- BMW is recalling over 5,000 SUVs for faulty Takata airbags.
- Defective inflators can explode and send shrapnel at occupants.
- Takata airbags have killed 28 Americans and injured hundreds.
Approximately 67 million Takata airbags were recalled years ago, because they could effectively become fragmentation grenades. The resulting stream of shrapnel caused numerous injuries and deaths across the globe.
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While the dangerous saga has largely come to a close, BMW is now recalling 5,361 examples of its 2000-2021 X5 crossover that may have a sport steering wheel containing a Takata PSDI-4 airbag inflator.
The government says the inflator “may explode during deployment due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature, and temperature cycling.”
More: 28th Death Linked To Faulty Takata Airbag In The US
While problems with Takata airbags are widely known, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said BMW was preparing “technical campaigns” for airbags in non-US markets.
As part of these preparations, the automaker reviewed all their records and discovered that some US customers could have replaced their standard steering wheel with a sport steering wheel.
This could mean they replaced an ammonium-nitrate free airbag inflator with a PSDI-4 inflator that uses the material. This is a problem as the “propellant wafers may experience an alteration over time,” causing “overly aggressive combustion in the event of airbag deployment.”
Only 0.1% of the recalled vehicles are believed to have the Takata PSDI-4 inflator, but BMW decided to conduct a recall out of an abundance of caution. That’s a wise move as this could be a matter of life or death for approximately five people.
Owners will be notified shortly before Christmas and they’ll be instructed to take their crossover to a nearby dealership. Once there, technicians will inspect and replace the driver’s front airbag, as necessary.
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