This is an Early Warning Alert on a dangerous recall from BMW.

An official recall notice has not been published yet by the federal government, but news reports today have said that BMW has joined Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mazda in recallilng the millions of vehicles that have dangerously defective airbags.



Exploding Airbag Danger Causes BMW Recall

With BMW the total vehicle recall count is 1.3 million US vehicles, with just over 42,000 BMW's added to the US airbag recall list. Over 100,000 BMW's in other parts of the world are also being recalled for the exploding airbag danger.

For BMW the recall covers the 3-series models from 2002 to 2003, including the BMW M3 coupe and convertible models.

The recall affects the airbags built by Takata and installed in the front passenger seats of over 3.5 million motor vehicles worldwide. It also sheds light on the little-known market relied on so heavily by big-name car manufacturers who often use the same parts manufacturer, here Takata. Takata is the leading airbag manufacturer in the world.

It turns out that airbags made by Takata from April 2000 to September 2002 in Moses Lake, Washington and Monclova, Mexico, used a propellant with a manufacturing defect that caused airbag inflation to occur incorrectly. The result was a risk of fires or passengers being injured by metal fragments shooting out.

Oddly, Takata has admitted learning of the problem back in October 2011. No reports have been released on any earlier warnings by the air bag manufacturer to alert BMW or the other five car manufacturers of the danger.

So if you own a 2002 or 2003 BMW 3 Series or BMW M3 Coupe or M3 convertible, be careful out there. Call your local BMW dealer and find out right away if your car is on the recall list. If it is, get it in the shop right away so you and your family are not injured by the Takata exploding airbags.

2009 thru 2011 BMW Z4 recalled for stalling danger

BMW announced a recall of 570,000 vehicles in North America for power failures that can lead to engine stalling, according to federal safety investigators.

We don't normally talk about recalls here and post car and light truck recalls at our Car Recalls Blog.

But this recall alerted us to a dangerous defect in over half a million BMW models from 2007 model year to 2012 model year vehicles, all of them on US highways.

The danger is high - the warning is serious.

Being recalled? About 504,000 models of the 2008 thru 2012 1 Series, 2007 thru 2011 3 Series and 2009 thru 2011 Z4 models. Also another 33,000 BMWs are being recalled outside of the US. 

The vehicles can suffer from an electrical loss just because of normal road vibrations. Here's the official description.

BMW is recalling certain model year 2008-2012 1-Series coupes and convertibles manufactured December 2007 through July 2011; and 2007-2011 3-Series coupes and convertibles manufactured March 2007 through July 2011; 2007-2011 3-Series sedans manufactured March 2007 through October 2011; 2007-2011 3-Series sports wagons manufactured March 2007 through June 2011; and 2009-2011 Z4 vehicles manufactured March 2009 through June 2011. The connector for the positive battery cable connector and the corresponding terminal on the fuse box may degrade over time. Over time, the high current flow and heat from electrical resistance may lead to a breakage of the connection, and a loss of electrical power to the vehicle.

If that happens, engine stalling can occur - total loss of power and serious danger of an accident.

If you have a BMW, be careful out there. Call your dealer to find out if your vehicle is subject to the recall and, if so, get it in for repairs asap - and drive very carefully in the meantime.