This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Vehicle had been stationary for several minutes and was parked with emergency break engaged. Key was not inserted. Driver side door open, all doors unlocked. No recent occupants other than the driver seat. Parked at home, in driveway, in gainesville, ga, us. I unloaded some groceries then came back to close driver door. As I approached the vehicle to close drver side door the passenger side airbage suddenly deployed for no apparent reason shattering the windshield. There had been no impact prior to this. It was a hot day.
I would like to report that the airbag control modules in the BMW 7 series from model year 1995 to 2001 have airbag control modules that are failing at a very high rate, leaving owners without airbags and the airbag warning light on. The new module from BMW is $1400. This is happening more frequently to cars in cold climates.
Common defect: Air bag warning light is on. Suspected passenger seat sensor failure. I've had 2 BMW's from this series - both with the same issue - yet no recall from BMW - why" isn't this a safety system? I see airbag recalls on cars dating back to this era. Why none for BMW? also - odometer ribbon cable failure causing pixels to fail. No recall - problem exists across the series from 1996-2001 and beyond. No fix - no recall - no repairs offered. Why"
My daughter with myself and my 4 year old, riding on the passenger side driving on mallard creek road, all of a sudden we hear this loud 'kaboom' noise this caused (for some reason) the driver side airbag on the door (the side airbag) to deploy. When it deployed, it tore and the door fell apart in the inside a strip of decorative metal on the interior. The strip was about 2-3 feet long and had between 3 and 5 1" bolts protruding from it. The metal strip hit the driver on the arm and caused an abrasion. We were greatly concerned about this for two reasons: (1) why did that particular bag deploy when there was no hard impact and (2) the metal strip that ripped off could have hit someone in the eye or in another place that would cause a serious injury. Even as it was, my daughter arm was totally bruised on her shoulder. This information was provided to the dealer and the BMW complaint department, BMW checked out the car and said the reason why this happened is when we changed the tires on the car we changed the suspension. The suspension has nothing to do with the airbags deploying while just driving 35mph and no accident occurred. As a result of this my daughter was traumatized, as a permitted driver she may have long lasting effect, at this point she is scared to drive. Finally once BMW checked out the problem they agreed to fix the defect only if we agreed to change the tires on the vehicle. Please if you can assist us in helping get this airbag & the door fixed reason is it's dangerous driving this vehicle with no airbags. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Gainesville, GA, USA