- Vehicles
- 230,117
- Built between
- Apr 2000 – Jan 2003
- Models
- 10
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- NHTSA investigation
- Owners notified
- 15 March 2017
- Repaired
- 24%
- Unrepaired
- 170,556
Safety advisories
Do not drive this vehicle
NHTSA and the manufacturer advise that affected vehicles should not be driven until the recall repair has been completed. Contact your dealer to arrange the repair, and ask about transport in the meantime.
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between April 2000 and January 2003. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2000-2002 BMW 320Built June 2000 to December 2001
- 2000-2002 BMW 323Built May 2000 to December 2001
- 2000-2002 BMW 325Built May 2000 to December 2001
- 2000-2002 BMW 330Built May 2000 to December 2001
- 2001-2002 BMW 525Built September 2000 to February 2002
- 2001-2002 BMW 530Built September 2000 to February 2002
- 2001-2002 BMW 540Built September 2000 to February 2002
- 2000-2002 BMW M3Built May 2000 to December 2001
- 2001-2002 BMW M5Built September 2000 to February 2002
- 2001-2003 BMW X5Built April 2000 to January 2003
Repair progress
170,556 of 230,117 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q2 2018.
24% repaired — 55,819 of 230,117 reported
- Scrapped or exported
- 3,742
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 2000-2002 BMW 320i, 323i, 325i, 325xi, 330i, 330xi, 323Ci, 325Ci, 330Ci, M3, 323iT, 325iT and 325xiT vehicles, 2001-2002 525i, 530i, 540i, M5, 525iT and 540iT vehicles, and 2001-2003 X5 3.0i, X5 4.4i, and X5 4.6is vehicles. These vehicles may have had a driver-side air bag module installed as replacement equipment such as after a vehicle crash necessitating replacement of the original air bag, or as a remedy part for a prior recall. These replacement modules contain an air bag inflator that may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to lower absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
What could happen
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
What gets fixed
Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the vehicle has been remedied. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the driver side air bag module, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began March 15, 2017.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtApril 2000 to January 2003
- Recall reported to NHTSA20 January 2017
- Owners notified15 March 2017
- Latest repair reportQ2 2018 — 24% 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 20 January 2017.
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
- Recall initiated by
- ODI
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.