In Feb 2016 during driving on the highway, lost power steering and battery light come on. Car was towed to the garage to determinate cause and fix the problem. Bolt that hold pulley tensioner was broken and belt fell off. There was no easy way to remove bronek head bolt off from engine block. Car was at mechanic for a week, replacement bolt was around $6 but the labor was almost $700.

- Plainville, CT, USA

Lost power steering as car was driving approx 50 mph on garden state parkway at top of bridge over the raritan river. Battery warning came on dash, car lost power and then stopped. No collision or injury. Car was towed and repaired by C&T towing and auto repair, rahway NJ. Damage observed was partially melted idler pulley and shredded drive belt. Repair included replacement of drive belt, a.C. stretch belt, idler pulley, drive belt tensioner and serpentine tensioner.

- Bloomfield, NJ, USA

The engine belt idler pulley bolt broke causing a sudden loss of power steering when the serpentine belt came off the alternator and power steering pump. This is the same problem associated with recall 12V550000 a few years ago. The dealer said the vehicle was fixed under the recall but it was before I owned it so I don't know for sure. I believe the recall should be reinstated. The vehicle was moving on a residential street at less than 25 mph and my mom was driving. If she had been going any faster she would have crashed.

- Boulder City, NV, USA

A bolt connecting the alternator to the motor has broken off causing the serpentine belt to come off resulting in the loss of power steering. This issue resulted in a recall and the vehicle was allegedly repaired in California back in 2013. However, this has happened again and has put the safety of my family at risk. I am aware that there has been an investigation that has been opened in about April of 2018 and we want our circumstances to be included in this investigation. BMW is currently refusing to cover the repairs.

- Grants Pass, OR, USA

The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that while driving at 35 mph, that the power malfunction warning light illuminated and the power steering failed. In addition, the 'power loss please reduce speed' warning message illuminated. The contact was able to pull the vehicle to the side of the road. The contact turned the ignition off and attempted to restart the vehicle but failed to start. The vehicle was not able to restart. The vehicle was left in that area, and was not towed at the time. The local dealer (santa monica BMW, santa monica blvd, santa monica, ca, 90401) was contacted at 310-829-3535 and made aware of the failure, where they advised to schedule an appointment to have the vehicle diagnosed. The contact was deliberated on the use of an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 12V550000 (steering, engine and engine cooling), and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.

- Santa Monica, CA, USA

While driving the vehicle on city streets I lost power steering and had to bring the vehicle to a stop. I was unable to steer the car and discovered the serpentine belt had come off. BMW had already done a recall for this and I did upon dealer inspection discover the same bolt sheared causing the problem. The original recall notice was 12V550. I'm being charged 700 hundred dollars now to have the vehicle fixed.

- Venice, CA, USA

I had this problem with my 2010 BMW X5 35D breakdown. It said the charging malfunction on the screen. Power steering was lost. Wheel steer was hard to maneuver. Hard to move. I almost got in an accident. The battery died. Everything just not function bc of lost in power steering. When I towed my car to BMW manhattan, the service advisor told me there was no recall for my BMW X5 35 D. she told me the dealer would charge me about $900 to replace pulley belt bolt and battery and etc. I told her it's one of recall. After that the service advisor told me that she will call me back on that which she never did, my car was still at BMW manhattan. It's been a week in the dealer. I'm still waiting to know what happen.

- New Yirk, NY, USA

While driving the engine loss power and put the car into neutral. All power steering was loss as well. Thankfully I was able to pull off the road safely. The car restarted once, then loss power when one tried to accelerate. The car would not restart. During this whole time no warning or service lights came on, the vehicle status said all systems were ok, when obviously they were not since the car just stopped working while driving.

- West Chester, OH, USA

The contact owns a 2010 BMW X5. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized and the power steering warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the lower idler pulley bolt needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 12V550000 (engine and engine cooling, steering). The failure mileage was 57,000....updated 01/07/15 the consumer stated there are other posts where prior year vehicles like my 2010 BMW X5 had recalls to have the lower idler pulley replaced due to potential failure. Updated 9/28/2015

- Abingdon, MD, USA

Vehicle lost steering control. On the night of July 12 I was making a left turn and all of a sudden steering become extremely difficult to turn and extremely stiff. I tried to turn the steering with full force in my body to avoid hitting the pole and and barely missed hitting the street light pole. This incident shaked me for a while. Car was towed to the dealership and determined and found that alternator bolt from recall 11 11 12 (NHTSA campaign number: 12V550000) had snapped causing belt to come off as well as tension-er. It was very disappointing for me that a 60 grand luxury vehicle became a life threatening hazard. And even after the safety re-call, it's a big hazard.I had called customer relations of BMW about this and apparently they took it very lightly.

- Sugar Land, TX, 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