Welcome to Tech Talk, where our resident BMW tech Nick Owen answers all your pressing BMW technical questions, frustrations, and issues. Have a question for Nick? Email him at techtalk@roundel.org. Let’s get into it.
CV Boot Issue for 2020 BMW X1
My wife drives a 2020 X1 xDrive, and it is her all-time favorite car. The car has about 52,000 miles, and we bought it new.
When the car was in the dealer service department recently for new rear brake pads and discs, the technician noted that both of the rear outer CV boots were torn. We have the car regularly serviced at the dealer, so this is a new condition. The pictures he took show the tears, and there does not appear to be much lubricant that has leaked out.
Unfortunately, BMW does not sell just replacement CV boots for this model, and the only solution is to replace the axle shaft assemblies that include the CV joints and boots. I have owned many cars over the years, and having to replace a CV boot occasionally was a normal wear and tear repair. In this case, the total cost of replacing the axle shaft assemblies is about $4000, of which $3000 is parts costs. That seems absurd just to deal with torn CV boots. Is it possible to get aftermarket CV boots and just have an independent shop replace them, even though that is not the recommended BMW repair protocol? Would you recommend replacing the entire axle shaft assembly with CV joints and boots as recommended by BMW?
To add insult to injury, we paid for an extended service contract when we bought the car, and they are refusing to cover the cost because a torn CV boot is an excluded wear item even though the only solution BMW offers is to replace the entire axle shaft assembly. My view is that it is a failed axle shaft assembly when the only solution to a torn CV boot is to replace the whole assembly, but needless to say the service contract company is not aligned with that view. I would never buy another extended service contract after this experience.
Jeff Lawyer
Your frustration is valid. I wrote a piece on extended warranties because of your exact scenario, and it’s rather ridiculous that those items are excluded due to wear and tear reasons. I would request a refund of your extended warranty and see what they say…
While I have worked on the X1 platform, I have never seen rear CV axles torn, ever. Fronts are a different story but the rears have a rather low failure rate.
No obvious tears in the boot from that angle but there is an accumulation of grease on the outside of the wider end of the boot as well as some grease that you can see on the surrounding metal brackets that they said was slung out from the shaft. The second picture is the left side. Similar but not as bad.
The service contract was not a total waste. It did at least cover the replacement of a motor mount last year. Still that repair cost was much less than I paid for the service contract and much less than this axle shaft repair.
This is what I would do: I would monitor the issue but continue to drive the car. It’s possible that it’s axle grease sweat. And sweat will mimic a leak but it’s not really leaking. It’s seeping, for lack of a better word, and if it were my X1, I would wait to do that repair. While I can’t see in the pictures, it’s possible the CV boot has a vent and its venting grease, which is normal and its collecting dirt as seen in the pictures you provided. That’s the difference between a “leak” and a “seep” and a seep is something that can be put off for now.
2021 X3 M40i Melted Starter with No Recall Coverage
Yesterday, I was thrilled to see an inbound letter from BMW “IMPORTANT VEHICLE LIMITED WARRANTY INFORMATION,” as I was hoping that BMW NA had finally added my VIN number to the list of covered vehicles included in search results for the NHTSA Part 573 Safety Recall Report 25V636 (September 23, 2025). This recall being the origin of the infamous “Park Outside” directive due to numerous BMW models manufactured in the period of approximately 2020 to 2023 with certain defective (shortage prone) Valeo or Denso branded starter motor assemblies (perhaps others).
Imagine how crestfallen I was when I opened the letter and read that it was not for this matter, but instead simply an “IMPORTANT VEHICLE LIMITED WARRANTY INFORMATION” (ELW) regarding the EVAP SYSTEM PURGE VALVE ON THIS VEHICLE. Nice to know, but this letter was NOT going to help me recover all or part of the $1,786.87 which I basically had no choice but to pay BMW of Nashville back in December, 2025 to replace my shorted and perhaps melted starter.
The starter issue showed up several months (perhaps September or October) before the eventual replacement event as a “failure to start” error occasionally occurring when driving the car (a wonderful 2021 X3 M40i with less than 30,000 miles). I would push the start button but only hear a distinct click of the starter motor and then nothing else. However, a subsequent and immediate attempt to start the car was usually successful. I immediately suspected the original battery was responsible but a highly accurate Tektronix DVM indicated acceptable voltage (>13.6Vdc) at rest. Of course, the voltage indicated during a failed attempt was below 10Vdc, IIRC, which was reasonable for a shorted starter relay, limited only by the inherent series resistance of the cables associated with the lengthy battery to starter circuit (I am an electronics technician in the audio field of employment). I even tried a jump from other running automobiles with no improvement, just a dead car.
Over the following six to eight weeks the car would increasingly throw this same error, although it often required two, three, or four re-attempts at restart before it would actually start. The fault was not repeatable, but seemed totally random. Then, on a day in late November, nothing. No click, no start, the car was completely useless. Worse, it was no longer possible to get the car into standby or drive ready mode.
After talking to my local dealer, they advised me to have the car towed to them for inspection. They agreed that it could indeed be a defective starter issue, but they were also adamant that any repair would NOT be covered under recall as my VIN was not included in the recall group. I said okay, I needed to drive the car on a long trip over the holiday season, so I would get the car to them ASAP.
Here is where this problem became a huge issue. The car was parked perpendicular on my driveway (it’s a long story why), which is probably 20 degrees inclined upward to my garage. As soon as the tow truck driver saw the way the car was positioned, he said he could not load the vehicle onto his flatbed because it was unsafe to do so. I needed to put the vehicle into neutral and then it would roll down my front lawn to the perfectly level street. I soon discovered that if you can’t get the vehicle into standby or drive-ready mode, you can’t place it in neutral. Yes, there is a miniscule little level on the side of the transmission that BMW insists will place the auto into a manual override neutral state. However, it was freezing at the time and difficult to lie on the cold pavement for more than a few minutes at a time. Also, due to the fact that this SAV has all-wheel-drive (xDrive), there is a front wheel drive driveshaft mere millimeters away from the tiny lever which makes it impossible to engage.
Internet research (largely YouTube) indicated that there was an electronic override method to place the car into neutral with various start switch and brake pedal maneuvers which seemed encouraging, until I discovered that they were ineffective unless you could get the car into drive-ready mode, which was not possible. This whole matter seemed unsolvable until I called the dealer and pleaded my case with them one more time. The next day the CSR (Service Writer) called and said they were sending a lower level service tech to my house (amazingly at no-charge) that afternoon to remove the two rear axle bolts (one time use, replaced @ $57.94 each) for the secret, non-disclosed method of allowing the car to roll down my lawn to the level street so that the flatbed tow truck driver could finally load my car and deliver it to the dealer.
Success, which had only taken three and a half weeks to achieve. The invoice from BMW Nashville was $1,786.87 (plus a third party towing charge of $185.00) which I paid as I wanted the car back ASAP and also that, in the event my X3 was ever added to the recall group of VIN numbers, I should be able to submit my repair documentation and hopefully be reimbursed…
Which finally gets me to the reason I have presented all of these details. I continue to monitor the BMW Recall website for the possibility of my car being added to the VIN list for this defect. No luck, thus far. Please realize that my X3 exhibited the exact symptoms described in the recall documentation. I asked the dealer if that was indeed the case and they said yes. I also asked for the defective starter motor assembly so that I might be able to disassemble the device and perform an examination for the root cause of failure, but… they of course absolutely refused to provide the defective part. Is there any means by which I can convince BMW of North America to give me a good-faith reimbursement for these costs? This recall is broadening (as a “Phased Recall”) to include many more BMWs produced in the early 2020s. I also monitor the internet for any mention of a possible class action lawsuit regarding autos not included in this recall. There is indeed, substantial interest from many others in this same predicament.
What would you do if this were your X3 M40i?
Kerry Kopp
If it were my car, I would have asked the dealership for a goodwill exception considering the symptoms. If there is a known issue out to the public and my vehicle had the exact issue, then I think it warrants a conversation. The problem is that the black and white says “not covered,” while the symptom is obviously the issue.
Your situation is unique and I think an inquiry to BMW NA is within reason. It’s possible the starter in your vehicle was defective despite the VIN of your vehicle not falling under the recall parameters. Therefore, you should contact BMWNA customer relations (1-800-831-1117) and plead your case as diplomatically as possible. They will hear you out and inquire with the dealership to gather all the information on the matter and get back to you with their findings.
