Airbag recall on e46!

[TheHoof]

Got ours in the post today for our 2003 330ci. The letter was dated 06-Jan and it noted they are low on parts.

[4rephill]

bodhi said:

Same airbag supplier iirc, which is what has kicked off this recall.

Must admit I'm quite impressed BMW have bothered with this recall on 10+ year old cars, I suspect many manufacturers may not have bothered. Pretty sure this has only come to light since the issues in the US, hence why they haven't mentioned it until now - as they didn't know it was an issue.

You suspect wrong!

BMW don't have a choice but to do a recall (and no other manufacturer can ignore it either if they have the same fault) - It's an official safety recall from VOSA.

As I have previously posted, as an official safety recall it legally has to be carried out, it has to be FOC regardless of cost, there is no age limitation for cars to be recalled, and any car found in the future to have not had the recall carried out yet must still be repaired free of charge.

So if in 20 years time someone has an E46 that has not had the recall carried out then they can go to a BMW dealership and the recall work has to be carried out FOC.

[4rephill]

demus24 said:

So just had my airbag done, asked them to switch off my airbag light
because I had a problem with the seat occupancy sensor, and apparently they say bmw no longer turn of airbag lights! Anybody heard anything like this?

I suspect what they are actually saying is that they will not deactivate the airbag light without fixing the occupancy sensor fault first.

This will be because it's a safety feature that has to be working on the car.

(It's part of the MOT test now - Airbag lights that are illuminated constantly or fail to illuminate and extinguish when the ignition is turned on will fail an MOT [the latter is to stop people just taking the bulb out] ).

If they deactivate the airbag light without fixing the fault and you are in an accident where the airbag doesn't trigger and someone gets injured then they could be liable for prosecution.

Long and the short of it is, you need to fix the occupancy sensor fault.

[demus24]

4rephill said:

I suspect what they are actually saying is that they will not deactivate the airbag light without fixing the occupancy sensor fault first.

This will be because it's a safety feature that has to be working on the car.

(It's part of the MOT test now - Airbag lights that are illuminated constantly or fail to illuminate and extinguish when the ignition is turned on will fail an MOT [the latter is to stop people just taking the bulb out] ).

If they deactivate the airbag light without fixing the fault and you are in an accident where the airbag doesn't trigger and someone gets injured then they could be liable for prosecution.

Long and the short of it is, you need to fix the occupancy sensor fault.

ive already fixed the fault with a bypass sensor, just needed the light to be turned off as ive had it on for nearly a year. lol

[V8covin]

I'm still waiting to hear off BMW as to when they've got stocks.
Anyone else still waiting ?

[dickymint]

V8covin said:

I'm still waiting to hear off BMW as to when they've got stocks.
Anyone else still waiting ?

Yep still waiting for second letter

[STO]

yep still waiting.

[to3m]

I'm waiting too! Phoned up about six weeks ago (so nearly the end of January) to check, and they said they'd get back to me when they knew. Which they haven't.

Fingers crossed they get some stock in soon because my car could do with a wash.

[loose cannon]

Yep still waiting here also !

[NickXX]

Still waiting too.

[DJFish]

Emailed BMW customer services last night to check if mine needs doing. Had a reply back this morning plus a reply from my local dealer saying they've ordered a part & will look forward to seeing me soon.
All very efficient so far.
I wonder if they'll make me park my old heap round the back away from the pretty new cars?

[Sardonicus]

NickXX said:

Still waiting too.

Me too contacted them ages ago

[4rephill]

DJFish said:

.....I wonder if they'll make me park my old heap round the back away from the pretty new cars?

I doubt it.

My local BMW Dealership have never had any problem having My rusty old E36 parked outside with all the nice, shiny new cars.

[Gtamaddog]

My E46 went in to Cotswold BMW Cheltenham on Saturday to have some other work done, I enquired about the airbag recall and they said they didn't have the parts yet, but they put me on their list for people who have actually responded about the recall. Apparently the parts should be arriving there next month with a bit of luck, so they will contact me by phone when the parts arrive and arrange a time for me to go in. Received the letter November/December last year.

As for old(er) BMWs being around their new cars they didn't seem to mind with mine, in fact they said they were impressed with the condition of mine when I went back to collect it. I don't think they really looked at it other than the fact it looked shiny because I gave it a quick polish and wax a few days before to make it look prettier, but I'll take any complements I can get, haha.

[to3m]

4rephill said:

DJFish said:

.....I wonder if they'll make me park my old heap round the back away from the pretty new cars?

I doubt it.

My local BMW Dealership have never had any problem having My rusty old E36 parked outside with all the nice, shiny new cars.

I've taken my unwashed rusting E46 330d to Sytners several times to get new windscreen wipers, and parked it in the car park. It's always been chock full of beautifully clean brand new petrol cars. Each time I've found a space and parked my POS and gone in to buy the wipers and come out expecting to come out to find somebody trying to tow it away.

But each time it's still been there. I guess there must be some rule about not towing away BMWs until they've been there for several days, no matter how much it looks like they've been abandoned by some poor homeless person

Edited by to3m on Tuesday 10th March 00:57

[pits]

4rephill said:

I doubt it.

My local BMW Dealership have never had any problem having My rusty old E36 parked outside with all the nice, shiny new cars.

Same, dropped my old E39 Tourer off at BMW dealership, parked it next to a F11 and got picked up in my E34 guy in dealership said "shame we don't have an E61 here to complete that line up" did, shame I lost the picture

[ftypical]

demus24 said:

ive already fixed the fault with a bypass sensor, just needed the light to be turned off as ive had it on for nearly a year. lol

You've bypassed the sensor? Good luck getting a BMW dealership to clear the light.

Replace the sensor with one that works and you will have more luck. They will charge you for their service.

HTH.

[browna]

anyone had their part replaced yet? im still waiting for a call.
do you rekon ill be able to get a courtesy car?
any tips to try to and wangle something nice to drive for a day?

[duff]

Give your dealer a ring, they may have them in stock now but not contacted you.

It's a 30 min job tops, I was pleased to get it back cleaned inside and out, they're not going to give you an M4 for the day....

[verbarthe]

Previously I got two letters, the first informing me of the recall and that they d be in touch as to when , the second informing me of the shortage of parts, then a third informing me that parts were now in stock and telling me to book the car in with my nearest Bmw Dealer, which I duly did ( In fact it goes in tomorrow) . Then today I got another one which was a duplicate of the first one so at least they re making sure I get it done .