NHTSA Complaint #11255435 — 2019 BMW X3

I PURCHASED A NEW 2019 BMW X3 XDRIVE 30I MIDSIZE SUV ON AUGUST 31, 2019. I SPECIFICALLY CHOSE THE DRIVER ASSIST OPTION THAT INCLUDES BOTH LANE DEPARTURE AND BLIND SPOT WARNING FEATURES. UPON TESTING TO VERIFY THAT THESE FEATURES WERE FUNCTIONING PROPERLY, I DISCOVERED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL VIBRATION WARNING FEATURE DID NOT WORK. NO VIBRATION AT ALL WAS DETECTED WHENEVER I CHANGED LANES EVEN THOUGH I SET THE DESIRED VIBRATION LEVEL TO THE HIGHEST SETTING AND I WAS VERY CAREFUL TO DRIVE AT A SPEED, 50 MPH, FOR WHICH THE FEATURE SHOULD BE ACTIVE. THIS WAS ALSO TRUE OF THE BLIND SPOT WARNING--NO VIBRATION DETECTED. I VERIFIED THAT BOTH SAFETY SYSTEMS HAD ACTIVATED BY OBSERVING THE APPEARANCE OF THE LANE DEPARTURE ICON IN THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND THE ILLUMINATION OF THE TRIANGULAR LIGHT IN THE OUTSIDE MIRRORS UPON APPROACH OF A VEHICLE IN THE ADJACENT LANE. HOWEVER, NO VIBRATION WAS DETECTED IN THE STEERING WHEEL WHEN I PURPOSELY CHANGED LANES WITHOUT SIGNALING ON TESTING THE LANE DEPARTURE FEATURE OR WHEN I SIGNALED TO CHANGE LANES WITH ANOTHER CAR IN THE BLIND SPOT IN TESTING THE BLIND SPOT FEATURE. THE BLIND SPOT VISUAL WARNING LIGHTS IN BOTH OUTSIDE MIRRORS WORKED OK, BUT NO VIBRATION WAS DETECTED WHEN SIGNALING TO CHANGE LANES. I REPORTED THIS TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEIR DIAGNOSIS WAS A FAULTY MOTOR THAT GENERATES THE STEERING MECHANISM VIBRATION. A NEW PART IN ON ORDER. I'M REPORTING THIS TO ALERT OTHERS WHO MAY NOT HAVE TESTED FOR PROPER FUNCTIONALITY OF THESE SAFETY FEATURES. ONE HAS A VISUAL WARNING FOR THE BLIND SPOT FEATURE TO BACKUP THE STEERING MECHANISM VIBRATION, BUT NOT SO FOR THE LANE DEPARTURE. THE ABSENCE OF VIBRATION COULD BE A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE FOR ANYONE DEPENDING ON THE PROPER OPERATION OF THIS FEATURE.