NHTSA Complaint #11449841 — 2017 BMW X5

Rear tailgate suddenly flew open while driving at a speed of roughly 25 mph without any user input. Car was fully locked and at speed, trunk/tailgate release button was not pushed. The tailgate was fully closed and locked, and there were no warning lights or chimes indicating otherwise. This has only occurred once as of today and has not been able to be replicated, so it is not necessarily "available for inspection upon request". My safety, as well as others, were put at risk by this malfunction as our family dog is often transported in her crate that is located in the trunk, and if this malfunction had occurred while she was back there, her crate could have very easily fallen out of the car at high speed, undoubtedly leading to death. In this same instance, her crate falling out of the trunk at highway speeds, or really anything else being transported in the trunk, could have easily penetrated another car's windshield, resulting in injury or death of another vehicle's inhabitants. As previously stated, this problem has not been able to be reproduced by a dealer or independent service center at the time of this writing. The tailgate has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or any other parties. There were no warning lamps, messages, or any other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, nor have there been after the fact.