- Vehicles
- 16,749
- Built between
- Mar 1997 – Aug 1999
- Models
- 1
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- NHTSA investigation
- Owners notified
- 7 February 2000
- Repaired
- Not reported
- Unrepaired
- Not reported
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between March 1997 and August 1999. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 1997-1999 BMW M3Built March 1997 to August 1999
What the defect is
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. These vehicles are built with a side air bag system consisting of door-mounted thorax air bags (rear door air bags are optional), a central electronic sensor and diagnostic system, left and right satellite impact sensors, and associated wiring. This system is unduly sensitive to certain non-crash impacts, such as contacting large potholes or curbs at substantial speed.
What could happen
This could cause the side air bag to deploy without an actual side crash. In addition, the battery safety terminal (bst) could also activate, disconnecting the starter cable from the battery. In this case, the vehicle's electrical system could continue to operate and the engine would continue to run, but after stopping, could not be restarted.
What gets fixed
DEALERS WILL REPROGRAM THE CENTRAL COMPUTER CONTROL MODULE THAT REGULATES THE PERFORMANCE OF ALL OF THE VEHICLE'S OCCUPANT PROTECTION SYSTEMS.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtMarch 1997 to August 1999
- Recall reported to NHTSA15 November 1999
- Owners notified7 February 2000
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 15 November 1999.
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.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE
- 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
Owner notification began february 7, 2000. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact BMW at 1-800-831-1117. Also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's auto safety hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).
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.