The defect
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 M3 Sedan vehicles manufactured May 30, 2015, to September 2, 2015, 2016 M4 Coupe vehicles manufactured July 3, 2015, to September 11, 2015, and 2015-2016 M4 Convertible vehicles manufactured May 29, 2015, to August 4, 2015. The affected vehicles have a driveshaft with a slip-joint that may not have been filled with grease. As a result, the slip-joint may fail over time.
The risk
If the slip-joint fails, there would be a loss of power to the rear axle and therefore the vehicle would stop moving, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the driveshaft, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on January 14, 2016. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| BMW M3 | 2015, 2016 |
| BMW M4 | 2015, 2016 |
Components: POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DRIVESHAFT
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMW M3 | 2015 | 4 | 3 |
| BMW M3 | 2016 | 5 | 3 |
| BMW M4 | 2015 | 12 | 3 |
| BMW M4 | 2016 | 22 | 3 |
Other power train recalls in 2015
54 of the 863 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2015 concerned the power train; BMW of North America, LLC filed 347 campaigns in all.
| 15V859000 22 Dec 2015 | Daimler Trucks North America LLC |
| 15V865000 22 Dec 2015 | Ford Motor Company |
| 15V837000 14 Dec 2015 | Motor Coach Industries |
| 15V821000 7 Dec 2015 | Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) |
| 15V802000 30 Nov 2015 | Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA |
| 15V789000 24 Nov 2015 | Ford Motor Company |
| 15V794000 24 Nov 2015 | Subaru of America, Inc. |
| 15V775000 20 Nov 2015 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2015