BMW will check the driver’s airbags on another 480,000 Series 5 and BMW X5 models around the world. It will be an extension of the recall that took place in 2015 and 2017.
It is necessary to verify that these 15-to-20-year-old cars not have been fitted with a non-standard steering wheel with a potentially dangerous gas generator based on ammonium nitrate.
The recall concerns the BMW 5 Series (E39 – produced from September 2000 to September 2004) and the BMW X5 (E53 – April 2000 to September 2003), while the verification should not take longer than an hour.
We have already written about previous 2015 and 2017 recalls for the BMW 5 Series and BMW X5 models – see the links below. In 2014, 2016 and 2017, the BMW 3 Series (E46) was also recalled for the same reason. In their case, it was also necessary to check the passenger´s airbag.
E39
- 2015: BMW 5 Series (2002 – 2003)
- 2017: BMW 5 Series (1999 – 2003)
E53
- 2015: BMW X5 (2003)
- 2017: BMW X5 (1999 – 2003)
E46
- 2014: BMW 3 Series (1999 – 2006)
- 2016: BMW 3 Series (2002 – 2006)
- 2017: BMW 3 Series (1999 – 2003)
As has been said several times, vehicles equipped with an airbag from the bankrupted Japanese supplier Takata, are at risk of an explosion of the gas generator after the activation of the airbag. Its metal particles could seriously injure or even kill the occupants of the vehicle.
As stated by BMW’s spokesperson for kfz-betrieb.de, in Germany, where the recall affects 95,164 vehicles, there has not yet been a single accident related to this problem. In the BMW internal database, the recall is registered under the code 0032790200.
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