I was driving my X5, 90 minutes from home, when I noticed my steering was unusually stiff. It was 5 degrees outside, so I assumed it might have been too cold. I was able to move over to the right lane, and turn onto the nearest side street. At that point I got a code saying "battery discharge". I assumed it had something to do with the keyless ignition, so I shut it off and tried to turn it back on. It didn't work, and it gave me the same warning again. In addition, the onboard system was giving messages of each of the systems that was shutting down, ultimately, with everything shutting off, including the emergency lights. I had to have the car towed. After the dealership looked at the car the next day, they told me this was part of a recall for the idler pulley bolt. I looked this up, and discovered the letter dated Nov. 26th describing this recall from BMW to NHTSA. We started the purchasing process of this vehicle on Nov. 26th, ultimately purchasing it on Nov. 30th. The carfax did not show this recall repair when we purchased it. My dealership is claiming they repaired it that week, before we picked it up, (again, no mention of a repair). My concern is this: If it was repaired in November, this repair failed. If they ignored this recall and sold me the car, that would be negligent. Furthermore, we had the car into the dealership in January 2013 for a tire issue. If they had not done the repair in November, certainly they were responsible to repair it then. Obviously they didn't. now, the car completely fails, and is in the shop. This repair took 3 days! I am unsure of the safely, as well as this failure being just a pulley bolt. I am aware of the most recent recall of Feb.19th, for electrical problems, but at this time, doesn't include the X5? the pulley bolt problem doesn't seem to fully describe the loss of steering and power I experienced.

- Twin Lakes, WI, USA

After engine start, message displays on control display indicating increased battery drain and that the vehicle should be serviced soon. Display shows vehicle on what appears to be a lift. Contacted BMW at St. Albans who recommended that I purchase a battery charger so that I may charge the vehicle at night! problem has reappeared several times with no specific causal factor (leaving the ignition on after engine stop, leaving doors open, etc.)

- Ona, WV, USA

Vehicle reports high battery drain message and sos malfunction error messages. BMW not able to correct.

- Hillsborough, NJ, USA

My brand new 2010 BMW X5 35D has stalled multiple times, in major intersections completely out of the blue. The vehicle flashes "engine malfunction" and "reduced power." There is no way to cure this issue, and it only self-corrects after a matter of many minutes. When throttle is applied, during such an incident, the vehicle bucks wildly, between stalling and starting. There are many other BMW X5 owners having this issue. No fault codes are registering on the computer and the vehicle self-corrects after starting and stopping the engine multiple times via the push-bottom stop button. Once this took 3-hours to rectify, while I was stuck on the side of a busy highway. This has also happened at times in which I'm making left-hand turns in busy intersections, narrowly avoiding a high-speed impact. My vehicle has only 4,000 miles on it. My dealer has been unreceptive to the issue. I contacted BMW North America's customer service twice and they took a report but never contacted me back. I've left messages with the customer service department at BMW North America and still no resolve. This is a very dangerous situation. I have no idea as to when the vehicle will stall or malfunction. I feel I can handle an emergency, or at least lessen a potential impact in a worst case scenario, but I do not feel the same about my wife. The car looses all brake and steering pressure, and I feel very unsafe driving my family in this vehicle. Multiple other owners have sold their vehicles as a result, but those vehicles are going to end up in the hands of owners who will experience the same issues. It's only a matter of time before someone experiences this issue, in an intersection, and is killed by oncoming traffic. Please assist us in obtaining relief to this known issue. You can visit this forum, which is one of dozens, that complains about the issue in question. www.xoutpost.com/BMW-sav-forums/X5-E70-forum/68822-engine-warning-battery-failure-same-time.html.

- Oakland, CA, USA