Other body or interior problem on the 2004 BMW X5
1 crash 4 fires 1 injury 6 of the 13 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other body or interior problem gets reported
Owners of the 2004 BMW X5 report other body or interior problem at a median of 90,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 75,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles, from 12 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 55,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 110,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 53,750 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
8% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56,250 miles | 73,874 miles | 91,500 miles | 103,250 miles | 110,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash, 4 a fire and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $200–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 13 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2014, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2013 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 2001 carries the most reports, with 27; the 2004 has 13. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Our 2004, bmw x-5 door jammed on the front passenger side. I have contacted bmw, but they denied any problems concerning doors jamming. However, I conducted an internet search and found numerous postings discussing the door jamming. I advised bmw that I feel like my families safety is at risk due to the door failure. I asked them to please note that this was a safety risk and could put my family at risk. This is my only vehicle that I have to transport my family, due to my husband being activated with the military. Bmw denied any problems with the door. None of the passenger doors can be opened with a manual key or a manual release. None of the devices on the vehicle will open the passenger door. Nothing works. We can't remove the panel, because we can't open the door. This is a major safety risk and I fear that my family and numerous other families lives are at risk due to this problem. I am requesting immediate assistance and an investigation regarding the bmw door failure. The problem started, with a delay in the door unlocking upon pressing the buttons to open the door. Then, it just stopped working completely. I tried to get…
Our 2004, bmw x-5 door jammed on the front passenger side. I have contacted bmw, but they denied any problems concerning doors jamming. However, I conducted an internet search and found numerous postings discussing the door jamming. I advised bmw that I feel like my families safety is at risk due to the door failure. I asked them to please note that this was a safety risk and could put my family at risk. This is my only vehicle that I have to transport my family, due to my husband being activated with the military. Bmw denied any problems with the door. None of the passenger doors can be opened with a manual key or a manual release. None of the devices on the vehicle will open the passenger door. Nothing works. We can't remove the panel, because we can't open the door. This is a major safety risk and I fear that my family and numerous other families lives are at risk due to this problem. I am requesting immediate assistance and an investigation regarding the bmw door failure. The problem started, with a delay in the door unlocking upon pressing the buttons to open the door. Then, it just stopped working completely. I tried to get…
Latch jam on driver door of bmw x5 year 2004. The door will not always shut when it is very cold. It will take 30 to 45 minutes after the car warms up to shut. Bmw of north america does not claim this is faulty for a recall. They have received other complaints with this issue on older model x5's. Since alot of the x5's are not outside as much as mine (I.e. Overnight) you will not have a huge amount of complaints. The complaints will be with the ones that are in the cold weather regions of american and are outside for extended period of times and very frequently outside.. This issue is a safety hazard that bmw of north america should recall and fix. *tr
Also reported on the 2004 BMW X5
Sunroof failure or glass breakage
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Headlight failure or clouding
Other electrical problem
Other steering problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 13 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other body or interior problem happen on the 2004 BMW X5?
Across 12 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 75,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other body or interior problem on the 2004 BMW X5?
13 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 13 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed