BMW Exterior Lighting: Headlights

BMW is recalling about 4,265 vehicles over a problem with the exterior lighting. Should the headlamps be adjusted horizontally, there could be increased glare and reduced visibility for oncoming drivers, or reduced visibility for the vehicle operator, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.

Campaign
20V516000
Manufacturer
BMW of North America, LLC
Reported
27 August 2020
Vehicles
4,265
Built between
Not published
Models
2
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
23 December 2020
Repaired
90%
Unrepaired
384

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • 2019-2020 BMW Z4
  • 2020 Toyota Supra

Repair progress

384 of 4,265 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q2 2022.

90% repaired — 3,823 of 4,265 reported

Owners not reachable
24
Scrapped or exported
34

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 2019-2020 Z4 sDrive30i, Z4 M40i and 2020 Toyota Supra vehicles. The headlamps are able to be adjusted horizontally. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices and Associated Equipment."

What could happen

Should the headlamps be adjusted horizontally, there could be increased glare and reduced visibility for oncoming drivers, or reduced visibility for the vehicle operator, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.

What gets fixed

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the headlamp vertical and horizontal adjustment plugs, correcting them as necessary, free of charge. The recall began December 23, 2020.

Parts involved

  • Headlamp Adjustment PlugBMW–(Vertical–7205141,Horizontal–7205140)Headlamp Adjustment Plug
  • Headlamp Adjustment PlugToyota–(Vertical–90118WA351,Horizontal–90118WA350)Headlamp Adjustment Plug

Part numbers are as filed by the manufacturer and are listed for reference. Your dealer will confirm the correct part for your vehicle.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA27 August 2020
  2. Owners notified23 December 2020
  3. Latest repair reportQ2 2022 — 90% 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 27 August 2020.

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

BMW owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Toyota owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371.

Official source

Recalling manufacturer
BMW of North America, LLC
Safety standard
FMVSS 108
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