BMW Seat Belts: Retractor

BMW is recalling about 15,455 vehicles over a problem with the seat belts. In the event of a crash where heavy braking is applied, the Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) may activate when the occupant is more forward in the seat, possibly increasing the risk of injury.

Campaign
16V747000
Manufacturer
BMW of North America, LLC
Reported
17 October 2016
Vehicles
15,455
Built between
May 2016 – Oct 2016
Models
6
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
3 July 2019
Repaired
88%
Unrepaired
1,553

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between May 2016 and October 2016. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2016 BMW 528IBuilt June 2016 to June 2016
  • 2016-2017 BMW X1Built May 2016 to October 2016
  • 2017 Mini CooperBuilt July 2016 to September 2016
  • 2016 Mini Cooper ConvertibleBuilt July 2016 to September 2016
  • 2016-2017 Mini Cooper SBuilt May 2016 to September 2016
  • 2017 Rolls-Royce GhostBuilt August 2016 to September 2016

Repair progress

1,553 of 15,455 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q4 2020.

88% repaired — 13,544 of 15,455 reported

Scrapped or exported
358

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 X1 sDrive28i, X1 xDrive28i, MINI Hardtop 4 Door Cooper, Mini Hardtop 4 Door Cooper S, MINI Cooper Clubman, and Cooper S Clubman, 2017 Rolls-Royce Ghost, and 2016 528i vehicles. The vehicle-sensitive locking mechanism of the seat belt Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) for the driver's seat may not lock as designed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 209, "Seat Belt Assemblies."

What could happen

In the event of a crash where heavy braking is applied, the Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) may activate when the occupant is more forward in the seat, possibly increasing the risk of injury.

What gets fixed

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's seat belt assembly, free of charge. The recall began July 3, 2019.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtMay 2016 to October 2016
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA17 October 2016
  3. Owners notified3 July 2019
  4. Latest repair reportQ4 2020 — 88% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 17 October 2016.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
BMW of North America, LLC
Safety standard
FMVSS 209
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand