BMW Air Bags: Side/Window

BMW is recalling about 804 vehicles over a problem with the air bags. A backrest cover panel that breaks during side air bag deployment may cause the air bag to deploy improperly, increasing the risk of injury to second-row seat occupants.

Campaign
23V039000
Manufacturer
BMW of North America, LLC
Reported
1 February 2023
Vehicles
804
Built between
Not published
Models
2
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
31 March 2023
Repaired
95%
Unrepaired
43

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.

  • 2023 BMW 230I
  • 2023 BMW M240I

Repair progress

43 of 804 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q4 2024.

95% repaired — 760 of 804 reported

Scrapped or exported
1

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 2023 2 Series Coupe (230i, 230i XDrive, M240i, M240i xDrive) vehicles. The second-row seat backrest cover panels for the side air bags may break during deployment of the side air bags.

What could happen

A backrest cover panel that breaks during side air bag deployment may cause the air bag to deploy improperly, increasing the risk of injury to second-row seat occupants.

What gets fixed

Dealers will replace the rear seat backrest side air bag cover panels, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 31, 2023.

Parts involved

  • Side Air Bag Cover Panel52205A041-(35,36,37,38,41,42,43,44,45,46)Side Air Bag Cover Panel

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 NHTSA1 February 2023
  2. Owners notified31 March 2023
  3. Latest repair reportQ4 2024 — 95% 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 1 February 2023.

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
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.nhtsa.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