2021 BMW X5 Driver Assist & ADAS Problems

You get no warning when backing out of a parking spot all features are on but no warning

Rear cross traffic alert does not work in the subject car. BMW Owners' Manual describes a system that should alert from two parking spaces away while backing out, the system gives no alert as described. What follows is my post to a BMW Owner's group where members are discussing similar issues with their vehicles. This problem is a large one and needs to be investigated. Rear cross traffic alert is a critical safety system. "Regional field service rep spent several hours last week with the car. Made some updates/integrations and declared the systems now working. I did some controlled testing in a parking lot in reverse with both brake applied and rolling in reverse. ZERO visual or acoustic alert from the rear cross traffic alert system. I am convinced BMW and the dealers are trying to cover up this colossal failure of a very important and basic safety feature BMW says they sold us! I will give corporate one more try and then will report to NHTSA that BMW has a major defect in their cars." I am scheduled to talk with the regional BMW engineer in the next two weeks. Is there a means for me to update this submission?

On Wednesday, December 20, 2023, shortly after 8:30 p.m., I turned into the driveway for my Columbia residence and proceeded with caution toward my carport. The weather was clear, with no rain or ice, and my driveway was free of all obstacles. My 2021 BMW X5 began to accelerate and move forward at a dangerous speed. Though I applied the brakes, they were unresponsive, and the vehicle collided, with force, into the brick steps at the carport entrance to my home. Upon impact, all airbags in the vehicle deployed, and the emergency response system was activated. Prior to impact, none of the vehicle’s safety monitoring features responded. These would include the system by which the vehicle’s speed is regulated whenever a vehicle on the roadway, in front of the X5, slows down or brakes. Neither did the warning system activate – the system that monitors the presence of obstacles in front of or behind the X5. The 2021 BMW X5 sustained significant front-end damage in the collision, and my residence was also damaged by the vehicle. I deny that the incident was operator error and believe it to have been the result of a vehicle or computer malfunction. Interestingly enough, the X5 had been serviced by BMW of Columbia on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. That routine service included a brake flush.

My daughter was driving a vehicle and she was moving to another lane in the process. Car is capable and feature with automatic emergency breaking for front collision. During entire process she didn’t take action for some reason and car collided with another vehicle. Emergency brake didn't full stop vehicle. 10s of video recording was done during the collision.

The contact owns a 2021 BMW X5. The contact stated that while reversing at night, there was not adequate lighting to view the surroundings behind the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who stated that the battery was low. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.

When in reverse, the vehicle doesn't give any warning (audio or visual) that a person or vehicle is approaching on either side.

I was driving in the left lane of the freeway, and there was a k-rail to the left of the lane, because there was construction in the shoulder. At one point, there was a break in the k-rail, where it had an opening, and went away from the lane, then back about 20 ft later. The lane departure system jerked the wheel to the left, attempting to steer out of the lane; if I had not held the wheel steady, it would have steered the vehicle directly into the k-rail as it rejoined the side of the lane.

This is a 2021 BMW X5 with BMW's blind spot warning system. The vehicle currently has approximately 5,500 miles and was purchased new. The blind spot warning system has consistently malfunctioned since the vehicle was delivered. When monitoring the right side (passenger side) blind spot it only picks up on average 1 of each 3 vehicles encountered and completely the ignores the the others. By "picks up" I mean the visual indication in the right side mirror is lighted when the vehicle is in the blind spot. For those the system does not detect there is no visual indication of the vehicle and if the right turn signal is activated there IS NO WARNING of the vehicle in the blind spot. This effectively renders this critical safety system completely useless and a serious safety hazard as it is clearly malfunctioning. Upon complaining, the X5 was inspected by the dealer who reported that no malfunction was found and the system "is functioning as designed". After additional discussion with the service manage the dealer verbally admitted the system was not detecting other cars on the right side of the vehicle consistently but as there was no electrical fault detected in the system, it must be OK and it was not a repairable issue. Assuming the dealer's analysis of the problem is correct, this leads to the conclusion there is a serious safety design flaw in BMW's blind spot detection system. A brief examination of various BMW related internet forums shows this issue, or very similar issues concerning the function and design of the BMW blind spot detection system have been reported by several BMW owners, suggesting the problem is likely a design flaw and not a simple component failure.

When reversing out of driveway/parking space, the rear cross traffic warning alert doesn't give any warning until my vehicle is inches from another vehicle. The system isn't sensitive enough.

System fails to notify me of pedestrians/cross traffic when backing out of driveway, parking lots, etc. Multiple near misses. Orange/red shadows on screen do not appear. Ditto for beeps.