2026 BMW X5 Driver assistance Problems

VEHICLE SAFETY MALFUNCTION & SYSTEM FAULT REPORT CRITICAL SAFETY ALERT: UNCOMMANDED STEERING MALFUNCTION This document constitutes a formal notification of a severe, life-threatening safety defect involving spontaneous, unprompted steering torque commands that forced the vehicle off the road and into oncoming traffic lanes. Vehicle Year / Model: 2026 BMW X5 Date of Report: Primary System Fault: Driving Assistant Professional (DAPP) / Highway Assist / KAFAS Camera Module Secondary System Fault: Automatic High Beam Assistant Failure 1. Description of Safety Incidents While operating the vehicle on [XXX] south of [XXX], the vehicle experienced three (3) distinct, severe uncommanded steering intervention events within a short driving window before the automated systems were manually disabled for driver safety. The specific conditions were as follows: Lighting/Environmental Conditions: The failures occurred uniformly during low-contrast, twilight conditions ("just before dark"). System State: The automated Level 2+ hands-free driving feature (Highway Assist) was active and engaged. No dash errors or system alerts were shown prior to the steering jerks. • • Malfunction Behavior: Upon approaching intermittent median left-turn lanes where center line markings widen and alter, the steering wheel violently and sharply yanked without warning. Two events directed the vehicle toward the roadside ditch; one event forcefully yanked the steering wheel toward the oncoming traffic lane. In all instances, immediate manual human force was required to physically override the steering rack motor and prevent a high-speed collision. 2. Correlative System Fault (Windshield Camera Cluster Link) Immediately following the third steering event, further down the highway, the vehicle's Automatic High Beam Assistant completely ceased to function. The green high beam indicator with the "A SEE ATTACHED FILE FOR COMPLETE LETTER INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11776452

Incident

Nov 5, 2026

My fiancée and I recently purchased a 2026 BMW X5 Plug-In Hybrid, which came equipped with BMW's Parking Assistant system, including the Recorded Path Parking feature. Unfortunately, our experience with this feature has been extremely disappointing and, more importantly, resulted in property damage. My fiancée had successfully used the Recorded Path Parking feature at least 30 times without incident. I had also used it several times. However, during one particular use, while I was seated in the driver's seat and my fiancée was in the passenger seat, the system malfunctioned in a very concerning way. The X5, using the Recorded Path Parking, began reversing up our long driveway and through the narrow entrance of our RV garage. Instead of stopping as it approached an obstruction, the vehicle continued reversing. In fact, during the final seconds, it appeared to accelerate, increasing its speed by approximately 2–3 mph before striking our UTV. The collision caused damage to our newly purchased BMW X5. What makes this incident particularly concerning is that the vehicle gave us no meaningful warning that something was wrong. There was no vibration, no red warning lights, or any other apparent indication that the system was malfunctioning. The vehicle's normal green indicators continued to suggest that the Recorded Path Parking function was operating as intended. I immediately contacted BMW and escalated my concerns to its Engineering Department. I provided BMW with video footage of the incident and specifically requested that they retrieve and examine the vehicle's Event Data Recorder (EDR) information to establish exactly what happened, including the vehicle's speed and braking activity during the event. Initially, BMW agreed to investigate the recorded event. However, they subsequently changed their position and declined to retrieve the information themselves, suggesting that I find and pay a third party to pull the EDR information. I strongly disagreed.

NHTSA ID

11775039

Incident

Oct 14, 2026

The contact owns a 2026 BMW X5. The contact stated that while stopped at a red light with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle unexpectedly moved forward. Additionally, while the vehicle was parked and turned off, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where the failure was reproduced. The dealer acknowledged failure and provided the contact with a loaner vehicle. The dealer was awaiting guidance from an engineer regarding the failure and the repair. The manufacturer was contacted by phone and email. The approximate failure mileage was 4,800.

NHTSA ID

11769278

Incident

Sep 22, 2026

Mileage

4,800 mi

On August 16, 2026, while using the Automatic Parking/Parking Assistant feature on my 2026 BMW X5 M60i, the vehicle was performing an automated reverse parking maneuver. During the maneuver, the vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated backward toward a vehicle parked behind me and struck it. The acceleration occurred while the Parking Assistant system was controlling the maneuver. Because of the sudden acceleration and short distance to the vehicle behind me, there was insufficient time to recognize the unexpected movement and intervene before impact. A passenger in my vehicle witnessed the incident. I reported the incident to BMW. BMW North America subsequently inspected the vehicle and advised that it performed multiple automatic parking maneuvers but was unable to reproduce the excessive speed. BMW stated that the cameras and obstacle-distance displays operated normally during its testing and that no malfunction was identified. BMW also provided the vehicle's EDR data. BMW states that the EDR recorded no event and therefore contains no speed, acceleration, throttle, brake, or other incident-specific data from the collision. Accordingly, BMW's subsequent testing does not establish what the vehicle was doing during the actual incident. BMW also initially advised that no video existed because Drive Recorder was not activated. However, my BMW ConnectedDrive account for this VIN shows “BMW Drive Recorder – Active.” I have asked BMW to clarify whether Drive Recorder itself was active but a particular recording setting or trigger was not enabled. The precise cause is UNKNOWN. My concern is a possible intermittent malfunction of the Automatic Parking/Parking Assistant system involving unexpected acceleration/speed control during an automated reverse parking maneuver.

NHTSA ID

11767809

Incident

Aug 15, 2026

Car braked without warning while going around a curve and came to a complete stop in the middle of the road with no good reason. Traffic going the opposite direction was heavy but no hazards on my side of the road. Cars behind me had to swerve and I was nearly rear ended and could have resulted in very serious injury.

NHTSA ID

11763588

Incident

Sep 10, 2026

Driving on highway using assisted driving pro (hands off steering wheel and feet off pedals). Speed set for 65 or 67. Driver's phone call came up on display screen. Passenger answered and hung up on screen. Driver did not touch wheel. Car started accelerating. Reached 93 mph before realized what was happening and able to apply brakes. Short time later tried to reengage speed and verbally requested increase to 65 or 67. Car set cruise control to 110. Both passengers heard 65 or 67, definitely not 110. Applied brake and didn't use any driver assistance controls for remainder of trip. Nice weather, no glare, light traffic. Software update was installed the day before. BMW dealership found no problem. National BMW consumer line suggested setting speed manually with buttons on steering wheel instead of verbally.

NHTSA ID

11761698

Incident

Aug 29, 2026

On [XXX], my 2026 BMW X5 (VIN [XXX], 22,314 mi) was damaged during an automated reverse parking maneuver by BMW Parking Assistant, with automatic emergency braking enabled. Three failures occurred. I have used Parking Assistant nightly for ~6 months to back into my home garage: ~180 identical maneuvers, zero prior incidents or warnings. Nothing about the garage or environment changed. Failure 1: The system calculated and executed a trajectory that steered the vehicle into the garage structure. First contact was at the driver side rear fender flare. Failure 2: No graduated proximity warnings sounded during the approach. The first and only sensor alert occurred simultaneously with impact. The alert at contact proves the sensors were functional, yet no advance warning was given. Failure 3: After contact was detected and the alert sounded, the vehicle kept moving. Automatic braking did not stop it. The scrape traveled forward along the entire driver side door and sheared off the driver side mirror before the vehicle stopped. At parking speed, stopping distance is inches; the continuous scrape from fender flare to mirror is physical evidence of sustained post-contact travel. The system requested driver intervention only after impact. I was actively supervising. The window from failure onset to impact was under one second, below human reaction time. No supervising driver could have intervened. Damage: driver side rear fender flare, door, and mirror. No injuries. No software changes have been made since the incident. A formal case and engineering investigation have been requested from BMW of North America, including written preservation of EDR, parking maneuver logs, sensor data, brake commands, and telematics. Servicing dealer: Crevier BMW, Santa Ana, CA. I believe this indicates a software defect in path planning, sensor logic, or post-contact braking that may affect other vehicles. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11756589

Incident

Aug 11, 2026

I have a 2026 BMW X5 50E. I experienced the same malfunction twice in the same day. The first occurrence was when I was taking my husband to a doctors appointment. While parking the car and when I was almost at a stop the vehicle lurched forward and was stopped by the concrete curb. My husband asked me what happened and I said I don’t know. The second occurrence was about two hours later after visiting a second doctors office I headed to a lunch spot. I pulled into a parking spot and had come almost to a stop and once again the vehicle lurched forward with an even more powerful sudden acceleration. The vehicle struck a metal railing, bordering, an outdoor dining area. Once the railing was hit It pushed into a large freestanding metal continuous privacy panel. The privacy panel collapsed on people and caused multiple injuries. This incident endangered the safety of myself and the safety of many others. There were multiple injuries. I have not yet had the vehicle inspected by a third-party. I received no warnings on the car or through the app prior to the failure. These incidents occurred on July 31, 2026 between 10 AM and 12 PM. I have read and saved the error codes available on the car. There may be some that are associated with the incident. Also of note the incident occurred several days after a software update on July 26 at 1:30 AM

NHTSA ID

11754180

Incident

Jul 31, 2026

Summary of the Problem: Intermittently, after starting the vehicle, the center infotainment display becomes stuck on the BMW startup logo and never completes the boot process. The condition persists while driving. Safety Risk: When this occurs, the rearview backup camera is unavailable when the vehicle is shifted into reverse, reducing rear visibility and increasing the risk of a backing collision. Other infotainment functions are also unavailable. Frequency: Intermittent. The issue has occurred multiple times. Conditions: The issue occurs at vehicle startup. No specific weather or operating conditions have been identified. Troubleshooting Performed: * Restarted iDrive by holding the audio volume/power button for approximately 30 seconds. The system restarts but remains stuck on the BMW startup logo. * The only reliable recovery is to lock the vehicle and leave it undisturbed for approximately 30 minutes or longer. After the vehicle enters sleep mode, the system functions normally again.

NHTSA ID

11751544

Incident

Jul 20, 2026

The Blind spot warning lights on both sides of the mirros are not lit consistently. It brings in some dangerous situation if we assume the warning light is always lit when there is a car in the blind spot. So I observed it on the highway several times, especally at night, where the warning light is mostly needed. The result is consistent. I was driving on the three-lane I95 and adaptive cruising control in the middle lane. The right-hand side blind spot warning light wasn't lit on all dark color cars to my right, and wasn't lit on 18-wheelers. It's lit on all light color cars, like white cars. The left-hand side blind spot warning light was lit most time. But there were still times that it's not lit, especially on dark color cars at night.

NHTSA ID

11742608

Incident

May 23, 2026

Vehicle: 2026 BMW X5 System involved: Parking Assistant Professional (automatic parking) Description of the incident: While using Parking Assistant Professional on my 2026 BMW X5, the vehicle performed an automated parking maneuver and reversed into a stationary wall, causing damage to the rear window, tail light, and paint. The maneuver was initiated by the automated parking system. During the event, there were no audible or visual warnings, no alert prompts, and no system disengagement prior to impact. The vehicle continued reversing until contact occurred. I did not manually apply throttle or steering input during the automated maneuver. The obstacle was a fixed, stationary wall in a normal parking environment. BMW North America later informed me that their investigation concluded the system operated as designed and that certain sensor limitations are described in the owner’s manual. However, from a safety perspective, an automated parking system reversing into a stationary object without warning raises concern, particularly given the absence of alerts or system intervention. I am submitting this complaint to document a potential safety issue involving automated parking behavior and lack of warnings during low-speed automated maneuvers.

NHTSA ID

11709535

Incident

Dec 28, 2025