Still Airbag Takata, BMW Forced To Recall 394 Thousand Vehicles

BMW M3 CSL E46. (Doc. BMW Group)

JAKARTA - Vehicles that still use Takata airbags are again affected by the recall, this time involving a BMW car. This car manufacturer from Germany said that it would recall as many as 394,000 units in the United States (US).

Reuters reported on Friday, July 12, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the airbag was damaged in the inflator section which could potentially result in serious or fatal injuries.

The US safety regulator said the inflator could explode, causing sharp metal shards that could fly so as to injure both passenger and driver vehicle users.

BMW says the issue includes an airbag inflator that has previously been recalled, but the vehicle may simply install a replacement wheel whose air bag is damaged.

The manufacturer appealed to the vehicle owner to take his vehicle to the dealer to be inspected and if any damage was found, the technician would repair it.

So far, BMW is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the new withdrawal. The airbag is the production of Takata which had rocked the automotive world because it caused the world's largest recall process a few years ago.

There were 30 deaths from this airbag with 26 of them in the US region. In 2009, this component of Takata caused hundreds of victims to be injured from a number of vehicles from various brands.

In the past decade, more than 100 million vehicles equipped with Takata airbag inflators have been recalled worldwide.

In 2020, NHTSA said it identified a death in Sam's uncle's country regarding the outbreak of an Takata airbag inflator in a BMW car accident in Arizona.

In May last year, the manufacturer also recalled 90,000 vehicles because the airbag involved the 2000-2006 Series-3 E46 model, 2000-2003 2000-2039 Series-5 E39, and 2000-2004 production X5 E53. This number includes M3 and M5 units.