Welcome back to Takata recall corner. This month's lucky winners include owners of certain BMWs and Mini Coopers and, making a rare appearance, Rolls-Royce. In previous months, owners of about 42,000,000 vehicles in the United States have been notified that they must—eventually—bring in their vehicles to dealers to have the passenger side or driver side, or sometimes both airbags replaced due to the potential for the airbag inflator—made by Takata—to detonate with greater-than-designed force, causing injuries that could prove lethal.
A new twist in this latest recall is that the affected airbags are not driver or passenger front airbags. In this round, NHTSA is directing the replacement of seat-mounted side airbag inflators that may fail to ignite at all.
Sixteen deaths worldwide have been caused by defective front airbags. Most of the deaths occurred in Honda vehicles for some reason. No fatalities related to defective airbag inflators have occurred in BMW Group vehicles.
Better safe than sorry, however, especially when the NHTSA is calling the shots. A total of 3,506 BMW Group vehicles are in this latest round of Takata recalls, and include certain model year 2017 BMW 640i, 640i xDrive, 650i, 650i xDrive, M6, 535i, 535i xDrive, 430i, 430i xDrive, 440i, 440i xDrive, M4, X1 sDrive28i, X1 xDrive28i, i3, i8, Rolls-Royce Dawn, Mini Clubman Cooper, Clubman Cooper S, Cooper All4, Cooper S All4, Mini 4-Door Cooper, Cooper S, Mini 2-Door Cooper, Cooper S, and John Cooper Works.
Also in the recall are certain 2016 BMW 528i, 528i xDrive, 535i, 535i xDrive, 550i, 550i xDrive, M5, and 535d vehicles.
Recall details may be viewed online at www.safercar.gov.
Owners of BMWs may check to see if their vehicles are subject to this or any recall by going online to http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/owner/safetyrecalls.aspx?mobileoverride=true and entering their vehicle identification numbers.
As Takata recalls go, this is a relatively small number of affected vehicles. In the greater front airbag debacle, it will take years for all affected airbags to be replaced by dealers.
On January 13, 2017, three Takata executives were charged in the U.S. with crimes relating to the defective airbag investigation. Takata agreed to plead guilty and pay $1,000,000,000 to resolve the investigation. The settlement included a $25,000,000 fine, $125,000,000 for victim compensation, and $850,000,000 to compensate automobile manufacturers. Reports have surfaced indicating that Takata may seek bankruptcy protection in the U.S. under Chapter 11 or sell the company if it can fund a buyer.
BMW will notify owners of this latest side airbag recall and dealers will replace the affected airbag modules at no charge. The recall is scheduled to start on February 6, 2017. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or check their recall status online.—Scott Blazey
