The defect
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2011 X5 xDrive 35i, xDrive50i, X5 M, X6 xDrive35i, X6 xDrive50i, and X6 M vehicles manufactured April 5, 2010, to November 20, 2010, 2011 X5 xDrive35d diesel vehicles manufactured April 7, 2010, to November 20, 2010, and 2011 X6 Active Hybrid vehicles manufactured April 15, 2010, to November 17, 2010. The affected vehicles have a front driveshaft universal joint that may not seal out water and debris from getting in and damaging the joint, which could lead to its failure.
The risk
If the front universal joint fails, the front wheels would not be driven, affecting vehicle traction. Additionally, continued driving of the vehicle with a broken front universal joint may damage other components. Either condition may increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front driveshaft, free of charge. The recall began on July 8, 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 X5 | 2011 |
| BMW X5 Diesel SAV | 2011 |
| BMW X6 | 2011 |
| BMW X6 Activehybrid SAC | 2011 |
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 X5 | 2011 | 263 | 14 |
| BMW X5 Diesel SAV | 2011 | 44 | 2 |
| BMW X6 | 2011 | 31 | 11 |
| BMW X6 Activehybrid SAC | 2011 | 0 | 8 |
Other power train recalls in 2016
57 of the 919 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2016 concerned the power train; BMW of North America, LLC filed 347 campaigns in all.
| 16V926000 22 Dec 2016 | Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. |
| 16V900000 14 Dec 2016 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 16V856000 28 Nov 2016 | Maserati North America, Inc. |
| 16V800000 3 Nov 2016 | Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA |
| 16V755000 19 Oct 2016 | Polaris Industries, Inc. |
| 16V705000 3 Oct 2016 | Kia Motors America |
| 16V701000 29 Sept 2016 | Gillig LLC |
| 16V697000 27 Sept 2016 | Eldorado National- California, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2016