[Nlion]

I purchased one of the first X7's in 2019 and wanted to love it. Seat errors, trunk not closing, seats not moving (getting stuck in underivable positions constantly), warning lights, camera failure, lane assist issues, nav failure, etc. BMW facilitated repurchase of the vehicle as long as I purchased another X7.

So I purchased a new 2020 X7 last summer after being told that the issues were due to production/software issues on being one of the first ones and overall I loved the performance, comfort, and size of the vehicle. At first it was clear the 2020 performed better. After a month I had some minor seat issues (left & right rear not locked even though it was and completely down- I was told this was due to a headrest issue). Then the seat error moved to more serious issues like the driver seat moving forward when the second row was up to let a person in and not moving back. Got a reprogram. Then the nav started flickering. BMW replaced the nav and reprogrammed the car. Great, right? Wrong...The seats continued to acted up -irritating on a 90K luxury car to not have it work 100% of the time. Then a few weeks ago the real shit show began- emergency call malfunction, nav going out (blanking), GPS not registering my location, speed limit not reading, sirius out, comfort access not working, hands free not working, and the seats...I got stuck driving my X7 home with the damn driver seat stuck all the way forward because it said the seat movement was limited (and before y'all ask if something was blocking the seats or in the track, no). I fear having to let someone into the 3rd row because I might have to drive in an unsafe position (all the way up)!

This is just ridiculous that I have had not one, but 2 X7's have major issues. These are not user errors- BMW has replicated. Has anyone else been blessed with X7- El Diablo edition??? BMW is working on trying to diagnose and repair and I have been assured it should be a simple fix, but WHY is this stuff even happening? It is unacceptable to me to even have these issues and my patience is done.

[JVZanetti]

Sorry to hear about that. Usually, I do not buy the same generation model but would get the 3rd one if I got two lemons (assuming BMW cover all costs and you live not far from a dealership)

[Wild Blue]

Oh, man, sorry to hear that. My 2021 has only had a couple minor things, all straightforwardly fixed.

[thenew3]

Sorry to hear that. My 2020 X7 was built in 04/2020 while the factory was shut down (so not sure how it got built). So far in a bit over a year and 8k miles, only couple of minor issues. 1) HK AMP needed to be replaced, 2) Oil level sensor was replaced (possibly unnecessarily).
Some other minor electrical gremlins that the dealer and BMWUSA thought would be fixed by software updates. But in the end, what fixed it was unplugging all 3 batteries and letting the car sit for a few hours. So it seemed the car need a "cold" boot. They tried various factory reset, warm boot of various ECU, and disconnecting the main battery, none of which fixed it.

[Nlion]

Thanks everyone. They supposedly have a fix for the electronic issues...we shall see. Just very irritated at this point. They are replacing the shark fin and reprogramming AGAIN. Then will tackle the seat issue.

[k23435]

i am sorry to hear this. No doubt it does not make your situation any better, but my X7 has visited the BMW service centre 8 times thus far only this year.

The latest incident was today, as the car started calling the emergency number on its own. It made 20-30 calls on my way to the office, without myself being able to disconnect or answer to the calls. I need visit number 9 to the service centre urgently.

[Luminor513]

Sorry to hear that you've had two X7's w these issues. Hopefully your service center can resolve the issues. I can imagine it's incredibly frustrating, not to mention time consuming. These cars are so complex now, it can be a million different things that cause issues.

[VisualUniverse]

We have some of the same electronics symptoms. We ordered the X7 in March 2019, arrived 1st week of May, so this is one of the early models. Has performed well until now. The electronics issues just now started to occur. We're at 46,000 miles on odo:

1) Center screen blanks out and eventually restores the display.
2) Backup camera display no longer coming up when shifting into reverse. Sometimes it shows up 5 seconds late, sometimes it does not come up at all.


Will be taking it in to dealer for these 2 issues, which I suspect are related. I will report back after dealer services it.

[Nlion]

The shark fin on the top- this is a KNOWN issue for X5 and X7- they used faulty glue for a large production cycle that will cause water to get in and short out the electronics on the car. That resolved most of the issues (hopefully- still do not have my car back). The entire "brain" was water logged becasue of this manufacturing defect. They are still working on the seat issues.

[crackerjack15]

My 2019 had the shark fin leak and it did burn out the electronics board which is right under the shark fin in the ceiling. No other issues with that 2019 for 42,xxx miles. I traded it for a 2021 and am at 11,500 miles trouble free. I also owed two X5's before the X7's. A 40i that I put over 40,000 miles on and a 50i that I put over 50,000 miles. All trouble free. I guess I've been lucky.

[k23435]

Originally Posted by Nlion

The shark fin on the top- this is a KNOWN issue for X5 and X7- they used faulty glue for a large production cycle that will cause water to get in and short out the electronics on the car. That resolved most of the issues (hopefully- still do not have my car back). The entire "brain" was water logged becasue of this manufacturing defect. They are still working on the seat issues.

It sounds we have had very similar experiences.

If the shark fin manufacturing defect was a known issue for a certain production cycle, then I wish BMW would have addressed it proactively. My car was in for scheduled maintenance only a few months ago , providing the perfect opportunity to fix it before the problem manifests itself.

I can only speculate, but it feels like sometimes it becomes a game of statistical mathematics: if the problem occurs only for x% of the cars (such as yours & mine), then it is more economical not to run a large scale repair campaign but accept that for small percentage of BMW owners problems will occur.

[k23435]

I just took my car to the repairs again (for the 4th time since August) due to the shark fin manufacturing defect. Luckily my car is still under warranty! As the frustration is increasing on my side, I challenged them on not fixing the shark fin proactively - it would not only be to the car owner's benefit, but also to their benefit for not having to visit the repairs at their cost.

I was told by the service rep that there has not been any official technical bulletin regarding the shark fin issue, and thus they have been unable to address it proactively. You mention above that it is a known issue for a certain product cycle, would you or someone else perhaps know if there has been a technical bulletin or some other official guidance issued on this by BMW?