NHTSA Complaint #11280429 — 2019 BMW X3

THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER READS IN KILOMETERS PER HOUR, INSTEAD OF MILES PER HOUR, SO I DO NOT KNOW HOW FAST I AM GOING. A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, BMW ISSUED A RECALL RELATED TO THE REVERSE CAMERA ON THE 2019 X3. TO REPAIR THIS RECALL, THE SOFTWARE IN THE CAR HAD TO BE UPGRADED. AFTER THE DEALERSHIP REPAIRED THE RECALL ISSUE AND UPGRADED THE SOFTWARE, THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER MALFUNCTIONED. THE SPEEDOMETER DEFAULTED TO KILOMETERS PER HOUR EVERY TIME I STARTED THE CAR. IT WOULD NOT STAY ON MILES PER HOUR. THUS, AFTER EVERY START, I WOULD HAVE TO GO INTO THE MAIN MENU AND SWITCH THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER TO MILES PER HOUR. I TOOK MY CAR INTO THE DEALERSHIP TODAY TO FIX THE SPEEDOMETER ISSUE (SO IT WOULD STAY ON MILES PER HOUR), AND THEY MADE THE SITUATION WORSE. THE OPTION TO SWITCH THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER FROM KILOMETERS PER HOUR AFTER EVERY START TO MILES PER HOUR HAS DISAPPEARED. THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER IS NOW PERMANENTLY STUCK IN KILOMETERS PER HOUR (AND CANNOT BE SWITCHED TO MILES PER HOUR). BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE, I DO NOT KNOW HOW FAST I AM GOING (WHICH IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE), AND ALSO MAKES IT DIFFICULT FOR ME TO KNOW IF I AM BREAKING THE SPEED LIMIT AND THUS SUSCEPTIBLE TO GETTING A SPEEDING TICKET. THE DEALERSHIP ADVISED ME THAT DOZENS, IF NOT HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE ISSUE AND BMW IS WORKING ON A SOFTWARE FIX, BUT ADVISED THAT IT COULD TAKE MONTHS. I FIND THIS ABSURD FOR A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE. THERE IS AN ANALOG SPEEDOMETER IN THE DASH THAT IS IN MPH, BUT IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ AND NOT SPECIFIC ENOUGH (IT INCREASES BY 20 MPH; FOR EXAMPLE, 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, ETC.). THE ANALOG SPEEDOMETER DOES NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT SPECIFICITY TO TELL WHETHER I AM GOING 22 OR 39 MPH. THE DESIGN OF THE ANALOG SPEEDOMETER IS EXTREMELY POOR AND CANNOT BE RELIED UPON TO DETERMINE ACTUAL SPEED, WHICH IS WHY THE DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER IS CRITICAL.