This would almost be funny if it weren’t so serious. Airbags are once again a reason for issuing a safety recall, but this time, it’s not because of defective Takata inflators. On this go-around, the culprits are airbag control modules made by Continental.
BMW issued a recall and also an order to stop the sale of affected cars until they are repaired. The recall affects 6,110 BMW 7 Series sold in the U.S. and built between July 1, 2015 and December 11, 2015. Specific models include the 2016 BMW 740Li, 750Li, and 750Lxi.
Worldwide, about 26,000 7 Series BMWs are affected out of approximately 47,000 built.
BMW of North America intends to send recall notices to owners by May 16, 2016. Dealers will replace the control modules at no charge, naturally. The procedure should take about four hours.
All affected 7 Series that have not yet been sold will be repaired before they are released for sale.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that the defective airbag control modules might contain metallic residue that under extreme vibration or acceleration could make contact with the module’s circuit board and short it out.
Electronic shorts are almost never a good thing, and especially in this case. A short might cause the airbag module to reset, rendering it inactive upon restart. If there were a collision during that time, the airbags would not deploy and occupants would only be restrained by their seat belts, provided they were wearing their seat belts.
BMW says that it is not aware of any airbag non-deployments to date as a result of this defect.
2016 BMW 7 Series owners may call BMW customer service at (800) 525-7417, or NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at (888) 327-4236 to ask about safety campaign #16V173000.
Any BMW owner may access information about active recalls concerning their vehicles by visiting http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/owner/safetyrecalls.aspx?mobileoverride=true and entering their vehicle identification number (VIN).—Scott Blazey
[Photo courtesy of BMW AG.]
