Takata's exploding air bag inflator saga has come back into focus due to BMW. As per documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the German automaker is recalling a handful of sport utility vehicles equipped with deadly inflators manufactured by the Japanese corporation.
The document in question lists TK Global LLC as the supplier of said inflators, although that's not correct. TK Global LLC is the successor company responsible for all the air bag inflators manufactured by the now-defunct Japanese corporation. BMW has issued a recall for no fewer than 486 vehicles equipped with suspect airbags, namely sport utility vehicles produced in the US for model year 2014.
How did the Bavarian automaker become aware of this batch of suspect vehicles? According to the report attached below, the owner of a 2014 BMW X3 filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over a rupture. Said complaint was forwarded to BMW of North America on November 6, prompting a full-blown investigation.
Preliminary information suggests a production anomaly during a specific time period, although BMW hasn't revealed any details in regard to said anomaly. Be that as it may, the automaker couldn't rule out an inflator rupture in the event of a crash.
Only the driver's front air bag inflator is recalled, with BMW listing four part numbers for the suspect air bag inflators: 6799612, 6859516, 6868412, and 6868413. An estimated 457 examples of the X3 are believed to feature said inflators. The sport utility vehicles in question were manufactured between February 22, 2014 and March 7, 2014 for MY14.
Photo: BMW
In addition to the X3 xDrive28i and X3 xDrive35i, the German automaker has also recalled a single unit of the X4 xDrive35i. Last but certainly not least, an estimated 28 units of the X5 sDrive35i and X5 xDrive35i are called back. Other than the aforementioned complaint, BMW of North America isn't aware of any other air bag inflator rupture.
Dealers have been instructed to replace all suspect air bag inflators at no charge whatsoever to affected customers. Remedy inflators bear the very same part numbers as the suspect ones, which means that said inflators feature stable propellant. Based on past safety recalls involving PSDI-X inflators manufactured by Takata, the air bag inflators may not have been welded correctly.
Owners will be informed by first-class mail no later than January 16 of next year. BMW hasn't issued a do-not-drive order for the recalled X3, X4, and X5 sport utility vehicles. Also worthy of note, owners can determine whether their Bimmers are recalled or not by running the VIN on the NHTSA's website.
The second best-selling BMW in North America after the X5, the X3 carries a starting price of $46,900 for the sDrive30i at the moment of reporting. The swoopier X4 is $55,000 for the xDrive30i. Level up to the X5, and the most affordable spec of the bunch will set you back $65,200 (sans destination charge).
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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