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2020 BMW X7 — Complaint #2155246

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NHTSA Complaint about SEATS:MID/REAR ASSEMBLY:RECLINER filed December 8, 2025

NHTSA complaint #2155246 (ODI reference 11703716) concerns a 2020 BMW X7 and was filed on December 8, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 3, 2025. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as seats:mid/rear assembly:recliner, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.

The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 2, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.

Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same BMW X7 cohort independently describe similar seats:mid/rear assembly:recliner failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2020 BMW X7 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.

Vehicle
2020 BMW X7
Component
SEATS:MID/REAR ASSEMBLY:RECLINER
Injuries
2
State
California

Complaint Description

• Third-row seat in my 2020 BMW X7 failed during normal operation and trapped my [XXX] daughter between the seatbacks. • She sustained injuries to her legs (documented in photos). I injured my arm while trying to free her. • Approximately 10 people witnessed the incident. • Seat would not move or release electronically or manually—no functional emergency release. • Multiple BMW system warnings occurred before the incident, including:  – “Third row seat risk of injury”  – “Right/left rear seat unlocked”  – “Right/left rear seat back unlocked” • BMW’s inspection found the passenger-side third-row seat motor housing broken. • There was no misuse and the failure occurred during normal operation • BMW refuses to repair the defect under warranty and attempted to return the vehicle unrepaired. • BMW suggested an “outside influence,” but evidence does not support this. • This defect creates a serious entrapment and injury hazard with no rel

Complaint Details

NHTSA Complaint ID 2155246
ODI Number 11703716
Date Filed December 8, 2025
Failure Date October 3, 2025
VIN 5UXCW2C06L9

Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.