There are 4 owner-reported tires & wheels complaints for the 2004 BMW X3in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
AFTER JUST SPENDING $2400 LAST WEEK ON MY CAR. I WAS TRAVELING 65 MPH ON INTERSTATE 78 WHEN MY 2004 BMW X3 LOST ALL POWER. I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO GLIDE MY CAR FROM THE LEFT LANE TO THE RIGHT SHOULDER. I TRIED TO START THE CAR AGAIN AND ALL THE LIGHTS ON THE DASHBOARD KEPT FLASHING ON & OFF AND CAR WOULD NOT START. AS I SAT IN MY CAR ON BARELY A SHOULDER 18 WHEELER'S AND CARS FLEW BY ME SHAKING MY CAR. I SERIOUSLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE. *TR
DRIVING @ 60-65 MPH ON HWY, FLAT WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. ON INSPECTION OF WHEEL THERE WAS SMALL PUNCTURE IN TIRE AND A LARGE, SILVER DOLLAR SIZE "BLOW OUT" OF WHEEL MID PORTION OF WHEEL REMOTE SITE FROM TIRE PUNCTURE. TIRE WAS ONLY 3 WEEKS OLD. DENY DRIVING OVER ANY LARGE OBJECT TO CAUSE THIS TYPE OF WHEEL FAILURE. BROUGHT TIRE/WHEEL TO NTB (WHERE I BOUGHT TIRE). THEY BELIEVE THERE WAS A WHEEL FAILURE BASED UPON INSPECTION. SEVERAL PERSONS AT NTB LOOKED AT WHEEL THAT HAD SEEN FAILURES BEFORE AND ARE CONVINCED THAT THE WHEEL FAILED BASED UPON TRAJECTORY OF SMALL PUNCTURE AND THE SIZE AND LOCATION OF WHEEL BLOWOUT. REGARDLESS, TIRE IS COVERED BY ROAD HAZARD AND IS BEING REPLACED. WHEEL WAS BROUGHT TO BMW WHO DISASSEMBLED TIRE FROM WHEEL. THEY STATE THAT ONLY THING THAT COULD OF CASED THAT AMOUNT OF DAMAGE IS RUNNING OVER LARGE OBJECT SUCH AS REBAR. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE. IF RAN OVER ANY OBJECT ON HIGHWAY IT MUST HAVE BEEN SMALL SINCE THERE WAS NO SENSATION FELT, NO NOISE HEARD. ONLY INDICATION THAT THERE WAS A FLAT WAS THAT THE TIRE PRESSURE LIGHT CAME ON. BMW HAS OFFERED TO INSPECT WHEEL HOWEVER I BELIEVE THAT WHEEL IS DEFECTIVE AND AM CONCERNED THAT THERE MAY BE OTHERS WITH SAME DEFECT AND MAY NOT GET HONEST EVALUATION. PLEASE ADVISE WHAT TO DO WITH WHEEL. *NM
BLOW OUT CAUSING VEHICLE TO CROSS OVER LANES AND ALMOST HITTING OTHER VEHICLES. TIRE,CONTINENTAL SIZE & NAME CONTI TOURING 205/50 R 17. *JB
SINCE BUYING MY CAR, I HAD ISSUES WITH THE FLAT TIRE MONITOR INDICATOR LIGHT COMING ON. I CONTINUALLY CHECKED THE PRESSURE OF ALL 4 TIRES AND VENTUALLY, THIS PAST SEPTEMBER, AFTER ONLY 1,845 MILES, HAD TO HAVE A TIRE REPAIRED (COST $15). THE DIAGNOSIS WAS SIMPLY A LEAKING BEAD. AT 2,651 MILES, ANOTHER TIRE SUFFERED IRREPARABLE DAMAGE CAUSED. ALSO, FROM A LEAKING BEAD. A REPLACEMENT TIRE WILL NEED TO BE ORDERED ($217+), AND SINCE THERE'S NO SPARE WITH MY MINI, I NEED TO MAKE OTHER TRANSPORTATION ARRANGEMENTS. I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED THAT LEAKING BEADS, A VERY RARE PROBLEM WITH ANY OTHER CAR BUT THIS ONE, CONTINUE TO BE PROBLEMATIC WITH MY MINI BEING SO YOUNG.*AK I HAVE CHECKED THE MINI OWNER'S MANUAL AND THE DISTANCE AND SPEED DRIVEN WITH THE RUN FLAT PIRELLI TIRES WERE WELL BELOW BOTH THE SPEED AND DISTANCE LIMITS INDICATED. I FEEL STRONGLY THAT BOTH MINI AND PIRELLI ARE SERIOUSLY DEFICIENT IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE. THE ACTUAL MOUNTING OF THESE TIRES WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT DONE VERY WELL, NOR DOES THE ADVERTISED CAPABILITIES OF THE RUN FLAT PIRELLI EUFORI TIRE SEEM TO BE REASONABLE.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026