Used BMW X3 and X5: the years to avoid and the years to buy

The record on the used BMW X3 and BMW X5 is deep for five model years and then stops. Between 2011 and 2015 the X3 has two years to avoid, 2013, with 452 complaints and a score of 56, and 2015, with 420 complaints and a score of 51, and three years to buy, of which 2012 is the best with 96 complaints and a score of 94. The X5 scores BUY in all five of those years, between 80 and 90, though its complaint counts run far higher than the X3's, from 392 in 2014 to 813 in 2012. From 2016 onward both tables read DATA PENDING: zero complaints, no verdict. A buyer looking at a 2016 or newer X3 or X5 is buying without this site's record, and should know that before reading further.

Two things the record does not contain

Neither nameplate has a single recall campaign on record here, for any year. That is not the same as saying none has ever been issued; it means the site's tables for the X3 and X5 carry a zero in the recall column from 2011 to 2025, and so the scores in this guide rest on the complaint counts alone. The second gap is the post-2015 record: ten model years on each nameplate with nothing scored. I will say what the 2011 to 2015 tables show and stop there.

X3: the 2013 and 2015 problem

The X3's five scored years alternate. The 2011 car has 250 complaints, 16.7 per year on the road, and scores 85 with high evidence; its components are spread evenly, Engine at 70 and then Steering, Engine And Engine Cooling and Power Train each at 48, with Electrical System at 46. The 2012 car drops to 96 complaints, 6.9 per year, and scores 94; Air Bags lead at 24, Engine at 22, and nothing else reaches 20.

Then the 2013 car has 452 complaints, 34.8 per year on the road, and a score of 56. Engine alone accounts for 294 of them, more than the whole 2011 record and more than thirteen times the 2012 figure of 22. Power Train is second at 120, Electrical System third at 58, then Service Brakes at 38 and Fuel/Propulsion System at 32. The record does not carry a campaign that explains the engine count, and I will not guess at a cause; what it shows is that owners of 2013 X3s reported engine trouble at a rate no other year of the car approaches.

The 2014 car recovers to 172 complaints, 14.3 per year, and a score of 89, and its pattern is different: Electrical System leads at 60, with Engine and Engine And Engine Cooling at 38 each, Service Brakes at 22 and Air Bags at 18. Then the 2015 car climbs again, to 420 complaints and 38.2 per year, the highest rate in the X3 table, and scores 51. Engine is back on top at 116, Electrical System at 88, Engine And Engine Cooling at 60, and Unknown Or Other and Fuel/Propulsion System at 52 each. The 2015 rate is higher than the 2013 rate on fewer complaints because the car has been on the road for fewer years; on the normalising measure the site uses, 2015 is the worst X3.

X5: high counts, steady scores

The X5 has no year the site marks CAUTION or AVOID, but it also has no year with fewer than 392 complaints. The 2011 car has 789, 52.6 per year on the road, and the 2012 car 813, 58.1 per year, the highest rate on either table. Engine leads both years, at 330 and 276, and Air Bags are second at 201 and 249. Power Train is third both years, 174 and 159. The 2012 X5's rate of 58.1 is higher than the 2013 X3's 34.8, and yet the X5 scores 80 and the X3 56, so a buyer comparing the two should read the rate column as well as the score.

The 2013 and 2014 X5s are the ones to have. The 2013 car has 483 complaints and 37.1 per year, and Air Bags overtake Engine as the top component, 156 to 144, with Power Train at 111. The 2014 car has 392 complaints and 32.7 per year, the lowest rate in the X5 table, and its list is the flattest: Fuel/Propulsion System 80, Engine 64, Electrical System and Structure 60 each, Power Train 48. Both score 90.

The 2015 car goes back up to 600 complaints and 54.5 per year, score 81. Engine leads at 168, Fuel/Propulsion System at 120, and two categories appear that were not in the top five before: Fuel System at 77 and Diesel at 77. Whatever the 2015 X5's fuel complaints are about, a share of them come from diesel cars, and a buyer of a 2015 diesel should treat the fuel system as the thing to inspect.

Which is the better used car

Ranked by the record, the X3 wins on its best years and loses on its worst. A 2012 X3, 96 complaints and 6.9 per year, is the cleanest year on either nameplate by a wide margin; a 2014 X3 at 14.3 per year is next. Against those, the best X5 year, 2014, runs at 32.7 per year, more than double the 2014 X3. But the X3's two bad years are worse than anything the X5 does relative to its own record, and there is no X5 year with a verdict below BUY. The verdict on each: buy an X3 only in 2011, 2012 or 2014, and a 2013 or 2015 only with a documented engine and electrical history; buy an X5 from 2013 or 2014 for preference, 2011 or 2012 with the air bag and engine counts in mind, and 2015 with the fuel system checked. On fuel, the EPA rates the 2013 X3 at 24 miles per gallon combined on premium and the 2013 X5 at 16.

What to check before you buy

• Run the VIN through the NHTSA recall lookup yourself. This record shows no campaigns for either car, so it cannot tell you what is outstanding.
• On a 2013 or 2015 X3, ask for every engine repair invoice. With Engine at 294 and 116 complaints, and Power Train at 120 on the 2013 car, a seller who cannot show the engine history is asking you to take the year's worst risk on trust.
• On a 2014 or 2015 X3, and on 2011 to 2015 X5s, check every electrical function, because Electrical System is in the top five of every one of those years.
• On any 2011 to 2013 X5, ask whether an air bag warning has ever shown; Air Bags are the first or second component in all three years, at 201, 249 and 156.
• On a 2015 X5 diesel, have the fuel system inspected for leaks and ask for the service record on it.
• On a 2016 or newer car of either nameplate, do not use this site's score, because there is none; use the VIN lookup and a mechanical inspection.

Summary

Avoid the 2013 X3 (452 complaints, score 56) and the 2015 X3 (420, score 51). Buy the 2012 X3 first, then the 2014 and 2011. The X5 is BUY in every scored year; prefer the 2013 and 2014 cars, which score 90 on 483 and 392 complaints, and treat the 2012 car, at 813 complaints and 58.1 per year on the road, as the one to look at hardest. Nothing from 2016 onward is scored on either nameplate.