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2024: A marriage of 1.3 million cars. Airbags in them explode and kill

In mid-August 2024, BMW announced the recall of more than 1.3 million cars in China due to problems with faulty Takata airbag superchargers that explode when activated.

The recall affects about 600,000 cars made in China between 2005 and 2017 and more than 750,000 imported cars made between 2003 and 2018. Specific models include popular SUVs such as the X1, X3, X4, X5 and X6 series.

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It is known that due to a defect, Takata airbag superchargers often explode during operation, injuring passengers with metal fragments, including fatal ones. This problem is not new and has caused a wave of reviews of defective cars. BMW has previously recalled almost 400,000 cars for this reason, and Ford and Mazda have warned drivers of more than 475,000 cars about possible airbag problems. Takata airbag superchargers have caused at least 35 deaths worldwide since 2009, according to law enforcement.

For BMW car owners, the company offers to replace driver-side airbags with authorized dealers for free. Owners can check the status of their vehicles by visiting a dealer or uploading their details to the automaker's website.

BMW is understood to have become heavily involved amid tighter regulatory scrutiny and growing consumer demand for safer cars. The scale of the recall reflects not only the changes of the company itself, but also the general trend in the automotive industry, which has become more focused on consumer safety and helping customers identify defects.^[1]

2023: Car recall due to airbags that are shot with metal parts

BMW recalls tens of thousands of defective flagship cars in Russia due to airbags that are fired with metal parts. This became known on June 23, 2023.

According to the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology (Rosstandart), a batch of 37,276 cars produced from November 2006 to June 2014 fell under the next recall campaign.

BMW 1 Series F20

Rosstandart named the following as the reason for the recall of vehicles: as a result of many years of aging, the gas generator of the driver's airbag and the front passenger airbag may fail. If the airbag is triggered during an accident, too much internal pressure may occur in the gas generator. Under unfavorable circumstances, the gas generator can explode and its metal parts can cause injuries.

All vehicles will be replaced with a driver's airbag and a front passenger-side airbag. In total, airbag replacement should be carried out on BMW 1 cars (F20 series), 2 Active Tourer (F45 series), 2 Coupe (F22 series), 3 Sedan (F80 series), 3 Touring (F31 series), 3 (Series F30 and F34), 4 Cabrio (Series F33), 4 Coupe (series F32, F36 and F83), 5 Touring (series F11), 5 (Series F07 and F10), 6 (Series F06, F12 and F13), M2 Coupe (Series F87), M4 Coupe (batch F82), X1 (batch F48), X5 M (batch F85), X5 (batch F15), X6 M (batch F86), X6 (batch F16).

Owners of cars subject to recall will be informed about the need to provide the car to the nearest dealership for repair work. Also, the owners have the opportunity to independently determine whether their car falls under the recall. All work will be carried out free of charge for owners.^[2]

2022

Recall of 61 thousand cars due to defective software

On April 27, 2022, BMW announced the recall of 61,221 vehicles due to defective roof function control unit software as there is a real risk that it was not programmed to American standards.

There is a good chance that the hatch will close, even if the keychain is not in the cabin. Despite the fact that BMW equipped the cars with an automatic turn/anti-trap system, it is possible to remotely close the roof without a key in the cabin. According to the automaker, as of April 2022, there were no reports of accidents or injuries associated with a malfunction of the hatch.

BMW recalls 61,000 cars due to defective software

About 3.4 thousand cars from the 2022 BMW 4 Gran Coupe series range fall under the recall: 430i, 430i xDrive and M440i xDrive. The list continues with 36,845 cars from the 2019-2022 X5 model range: sDrive40i, xDrive40i, xDrive50i, M50i and X5 M. There is a separate recall for the X5 model xDrive45e 2021-2022, and it affects about 6,921 cars.

This is followed by the X6 model of 2020-2022, 6,031 cars in sDrive40i, xDrive40i, xDrive50i and X6 M trim levels fall under the recall. The full-size X7 is also part of the recall: 8,024 cars of 2019-2023 model years in xDrive40i and xDrive50i versions, as well as ALPINA XB7.

Since everything is in order with the roof itself, in the BMW store you will only have to reprogram the control unit. Dealers are being notified from 20 April 2022 and owners will be informed on 13 June 2022. The problem was originally discovered in March 2022 during a software testing and analysis program. This prompted BMW management to initiate an engineering analysis that found errors in the code. In this regard, the company decided to conduct a voluntary recall.^[3]

Recall of 917 thousand defective cars that can ignite

In early March 2022, BMW announced the recall of more than 917 thousand cars in the United States. According to Automotive News, the problem is associated with the risk of fire due to the forced ventilation valve of the crankcase. Affected vehicles include BMW 128i, 3rd and 5th series models, as well as X3, X5 and Z4 SUVs.

The problem is that a heater built into the crankcase forced ventilation (PCV) valve on various BMW models can fail and overheat, causing the part to melt and potentially ignite the engine compartment while driving or shortly after the car is parked. The mechanism of action is that disturbances in PCV valve heaters can cause a short circuit, which leads to overheating of the car.

BMW recalls nearly 1m defective cars that could ignite

BMW notes that the affected cars have a PCV valve heater, which may not have been manufactured by the supplier to the required specifications. The part in question was produced by the German supplier Mahle. BMW also reports that smoke from the area near the engine compartment may be noticeable in the affected cars and users may also smell burnt plastic.

The affected BMW 128i, 3rd and 5th series models, as well as the X3, X5 and Z4 SUVs, are released from 2006 to 2013. Customers concerned that their vehicle may be affected should contact BMW for more information or use the tool through the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to review the recall. The recall is not limited only to the United States, according to BMW, 98 thousand cars in Canada and 18 thousand in South Korea are also equipped with defective parts.

Any recalled vehicle is not likely to be affected by overheating, according to the company, and a BWM spokesperson noted that customers can continue to drive their vehicles pending the fault. According to the management of the company, there were no reports of accidents or injuries in connection with this problem.^[4]

2020: Hybrid car recall

In mid-October 2020, BMW began recalling all hybrid cars with the ability to recharge from the network due to problems with spontaneous combustion of batteries. The list of defective models includes X1, X2, X3 and X5 SUVs, 3, 5 and 7 series sedans, Active Tourer 2, i8 and MINI Countryman. The recall applies to all hybrids of the above models, which were released between January 20 and September 18, 2020. BMW estimates that approximately 26,700 defective cars entered the market during this period.

BMW engineers found deviations from a given battery pack manufacturing process that the company receives from a third-party supplier, Northvolt. They had concerns that during assembly, foreign impurities could get into the blocks, which can cause a short circuit of the battery and its spontaneous combustion.

BMW recalls tens of thousands of defective hybrid cars that have batteries on fire

A spokesman said BMW Group had begun recalling defective vehicles and stopped all deliveries of plug-in hybrid vehicles as a preventative measure. So far, internal analysis of the company shows that foreign particles could get into the battery only in very rare cases, but it is impossible to isolate them from the total mass. BMW apologised for the inconvenience caused to customers, but noted that "safety must come first."

BMW is not the only company that has had to recall cars because of battery problems. Ford, which uses the same battery supplier as BMW, also began recalling its Kuga hybrid models after the spontaneous combustion of four cars. Hyundai also had to recall 25,000 cars of the Kona Electric model after 16 accidents. However, Hyundai has not yet identified the cause of the faults.^[5]

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