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.
Passenger seat occupancy detection mat has a defective sensor. It indicates that a child's weight is in the seat and therefore will not permit the air bag to deploy. The fault code can be reset, the light goes out; stays out for weeks and lights up at random again! clearing the fault code is burdensome and disabling the air bag inappropriately is a safety defect.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW Z4. The contact stated that the air bag warning indicator illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the ultimate autowerks dealer (located at 2538 savannah hwy, charleston, South Carolina 29414; 843-406-8955) where it was diagnosed that the air bag seat mat sensor/ passenger seat detection mat failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 13V564000 (air bags). The approximate failure mileage was 52,000.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW Z4. After the passenger door was opened, the air bags deployed independently the failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but a diagnosis was not disclosed the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000. Updated 03/07/17
The contact owns a 2004 BMW Z4. The contact stated that while parked and seated in the drivers side of the vehicle, the air bag independently deployed. The contact stated that the vehicle was able to be driven to the residence and then towed to the dealer where the contact but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.
After cranking my 2004 Z4 in the drive way, my wife in the car with me at the time, the drivers side airbag went off for no reason. Had just put the car into reverse to back it up and then "pow" sounded like a gunshot going off. I looked over to see my wife panicked as she was stunned that this went off right in her face. It scuffed her arm a bit and got the powder residue in her face. This car has been driven very little, only about 6000 miles a year roughly. This kind of thing should not happen. The car had not even moved it was just put into reverse and then it unexpectantly exploded. I had previously taken the car in to check on a recall they had on some vehicles for the airbag mat in the passenger side, was told that my model was not effected. I think that may have been a lie, and if was not a lie then it clearly should have been included in the recall.
My passenger-side airbag literally "exploded" as I was walking up to my car this morning. Of course, I didn't realize that was what it was until I unlocked my car and opened the door. The airbag was exposed and there was "smoke" in the car. It appears what happened is the exact reason given for recalling the 3 series vehicles due to the takata airbag problem, the reason given are incidents such as this occur in Florida and puerto rico due to the high heat and humidity. See usa today article: www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/07/16/BMW-takata-shrapnel-NHTSA-recall/12729929/ !....updated 07/31/14
The contact owns a 2004 BMW Z4. The contact stated that the air bag light illuminated on the passenger side. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000. Updated 09/02/14 updated 09/17/2014
Passenger's airbag indication light is malfunctioned. The indication light of passenger's airbag shows always off. Therefore it can't tell the airbag is on or off.
The contact owns a 2004 BMW Z4. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked the engine was in operation and the front driver's side air bag inadvertently deployed with an illumination of the passenger's side warning indicator. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer who stated that the malfunction was contributed to water leaking into the air bag sensor. The manufacturer was notified of the defect. The vehicle currently remained at the dealer for further investigation. The approximate failure mileage was 67,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Airbag deployment while vehicle in motion. 9/27/2012 approx. 6:20pm had one of the passenger side airbags deploy without warning while vehicle was being driven. No accident involved, no striking curb, no pothole...nothing untoward. BMW dealer now has vehicle to determine cause of malfunction. I have requested that BMW North America have a representative inspect the vehicle to assist in determining cause of this malfunction and to pass along his findings to the appropriate individuals at BMW. Had one of the driver's side airbags malfunctioned and deployed while this vehicle was being driven, the results could have easily been catastrophic!
The contact owns a 2004 BMW Z4. The contact stated that the air bag warning lamp illuminated sporadically. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 40,000 and current mileage was 50,000.
When I was driving home from work today my car experienced a power steering issue where the steering wheel would "freeze" or "stick" in one place. I had to exert a lot of force on the wheel to get the steering wheel to move but when it "broke free" it turned a lot with the help of the power steering pump because I was putting so much force on the wheel to get it to move. I had a hard time keeping the car in my lane. The power steering was doing this the entire drive home of 20 miles. The car was very unsafe to drive and this issue needs to be fixed since it is a hazard. If the power steering was just not working at all, it would be okay because then at least the steering wheel would be hard to move all of the time so I could control how much I turned the steering wheel accurately. Since the power steering works "intermittently" but only after I apply a lot of force on the wheel to get the wheel to break free, the car veers violently when the power steering actually does work. This problem is very common per the website and should be recalled. This failure is reported to the NHTSA on cars ranging from 15,000 miles up to over 100,000 miles. The problem from what I was reading, is more evident in cold or hot temperatures. It was 102F outside today in phoenix on my drive home. The passenger air bag seat sensor was flashing on and off when there was a passenger. The air bag malfunction light turned on after this. I do not know if the airbag will inflate if there is a passenger in the car or not. BMW states my car is not covered under the recall according to the VIN but the car fits the model, make, and year of the present recall. How can my car have the same problems as the recall describes, be the same make/model/year, but not be covered under the recall? thanks for your time! [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2004 BMW Z4. When the contact started the vehicle, the front passenger air bag off indicator illuminated. The failure occurred whenever the engine was in operation and remained illuminated until the engine was turned off. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated the constant failure was contributed to a faulty passenger occupancy seat mat sensor. The vehicle was repaired and the contact planned to notify the manufacturer regarding the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Palm Desert, CA, USA