[mrichione]

Just dropped my X5 off for service today for the below list of issues that began over the past weekend and gradually worsened, with more manifesting over the following few days. I realize some of these are well known by now, but I'm curious if anyone has experienced some of the less common ones listed and, if so, what your experience was like having them repaired. They all seem to be the result of some electrical fault coupled with buggy software.

Note: Vehicle running 11/2018.55 iDrive software

1) Blind spot warning lights sporadically not illuminating
2) Brake lights not fully illuminating (portion on tailgate lights out when vehicle unlocks/starts)
3) Turn signals not functioning properly (blink twice and turn off)
4) "Seat backs unlocked" warnings (warning says rear seatbelts are also compromised/malfunctioning)
5) Cornering headlights not working
6) Headlights and fog lights on permanently when engine is on (not responding to outdoor lighting conditions; daytime running lamps not working; cannot turn off manually, engage parking lamps, etc.)
7) Microphones not working ("Hey BMW," phone calls, Siri, etc.)
8) Steering wheel mic button will not engage BMW voice control system
9) Kick-to-open tailgate not functioning
10) Ambient lighting shutting off randomly; needs to be reactivated/reset from default color
11) CarPlay disconnecting randomly

This is the third X5 I've owned (previously owned a 2011 35d and 2016 40i), and neither of the prior models had nearly this many issues. Granted the G05 introduced a slew of new tech, but the number of issues owners are reporting combined with BMW's sluggish reaction time to patch these bugs is frankly unreasonable.

[X5_CC]

Wow, that is an unusually high number of strange issues, some of which I've never heard of. It sounds like you have a major electronics issue that may be causing most of those problems. Good luck and let us know what they find out.

[The Libertine]

Hope the dealer is able to get the identified issues sorted for you. Good luck.

[BMW lifer]

Hope you’ve raised these as they’ve arisen rather than wait. Sounds like you have a Friday afternoon car which needs major attention

[H0fmeister]

I have had mine since December and I just starting experiencing the interior lighting resetting to the default color in the last week...very annoying

[mrichione]

All issues are apparently resolved after ~8 hours in service at my dealership. SA said the vehicle had a software bug that had a trickle-down effect and caused the series of seemingly unrelated issues across different but interconnected systems. Reprogramming (which was necessary for a BMW bulletin to fix the cornering light issue anyway) repaired the other problems. And as a bonus, the dealership updated my iDrive software from 11/2018.55 to 03/2019.48, which in the limited time I've been able to toy around with it, seems to be less buggy/more stable.

Related question... When/how do the cornering lights activate? I did a quick test drive with the running lamps on (then with the low beams manually engaged), but the cornering lights didn't turn on. What circumstances are necessary for them to work, and what do they actually look like when functioning? TIA!

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by mrichione

All issues are apparently resolved after ~8 hours in service at my dealership. SA said the vehicle had a software bug that had a trickle-down effect and caused the series of seemingly unrelated issues across different but interconnected systems. Reprogramming (which was necessary for a BMW bulletin to fix the cornering light issue anyway) repaired the other problems. And as a bonus, the dealership updated my iDrive software from 11/2018.55 to 03/2019.48, which in the limited time I've been able to toy around with it, seems to be less buggy/more stable.

Related question... When/how do the cornering lights activate? I did a quick test drive with the running lamps on (then with the low beams manually engaged), but the cornering lights didn't turn on. What circumstances are necessary for them to work, and what do they actually look like when functioning? TIA!

Nice report, thanks for posting. Very good for all of us to know that as time marches on, BMW has solutions to our issues and is indeed repairing our cars. Its easy and probably feels good to post complaints but its super important to post solutions. Gives owners positive signs that progress is being made to address the plethora of nagging and frustrating issues.