BMW has recalled 851 vehicles because their airbag inflators could rupture, sending hot metal shrapnel flying toward occupants.
Recalled models include a small number of each of the:
- 2014-2015 BMW 2 Series
- 2014 BMW 3 Series
- 2015 BMW 4 Series
Airbags function thanks to inflators – small metal capsules of chemicals that combine when triggered, forming a rapidly expanding gas that quickly fills an airbag.
BMW tells federal safety officials that a supplier may have provided it with some defective inflators, which can corrode over time. In “very rare cases,” the company says, a weld joint inside can fail, causing the inflator to explode even without a triggering accident. That could send hot metal fragments flying into the cabin.
The company is not aware of this ever happening in a BMW, but says the supplier found the issue in another manufacturer’s vehicles.
To be safe, dealers will replace the airbag modules in cars that received inflators from one suspect production lot.
By law, dealers never charge for recall repairs.
Automakers recall many cars to fix safety defects, sometimes more than once. While automakers try to reach every owner to ask them to bring the vehicle in for repair, they rarely get them all. Millions of vehicles on American roads need free recall repairs. To find out if your car is one of them, check the easy VIN tool at our recall center.
