I was told by BMW that it was the egr high pressure heater leaking, wherein the leak causes diesel exhaust fumes to enter the cabin while driving without warning. I observed this mostly as I pull back from my garage, when idling and randomly as I drive. I've noticed a strong noxious smell in the cabin, which gave me nausea and headache. I remedied it by venting the cabin then recirculating the air. It happens constantly except when I circulate the air in the cabin regardless of when I'm in the road or parked in front of my garage. (I figured this prevents the fumes from the hood entering the cabin).I am finally having it repaired for $800 maybe more as I will find out tomorrow the final cost. I've read in the forums that this is not uncommon even below 15K mileage X5S which is virtually new and has occurred in different vehicle mileages. This is potentially dangerous and a health hazard to drivers and infants. BMW should be shouldering this unacceptable hardware failure!

- Denton, TX, USA

Exhaust is entering the cabin through the venting filling the car with harmful gases. I brought it to the dealer and they diagnosed it as a egr cooler/valve issue. There is currently an "open campaign" for the erg bracket to be replaced by BMW but no safety recalls on the egr cooler or valve. I am concerned about the safety of this issue since the leak starts off slow and undetectable at first then grows to be a serious burn in your eyes and nose. This could be especially harmful to families with young children.

- New York, NY, USA

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

2010 BMW X5 3.5 diesel was brought in for service to diagnose exhaust smell in the cabin. Diagnostics unveiled a cracked egr cooler that allowed raw exhaust fumes to enter the cabin, potentially resulting in carbon monoxide poisoning to driver and passengers.

- Lorton, VA, USA

The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and the contact was awaiting diagnosis. The manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 38,000.

- Longview, TX, USA