My 2001 BMW X5 has serios issues with its design that BMW Corp refuses to acknowledge or fix. 1st there is a faulty design on the pvc causing the valve to freeze and drain the oil into the engine. This almost caused a fire in my car. And cost me about $1200 to fix. 2nd there is a design flaw with the front doors whereby the either freeze shut or refuse to lock in temperatures below 17F. This is a hazard waiting to happen. Please help us ( consumers) since BMW apparently has no interest in adressing these issues.

- Madison, WI, USA

: the contact stated in freezing conditions, the driver side door latch freezes shut. The dealership determined the latch needs to be replaced. The contact is unaware if this is a problem with the other doors, since they are not used. Updated 03/09/06

- West Hartford, CT, USA

The driver and front passenger door mechanism freezes (frequently) in cold weather such that the door will open but will not latch when closed. The result is that a driver must drive holding the door closed or not drive the car at all, which is difficult if you need to get home.

- Wakefield, MA, USA

My 2001 BMW X5 door locks get stuck when it is very cold, usually below 15 degrees Fahrenheit. The key remote does not work & if I can get the key to manually unlock the door, and get into the vehicle, when I go to shut the door the latch is stuck "open" and will not close, therefore making the car un-drivable because the door will not latch close. I have discussed this w/ BMW on 8/16/05 & they reviewed it. A BMW district representative said that they have noticed that the current "latching/locking" system can allow moisture to get into the locks & make them unusable. They offered to replace all 4 locking mechanisms but I would have to pay 1/2 part & labor, cost to me $450 out of pocket. This sounds like an engineering problem that BMW should recall. I would like to have this investigated.

- New Albany, OH, USA

1. had car serviced at 60,000 miles, only 3 weeks later the green dashes started appearing again and staying on, as if I needed to have car serviced. Called dealer and they said not to worry, this has been know to happen, just ignore it. 2. very loud noise from sun roof (closed) while traveling on freeway and leaks during car washes" dealer said they can replace the seal and this should fix the problem. 3. brake light indicator on dash comes on and off, as if bulb is out, but just replaced bulb, then replaced again, sometimes this brake light works and sometimes it doesn't. 4. window on front passenger window would not go back up after opened, then a day later, the door would not open or close. Dealer replaced the window mechanism that controls both the door handle and the window at my cost mind you the rear window and door had been done only a year before. The dealer told me that this happens on all german cars, doesn't matter the age of car or make. How frustrating - spend $45,000 and know windows will eventually quit working?" 5. front right headlamp gets moisture in it and it takes 3-5 days to clear up. 6. driver cup holders, what is up with that - can only put one cup in it, when try to put 2 in, they overlap, very frustrating when driving. 7. storage in front minimal and a hassle, you have to reach back and sort of behind you to get into compartment - dangerous while driving. 8. leather seats are very hard, need a plushier leather. 9. wheels, brake "dust" gets all over the wheels much much more than any other luxury car I have ever had. 10. cargo cover in rear needs work, check out the one Lexus uses in RX30. 11. need more cargo space - compared to RX330 and the Volvo X90, space is extremely small. 12. disappointed in my car - want to sell it, will not buy another BMW.

- Meridian, ID, USA

Electronic door locks fail, no entry in to the vehicle. Was repaired and then failed again.

- Ft Lauderdales, FL, USA

I have 2001 BMW X5 3.0. after last week's snow storm and cold weather in boston area, my 2001 X5 doors are frozen. Actually, I opened them from outside yesterday morning (feels like door handle got frozen). But then I could not get them closed. So, I had to push down door lock (little knob) by window and pull hard to get them closed. Now, I could not open them at all. I am climbing in and out of the trunk door to get inside. Fortuately, there is no accident. But, I think this is a serious safety issue when an accident does occur (hard to escape). BMW North America is aware of this problem (si 51 51 02), however there is no proper action from them.

- Cambridge, MA, USA

2001 BMW X5. In cold weather the doors freeze up not allowing access in or out of the vehicle. I have had to crawl through the hatch or rear doors to get out of the vehicle. This has happened numerous times and creates a real hazard as you cannot egress the vehicle quickly. Also the latch freezes and will not allow the door to close so the door can fly open while driving. I am an active member on a BMW owners message board and this is a recurring problem for many drivers.

- Abingdon, VA, USA

1) cold weather 2) not able to open the doors/not able to close it since the internal locks freeze 3) heat up the interior of the car for long period (@25 min) with door pushed in so it will finally stays shut! this is a well know problem among BMW X5's but the mfg refuses to fix it under warranty.

- Walpole, MA, USA

I live in upstate NY. Last night the temperatures dropped to a very chilly 0 degrees F. or so. In the morning I attempted to open the front driver's side door of my BMW X5 4.4 (2001). The latch seemed to work but the door seemed frozen shut, so I pulled harder. The door finally came open - but all latches on that door have ceased to work - from the inside or the outside of the car. The passenger side door seems to be showing similar symptoms but I have not pulled the door open yet for fear of further damage. Fortunately I wasn't driving when this happened but I could have potentially been locked inside my car without any way to exit it! I'll be taking the vehicle to the dealership asap to get it repaired but this seems like a very serious problem that BMW has been unwilling to address!

- Ithaca, NY, USA

Event: Cold weather below 15 degrees F. failure: Door locks freeze so that doors can not be closed or passengers can not get out. Door locks were replaced by the dealer when the car was under warranty. That does not fix the problem. It is a design flaw. The car is now out of warranty.

- Elk Grove Village, IL, USA

Read that the BMW X5 had problems with it's door lock mechanism. I had experienced the locks not opening in the cold myself, and had seen several people at the dealership with the problem. During a ski trip to mountt snow Vermont my door locks were slow to open. The passenger door wouldn't close at first. Then when pushed hard it closed. The door would not open with my passenger inside. She tried the door handle, from inside and I had tried it from outside. The door was unlocked, but would not open at all. I then tried the driver's door and it wouldn't open. The passenger had to climb out the rear doors. It took about a half hour of the car running before the door would open. In an emergency, the passenger and driver would have been toast.

- Staten Island, NY, USA

Failure of passenger door wiring harness, connections were corroded, causing the door to stop functioning I.e. door opening, door lock, window would not work. The door had previously been repaired for a broken door lock handle. There were 3-X5's at the shop with same problem that week.

- Holladay, UT, USA

Driver door would not close/latch in weather of 25 degrees. Door finally closed, but handle would not open the door. Latch/mechanism in door frozen. Weather warmed up to over 32F and the door finally opened.

- Bloomingdale, IL, USA

The door locks failed.

- Westfield, NJ, USA

Front doors lock occupants inside of vehicle and cannot be opened from inside or outside. Occupants must crawl out of rear of vehicle to exit. Door locks appear to unlock, and handles pull, but there is no unlocking or release of the door latch.

- Frankfort, KY, USA