There are 3 stored owner reports matching the brakes leading-label group for the 2012 BMW X5 in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 3 of 3 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)ELECTRONIC PARKING BRAKE WILL NOT RELEASE. UNABLE TO DISENGAGE PARKING BREAK EVEN MANUALLY. CAR IS PARKED IN A DRIVEWAY THAT HAS A STEEP HILL AND HEAVY CITY TRAFFIC AT END OF DRIVEWAY.
PARKING BRAKE MALFUNCTION. I PARKED THE CAR OUTSIDE A STORE AND ENGAGED THE PARKING BRAKE, ON MY RETURN THE PARKING BRAKE COULD NOT BE DISENGAGED AND THE "PARKING BRAKE MALFUNCTION" SIGN SHOWED UP. ALL 4 TIRES GOT LOCKED UP AND I HAD TO GET THE SUV TOWED TO THE DEALER. THE FIX WAS TO REPLACE THE PARKING BRAKE ACTUATOR WHICH COSTED ME ABOUT $2000. IT WAS VERY STRESSFUL WHEN THE SUV GOT STUCK AS I HAD MY KID AND FAMILY WITH ME. SHOP HAD TO REPLACE THE PARKING BRAKE ACTUATOR AND I WAS TOLD THAT THEY HAVE SEEN THIS PROBLEM SHOW UP SO FREQUENTLY RECENTLY. THE PART SUPPLIER WHO SENT THE NEW PARKING BRAKE ACTUATOR MENTIONED THAT THEY USED TO SHIP UPTO 5 PIECES PER MONTH BUT NOW THEY ARE SHIPPING HUNDREDS PER MONTH. SO IT SEEMS THAT ITS A WIDE SPREAD PROBLEM, AND I WANT TO BRING THIS TO NHTSA'S ATTENTION SUCH THAT IT CAN BE INVESTIGATED AND CAN HELP OTHER DRIVERS WHO MAY FACE THIS PROBLEM IN FUTURE.
Despite replacing brake sensors, brake pads and rotors break wear light illumination on dashboard dealer unable to fix issues At 70000 miles defective exhaust back pressure sensor
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.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.