BMW has announced a massive recall of over 390,000 vehicles in the U.S. due to potentially dangerous airbag inflators that could explode in the event of a crash. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a warning about the increased risk of these airbags exploding, a problem that has tragically resulted in the deaths of at least 27 individuals over the past decade.
The affected vehicles include certain models of BMW 3 Series Sedans and Sportwagons produced between 2006 and 2012. These vehicles may contain airbag inflators manufactured by Takata, which have the potential to explode upon deployment during a crash, sending metal shrapnel into the car, causing serious harm to occupants.
Takata’s faulty airbag inflators have been responsible for the deaths of 27 people in the U.S. and injuries to over 400 others, including a driver of a 2014 BMW X3 who was injured by shrapnel following an airbag explosion in October. While these inflators were not initially approved by BMW as replacement parts, they may have been installed by owners.
Earlier this year, Takata issued a recall for the airbag inflators outside of the U.S., prompting BMW to take proactive measures by recalling potentially affected vehicles last month as a precautionary step. BMW has stated that it was not aware of any accidents or injuries caused by the defect.
Starting from August 10, BMW will notify impacted drivers, and dealers will provide free replacements for the airbag modules to ensure the safety of the affected vehicles and their occupants.
The recall of 67 million Takata airbag inflators in the U.S. by the NHTSA since 2019 is the largest series of automotive recalls in U.S. history. This recall has affected millions of vehicles across various automakers, with an additional 33 million airbags recalled globally. The issue extends beyond passenger cars, as trucks manufactured by Daimler and luxury vehicles from Ferrari have also been equipped with these defective airbag inflators.
In a separate incident, Nissan issued a ‘Do Not Drive’ warning to owners of nearly 84,000 vehicles equipped with Takata’s airbag inflators in May. The severity of the situation was highlighted by an incident in 2018 where an exploding front-passenger inflator caused the death of a person driving a 2006 Nissan Sentra. Nissan had previously recalled over 736,000 cars with these inflators in 2020. Other automakers affected by this issue include Ford, Dodge, and Chrysler.
