The defect
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2006-2010 BMW X3 2.5i, X3 3.0i and X3 xDrive30i Sports Activity Vehicles. The front passenger seat occupant detection mat that determines if, and how, the passenger frontal air bag should deploy in a crash may fatigue and develop cracks which could lead to a system failure.
The risk
Should the system fail, in the event of a crash, the front passenger air bag would be deactivated, increasing the risk of personal injury.
The remedy
BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger seat occupant detection mat, free of charge. Interim owner notification letters were mailed on November 27, 2017. A second notification letter will be sent when parts are available. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| BMW X3 | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 |
Components: AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION
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 X3 | 2006 | 143 | 2 |
| BMW X3 | 2007 | 98 | 3 |
| BMW X3 | 2008 | 66 | 3 |
| BMW X3 | 2009 | 19 | 3 |
| BMW X3 | 2010 | 32 | 4 |
Other air bags recalls in 2017
90 of the 810 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2017 concerned the air bags; BMW of North America, LLC filed 347 campaigns in all.
| 17V822000 20 Dec 2017 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 17V837000 20 Dec 2017 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 17V803000 18 Dec 2017 | Ford Motor Company |
| 17V818000 18 Dec 2017 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 17V813000 18 Dec 2017 | Bluecar SAS |
| 17V806000 14 Dec 2017 | Mazda North American Operations |
| 17V807000 14 Dec 2017 | Mazda North American Operations |
| 17V801000 13 Dec 2017 | Hyundai Motor America |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2017