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2013 BMW X5 — UNKNOWN OR OTHER

fire · 2184674 · 2026-03-10

Vehicle

Make
BMW
Model
X5
Year
2013
Manufacturer
BMW of North America, LLC
Component
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Speed
65 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
Yes
Crash
No
Police report
Yes
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

My family and I were traveling from Maryland to Florida, with a planned stop in Atlanta. We were driving our 2013 BMW X5 x Drive 35i and were traveling southbound on [XXX] through Greenville, South Carolina when the incident occurred. While driving at highway speed, my husband suddenly noticed multiple error messages appearing on the vehicle’s display screen - air bag malfunction, 4x4 malfunction, stabilization, etc. He immediately began pulling the vehicle over. Within moments, he observed smoke and visible flames coming from the rear driver’s-side area of the vehicle. He urgently shouted for me and our daughter to get out of the car. What followed happened extremely fast, within approximately 15 seconds. I yelled for my daughter to unbuckle and run. In a state of panic, I grabbed our dog, and as we tried to exit the vehicle, the fire spread rapidly and aggressively. Thick, black smoke engulfed the area and we fled on foot, coughing and struggling to breathe from the smoke. By the time we reached a safe distance, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. Thankfully, we were able to escape without physical injury, but the incident was terrifying and could very easily have resulted in serious injury or loss of life. The vehicle was completely destroyed, along with all of our personal belongings - cell phones, laptops, clothing, luggage, etc. We have since checked for recalls associated with the vehicle’s VIN and were told none were listed. However, a vehicle should

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
11723213
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown