BMW Recalls 4,000 North American SUVs with Takata Inflators

Vehicle Recall: BMW Recalls 4,000 North American SUVs

On September 20^th BMW announced a voluntary recall of 4,000 SUVs in North America, including 2014 and 2015 models of the X3, X4, and X5. The recall comes over concerns of a potentially fatal manufacturing defect in the Takata inflators welding process that could cause metal shrapnel to project into the driver upon deployment of the airbag.

Although the dangers of flying metal are the same, BMW claims that this recall is separate from the Takata Corporation’s largest airbag recall in industry history. That one was caused by unstable ammonium nitrate in the inflators that can explode under certain conditions like severe humidity. There have now been 15 reported deaths linked back to Takata’s inflators, 10 in the U.S. alone, and nearly 150 people have been injured globally.

This latest recall comes less than a month after BMW recalled an additional 110,000 cars in Japan because of faulty inflators. Of the 100 million vehicles affected by the massive Takata worldwide recall nearly 2 million have been been BMWs.

The welding fiasco has been tracked back to a Takata manufacturing facility in Monclova, Mexico. A spokesperson from Takata said that, “Indications thus far are that this issue is isolated to approximately 4,000 parts, and we are unaware of any injuries as a result.” But Takata, BMW, and authorities are still currently investigating.

The potential malfunction in production was reportedly first noticed in a front-end collision of a 2014 X5 on July 22, 2016 in Georgia. No one was hurt, but “the inflator cap separated from the base plate,” due to improper welding and caused “unusual damage to the vehicle interior,” according to official documents.

BMW was informed of the abnormal occurrence on August 15^th, 2016 and a month later announced the recall. New airbags have been ordered, but they will not be available for consumers until November 11^th, at which time BMW promises to replace them free of charge. Until then dealers have been told by BMW to provide drivers with loaner cars upon request.

To see if your BMW is affected see the link below –

http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/owner/safetyrecalls.aspx?mobileoverride=true