Recall · 21V401000
BMW of North America recalled 9 models over air bags
4,511
Vehicles covered
9
Models
23
Model years
May 27, 2021
Filed with NHTSA
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
- The defect
- BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2000-2001 BMW 3 Series (323Ci, 325Ci, 328Ci and 330Ci), 1999-2001 323i, 328i, 330i, 330xi, and 2000 323i, 328i stationwagon vehicles equipped with Non-Azide Driver air bag Inflators (NADI) manufactured by Takata. These vehicles are equipped with driver-side air bag inflators that were previously inspected, but not replaced under recall numbers 19V-851, 19V852, or 19V-853. Due to a manufacturing issue, the NADI inflator may absorb moisture, causing the inflator to explode or the air bag cushion to underinflate.
- What it can cause
- The inflator could explode during air bag deployment, resulting in metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants. An underinflated air bag may not properly protect the occupant. These scenarios increase the risk of serious injury or death.
- What the dealer does
- Dealers will replace the driver-side air bag inflator with a newly designed inflator, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on July 12, 2021. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
- NHTSA's note
- 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.
The repair is free, whatever the age or mileage of the vehicle, and whether or not you are the original owner.
Which vehicles
A recall reaches a range of VINs inside these model years, not every car built in them. Yours may not be covered even if it is listed here, and the only way to find out is NHTSA's own VIN lookup .
| Vehicle | Model years | Safety record |
|---|---|---|
| BMW3 Series | 1999 to 2001 | Not published here |
| BMW323CI | 2000 to 2001 | Not published here |
| BMW323I | 1999 to 2001 | Not published here |
| BMW325CI | 2000 to 2001 | Not published here |
| BMW328CI | 2000 to 2001 | Not published here |
| BMW328I | 1999 to 2001 | Not published here |
| BMW330CI | 2000 to 2001 | Not published here |
| BMW330I | 1999 to 2001 | Not published here |
| BMW330XI | 1999 to 2001 | Not published here |
How this campaign compares
At 4,511 vehicles this is a bigger campaign than 73% of the 19,818 vehicle recalls filed since 1995 whose size NHTSA published. The middle campaign on file covers 472. It covers model years 1999 to 2001, so the oldest vehicles on it were 22 model years old when the defect was reported to NHTSA.
BMW vehicles have been recalled over the air bags 50 times before this, most recently in March 2021 as 21V176000. That is not evidence the earlier repair failed.
This site holds the complaint record for 14 of the 23 model years the campaign names. Their owners have filed 1,187 complaints with NHTSA, 1,165 of them before this campaign was filed. 292 of those name the air bags, the system this recall is about — a count of complaints, not of this defect. The earliest of them reached NHTSA in February 1999, 22 years before this filing.
The vehicles on this campaign carry one other recall published here: 20V018000 (air bags).
Check your own car
A VIN check is the only answer for a specific vehicle, and it also shows every other open recall on it, which is usually the reason it is worth doing rather than reading one campaign.
Filed by BMW of North America, LLC with NHTSA on May 27, 2021 as campaign 21V401000. Every word of the defect, consequence and remedy above is NHTSA's published record of that filing, not a summary of it.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes . Data last checked 2021-05-27.
Independent developer and analyst