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Transmission and drivetrainPart report

2009 BMW X5 Transmission and drivetrain Problems

Complaints
10about this part
Share
7%of 138 total for the year
Median mileage
89,000miles
Trend
Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.

NHTSA recorded 10 complaints about the transmission and drivetrain of the 2009 BMW X5, 7% of the 138 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 89,000 miles. 2 of these say a crash was involved and 1 a fire, according to the filers.

Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“I was driving on the freeway and suddenly I felt a power loss. Shortly after I realized I had no power steering. Immediately, I pulled over and looked under the hood and saw the drive belt tensioner pulley was broken and was out of place.”

NHTSA complaint #11010667, filed 2017-07, 121,000 miles

“I own a 2009 Bmw X5 diesel. Bmw has recognized an issue with a sensor in the selective catalytic reduction (scr) active tank. The tank stores diesel fluid. Diesel fluid is added into diesel to reduce the amount of emissions that is released from the vehicle. Bmw extended the warranty for this part but it is unknown how they determine the amount of this extension. My vehicle is over the extended warranty by 4 months but under the mileage limit by 40,000 miles. This issue should be a recall call and not an extended warranty with limited time to repair the issue. …”

NHTSA complaint #11287653, filed 2019-12, 85,000 miles

“While driving at speeds up to 70 MPH, the vehicle shuts off completely with no warning signs. When vehicle shuts off, all systems are completely off including power steering, antilock braking, the engine itself, all electrical systems, lights - everything completely powerless. The car will then not start for 10-15 minutes, but no check engine lights, and most importantly no errors logged in the computer. The first 2 times this happened was on a freeway at 60-70mph cruising speed. No sounds or warnings the X5 immediately shuts off. …”

NHTSA complaint #11074370, filed 2018-02, 99,000 miles

“Driving through the neighbor hood after some rain, ended up driving through a few inches of rain water, while the opposite traffic struck the same puddle, it caused the front of intake system right under the hood to suck in water causing the Bmw SUV to light up multiple sensors, loose alot of power and 4x4 traction stability to act up. The rainwater that got ingested almost causing the engine to hydrolock or sieze up. The SUV became undepedable due to all the error codes acting lighting up and causing the SUV to run at low power.”

NHTSA complaint #10743599, filed 2015-07, 44,960 miles

“I was driving on the 95 south, between exit 28 to 39( willmington area, ma) yesterday ( 5/18/13) about 6:30pm. I was on fast lane, driving about 70 MPH, suddenly the car lost power, the dashboard warning sign showing power output down. The speed of car suddenly dropped, I had to pull over to breakdown lane, but the cars behind me could not stop quick enough, it collided with my back bumper, luckily no personal injury, and the car only got slight scratch. Thanks to the cars behind me slowed down in time. It was so scare for me, never had such thing as loss of power before on highway. …”

NHTSA complaint #10512685, filed 2013-05

Related service bulletins

Transmission and drivetrain: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2026414%
2025711%
20241611%
2023926%
20222535%
20213128%
20201715%
20192010%
20181014%
20171013%
20161318%
2015149%
20141212%
20133624%
20125320%
20115822%
201065%
2009107%
2008167%
200723%
200674%
2005911%
20041117%
20031616%
200266%
2001159%
2000724%

Other parts of the 2009 BMW X5

Fuel system
42 complaints
Air bags
41 complaints
Engine
30 complaints
Electrical system
16 complaints
Brakes
10 complaints
Other or unknown
9 complaints
Seats
9 complaints
Engine cooling
6 complaints
Steering
6 complaints
Exterior lighting
5 complaints
Suspension
3 complaints
Latches, locks and linkages
2 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2009 BMW X5

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 31, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology