On August 16th, the State Administration for Market Regulation released the latest recall announcement. Brilliance BMW Automotive Co., Ltd. and BMW (China) Automotive Trading Co., Ltd., in accordance with the requirements of the “Regulations on the Recall of Defective Automobile Products” and the “Implementation Measures for the Regulations on the Recall of Defective Automobile Products”, filed a recall plan with the State Administration for Market Regulation and will recall the following vehicles starting from August 16th, 2024.
- Brilliance BMW Automotive Co., Ltd. will recall some domestically produced 1 Series vehicles with production dates from September 18th, 2017 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 2,026 units; some domestically produced 2 Series vehicles with production dates from August 3rd, 2017 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 1,175 units; some domestically produced 3 Series vehicles with production dates from May 31st, 2005 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 538,412 units; some domestically produced X1 vehicles with production dates from January 19th, 2010 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 56,883 units.
- BMW (China) Automotive Trading Co., Ltd. will recall some imported 1 Series vehicles with production dates from August 25th, 2004 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 86,404 units; some imported 2 Series vehicles with production dates from October 11th, 2013 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 12,223 units; some imported 3 Series vehicles with production dates from December 20th, 2004 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 96,148 units; some imported 4 Series vehicles with production dates from June 17th, 2013 to August 10th, 2017, totaling 12,047 units; some imported 5 Series vehicles with production dates from September 14th, 2009 to January 31st, 2017, totaling 101,617 units; some imported 6 Series vehicles with production dates from November 15th, 2010 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 4,994 units; some imported X1 vehicles with production dates from February 16th, 2010 to September 21st, 2017, totaling 57,683 units; some imported X3 vehicles with production dates from November 3rd, 2003 to August 25th, 2017, totaling 181,157 units; some imported X4 vehicles with production dates from May 21st, 2014 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 31,661 units; some imported X5 vehicles with production dates from July 19th, 2013 to June 20th, 2018, totaling 152,407 units; some imported X6 vehicles with production dates from July 9th, 2014 to November 8th, 2017, totaling 23,107 units.
The reason for the recall is that for a small number of vehicles within the scope of this recall, due to the behavior of users modifying the steering wheel by themselves after the vehicle was sold, it is possible that the driver’s frontal airbag of the vehicle was installed with an ammonium nitrate gas generator produced by Takata Company without a desiccant. When the airbag deploys, the gas generator may explode, causing fragments to fly out and injure the occupants in the vehicle, presenting a safety hazard.
The announcement stated that it is only possible to accurately confirm whether the user has modified the steering wheel during use through the vehicle production information. However, the steering wheel of the affected airbag after modification can be identified by appearance. Users can log on to the website or use the QR code to check whether their vehicle steering wheel is affected by the modification by uploading the vehicle identification number (VIN code) and steering wheel photos. They can also contact the local authorized BMW dealer and go to the store for on-site inspection. For vehicles confirmed to have defects through the inspection, Brilliance BMW Automotive Co., Ltd. and BMW (China) Automotive Trading Co., Ltd. will replace the driver’s frontal airbag for free to eliminate the safety hazard.
Judging from the latest recalled models and quantities, this recall involves many models, including domestic 1 Series, domestic 2 Series, domestic 3 Series, domestic X1, imported 1 Series, imported 2 Series, imported 3 Series, imported 4 Series, imported 5 Series, imported 6 Series, imported X1, imported X3, imported X4, imported X5, and imported X6 models, and the number of involved models is huge, with a cumulative recall quantity of 1,357,944 vehicles. Among them, a total of 598,496 domestic vehicles were recalled; a total of 759,448 imported vehicles were recalled.
According to the data, the producer of Takata airbags, Takata Corporation of Japan, was established in 1933 and is mainly engaged in the research and development of automotive safety systems and devices including automotive airbags, steering wheels, seat belts, airbag gas generators, and child safety seats. Japan is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of automotive safety components.
Takata created the largest safety recall event in automotive history due to airbag issues and directly led to the bankruptcy of Takata Corporation. In June 2017, due to product safety issues, Takata Corporation finally filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by Key Safety Systems, a US company under Ningbo Joyson, a Chinese component supplier.
Although Takata Corporation has gone bankrupt, the problem of its produced airbags has not been resolved. Domestic and foreign recalls have been carried out many times for the Takata airbag issue. But to this day, the Takata airbag gas propellant still threatens the vehicles produced by various automotive companies and passengers.
Judging from the recall announcement, this recall is a voluntary recall. However, the reason for the recall is that the behavior of users modifying the steering wheel by themselves after the vehicle was sold led to the possible installation of an ammonium nitrate gas generator without a desiccant produced by Takata Corporation in the driver’s frontal airbag, resulting in a safety hazard. This type of recall reason is relatively rare in the automotive industry.