Some owners of the BMW 7 Series will have to let go of their cars soon, as BMW announced the recall of 26,000 units.
The company disclosed on Thursday that the cars could have defective air bag control modules, Reuters said. While there had been no reported cases of erratic deployments, the company is recalling as a precautionary measure. Continental AG supplied the air bag parts in question.
What Could Go Wrong
In the unfortunate event of a collision, the air bags may not deploy properly, hence the risk for further injury. The problem lies at metallic particles which result to short circuits, eventually resetting control modules randomly. These particles are residual material coming from the manufacturing process.
Affected Vehicles
In the United States, 6,110 of the 2016 7 Series units will be recalled, CNET noted. These models are across the 740Li, 750Li and 750Lxi trims. They are built from July 1 to December 11, 2015.
Meanwhile, 4,700 and 2,600 cars are affected in China and Germany, respectively. At present, there are 47,000 vehicles produced under the 7 Series umbrella.
American recall will kick off on May 16, 2016. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said BMW will be notifying owners regarding the recall, while dealers will have to replace the control modules for free.
Not a First in 2016
This is not the first time BMW recalls for 2016. In February, the company announced pulling of 840,000 vehicles in the US - also for air bag problems. As specified by Autoblog, Takata's PSDI-5 driver side air bag inflators had parts which could rupture in a crash.
Models affected include the 2008-2013 1 Series Coupe (incl. 1M), 2008-2013 1 Series Convertible, 2008-2013 3 Series Sedan (incl. M3), 2006-2012 3 Series Sports Wagon and 2013-2015 X1, among others.
In the meantime, owners can contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236.
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