.

- Athens, GA, USA

Valve cover oil leaking onto exhaust manifold that causes fire. It was turned off and stationary. Asked BMW to change in 80K but they said just sweating oil. Safety hazard ignored. Common amoung BMW 3 series engine

- Davie, FL, USA

Transmission shift badly - lunges forward - tendes to stall -traveling at low speeds goes in to 5 or 6 gear step on gas paddle takes to long to shift down and jumps forward. This has been happening even when the car was new and getting worse as time goes on.

- Santa Ana, CA, USA

There is a serious defect with the engine and fuel pump. It takes a long time to accelerate when driving especially on the highway, the car will shake, jolt and the engine will start to make a weird noise. There is oil leaking constantly and the check engine light is constantly coming on even after just being repaired. The car goes into limp mode and has shut down on me numerous times while driving. I've had the fuel pump replaced numerous times and yet it needs to be replaced against. The car will overheat at times and and just shut down. I was driving on a busy city street when the car just shut down, I couldn't steer or brake it just died in the middle of a busy street. It was extremely unsafe and put my life in danger as well as the other drivers on the road, especially since they were driving at fast speeds.

- Pacific Palisades, CA, USA

This is a know issue that BMW dose not want to resolve in all of their dealership. The problem that we are talking about is that the transmission shudders an vibrates between 1,700 and 2,200 RPM in 3rd,4th,5th,6th gear. The loss of power has almost cost me several accidents. BMW says that they will flush the transmission and replace the transmission fluid in hopes to fix the issue or possible replace the entire transmission and torque converter.. every time I go and try to get them to fix it they want to charge me for a know issue that have. I have been a loyal BMW customer and to be treated this way is just wrong. Especially when it comes to safety and the safety of others. BMW show take ownership of this.

- Rockledge, FL, USA

I was parked, placed my car in reverse and immediately all of my dashboard lights were activated (4X4 malfunction, ABS brake failure, transmission malfunction) then my car lost power. There is a known issue with the set positioning motor failing on these vehicles. The BMW dealer part # is 27 10 7 546 671. There is an internal gear, with in the set positioning motor, made out of plastic that wears prematurely. This is a known issue with BMW's and it should be recalled. My vehicle become disabled with out warning, leaving me stranded which may have caused an accident.

- Warminster, PA, USA

When I start my car it wants to turn off. BMW issued a recall I took it in to fix it but problem still happening. Then my car has 63000 miles and it kicks a lot in first gear. For low miles that should not be happening.

- Colton, CA, USA

My wife was departing a traffic circle on base here in germany. She accelerated to 35 mph and experienced stalled acceleration as she was traveling down the main road. My wife was stepping on the gas and the car appeared not to be running. She attempted to get the vehicle off to the side of the road as it rolled to a stop. She was stuck in the right hand turn lane on a two lane road and waited for security forces patrolman that stopped and helped push the car out of traffic.

- Apo, AE, USA

I bought my brand new BMW X3 in 2007. There were small issues in the past but withing my manufacturer warrenty period. I had my rear brake pads replaced on Jan 23, 2012. On Jan 30, 2012, when I drove my X3 out my subdivison to go to work, the brake light, ABS light, and 4/4 light all on, plus load clunk type noise from rear, it was difficault to make a U-turn, managed back to home, called BMW unitedbmw dealer and towed my vehicle to dealer. They first told me that is software failure, they would try reprogram to fix, then called to tell the re-program did not work, it was mechanical transfer case actuator broken, a new one must be installed. The total charge for repair (part + labor - discount) is $2354.97. It was in the dealer for one week. The dealer insisted that it was my bad luck, not car's own issue even though the milage is less than 40K. I did some research online, found that there are plenty of similar cases and class-action lawsuits. Looks like BMW (2007 and 2008) models have lubricant problem, later BMW switched with different lubricant. Internet estimation says that ~30% of the vehichles (2007 & 2008) demonstrated this issue. As a consumer, I am trying to urge any car maker to be responsible for their products. But I never get any notice or recall from BMW dealers or maker in the past and when the problem surfaced.

- Duluth, GA, USA

Car stalling and no power in the middle of the road while driving. No power to accelerate. This happened while I was making a U turn, cars was coming at me at a high rate of speed and I couldn't get power to accelerate. Tried pulling over safely. Car was oozing power and cant restart normally.

- Jacksonville, FM, USA

When I tried to make a sharp U turn on a hillside street, the car suddenly accelerated, and stopped with its belly stuck on the curb and the rear wheels in the air after hitting the guard rail across the street. It was so sudden, and the car jumped about 12 feet instantly, and hit the rail. Since the street is sloping down, I never accelerate when I come down the hill. This model has a turbo problem, and the warranty is extended on the turbo part up to 10 years. This car had a several starting problems before, and displayed the "check engine" light. Then it is reset by itself. When the dealer was asked, they denied the possibility of any malfunction of the car. This sudden acceleration looks like a deadly failure. If it happens in a busy intersection, it might have resulted in fatal crashes or deaths of pedestrians.

- La Jolla, CA, USA