BMW X3 and BMW X4.
If owners of BMW X3s made between 2011 and 2016, or BMW X4s produced from 2015 through 2016 prefer European-style child seats, they may want to pay attention to a recent recall of those models.
It seems that the anchor bars in some of those X3s and X4s, while perfectly fine for most child seats sold in the U.S., could be damaged by the use of certain European-style child seats because they lack the flexible latch connectors that U.S. seats have. About 189,000 Sports Activity Vehicles and Coupes are covered by the recall.
The flaw was discovered last March in Europe when a customer found a damaged child seat anchor after using the European seat.
The fix is relatively easy. Dealers will weld in a reinforcing bracket to the lower anchor bars. The fix is free for BMW owners, regardless of when the vehicle was purchased. The recall is expected to begin July 12, 2016.
Then people may use whichever style child seat they want.
2011 BMW X5, X6, X5 M, X6 M.
Two years ago BMW discovered that front driveshaft U-joints on certain 2011 BMW X5, X6, X5 M, and X6 M may have been made with bad seals. Over time, in a few cases, water or dirt might contaminate and corrode those U-joints, causing noise, vibration, and after prolonged driving, failure. Such a failure would render the vehicle totally rear-wheel drive, since the front wheels would no longer be powered.
At the time, BMW decided to take care of the matter through service channels by inspecting the front driveshaft and replacing the defective parts if necessary; but now, with the passage of time, it has received enough customer complaints to make the decision to handle it as a safety recall. This way, all affected owners will be notified and given the opportunity to have their vehicles fixed.
The fix, in this case, is to replace the front driveshaft on those vehicles that were not already repaired under warranty.
For these and other open safety recalls, BMW owners may visit the following web site and enter their vehicle identification number: http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/owner/safetyrecalls.aspx
For additional information, owners may also contact Customer Relations and Services at CustomerRelations@bmwusa.com, or at 1-800-525-7417.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
