New recall for "marginal front crash result"?

[Danhilow]

So I stopped by my local BMW dealer this evening to check out a CPO 2014 bev and the dealer shows me a bulletin that they just received today. It referenced a front crash test with marginal result and included all i3s manufactured until 11/14/17.

They wouldn't even let me test drive the car and said they cant sell any until the issue is resolved. They had no other information about it.

Anyone have any knowledge or details on this?

 

[bwilson4web]

I sent the following to BMW:

* * *
There are rumors that BMW i3-REx have a 'stop sales' order due to some safety problem. However, I can find no credible source of this rumor. It comes from owners who were refused the car they thought they'd bought.

Is there a safety recall coming?

Is it halting BW i3-REx delivery to customers?

Is there a risk of having the vehicle kept at a service center if I come in for ordinary service?

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

* * *

 

[MikeS]

This was posted in the Facebook group -
If any of you have heard reports that BMW have put a voluntary recall on all i3s (plural) in the US it is true.
This is to do with the fact that you don't have to wear a seat belt in the US. Unbelievable in the 21st Century.
It's voluntary not compulsory. BMW are on top of it over there.
Irrelevant to any country where seat belts are mandatory.
Thanks to John Ironside for drawing my attention.
and

DELIVERY STOP & RECALL 17V-XXX: I3 FRONTAL IMPACT
PERFORMANCE
MODEL
I01 (i3 BEV and REx)
SITUATION
BMW Group is conducting a Voluntary Non-Compliance Recall (effective November 16, 2017) on all
Model Year 2014-2018 BMW i3 vehicles (including BEV and REx) produced from start-of-production
through November 14, 2017.
The issue involves a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard with respect to frontal impact performance.
Recent testing conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicated that
a limit for one of many criteria was marginally exceeded.
Approximately 30,542 vehicles are affected by this delivery stop / recall, consisting of 1,159 in dealer
inventory and 29,383 retailed. All vehicles in the pipeline are also on hold.A repair solution is under development. This bulletin will be updated with repair instructions and
warranty information when it becomes available.

This is obviously the US voluntary recall notice. I'm not sure how or if this will be handled outside of the US.

 

[supergrafx77]

MikeS, could you post the facebook group name or have a url? Thanks

 

[theothertom]

Perhaps this is the Facebook reference that MikeS was referring to
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BMWi3/

 

[jadnashuanh]

I have no sympathy for people that don't wear their seatbelts, but there are regulations that say some protection (via the airbags) must be provided. Seems that without a seatbelt, the i3 only provides marginal protection, whereas, quite good when wearing one.

 

[bwilson4web]

Curious as I can find no reference on the NHTSA web site.

Being a little paranoid, I would like to find someone else who has the recall performed and then test Bimmercode to make sure we can tweak the car for our requirements.

Bob Wilson

 

[jadnashuanh]

Curious as I can find no reference on the NHTSA web site.

Being a little paranoid, I would like to find someone else who has the recall performed and then test Bimmercode to make sure we can tweak the car for our requirements.

Bob Wilson

The announcement clearly says that there is no current resolution to the issue, so nobody has had any work performed to 'fix' the issue.

 

[I33t]

Perhaps the BMW dealers should ask people to sign a declaration that they will use the seatbelts in their car before they can purchase it.

Very weird. All over the world, the cars are safer than ever including seatbelts, but no requirement to use them in the US?

 

[jadnashuanh]

but no requirement to use them in the US?

Most states require the use of a seatbelt, but it is not a federal law...very dumb in my view since society ends up paying to support a person seriously injured in an accident. TO me, it seems that most fatalities are from people ejected from their vehicle because they did not have their seatbelts on. All of the protections possible in the vehicle can't help if you don't stay in the sweet spot with all of the crush zones around you.

 

[bwilson4web]

To amplify Jim's comment, motor vehicle enforcement is a State function. The Federal enforcement has been emissions and safety equipment from the manufacturer. But the Federal government provides an incentive for seat belt usage by the amount of highway funding as a function of seat belt usage. However, not wearing a seat belt is an alternative to 'tail light out' to justify a traffic stop and revenue fine.

The sad thing are the single car, fatal accidents by teenagers who were taught by their families that seat belts are dangerous because 'you could be trapped in a car.' Instead they are ejected to impact a hard surface or the car rolls over them.

Bob Wilson

 

[MikeS]

It was the BMW i3 UK group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/bmwi3uk/

 

[kkowboy]

I too tried to test drive/purchase a car today. The dealer said they are not allowed to sell any used or new i3.

 

[Robot24]

Anyone knows if this recall is also blocking lease take overs?

Rick

 

[fritzner]

This is pretty crazy. I called the dealership Saturday to check one out and they just stuttered and didn't sound like they knew what they were doing. I thought they were just idiots, but it is likely they didn't know how yet to communicate the issue.

I would think a physical fix would be extremely difficult / expensive / and take a long time to finalize.

It would be nice they could just tie the seat belt to the car "starting/moving". Most cars have at least a chime or a light on the dash, seems fairly doable to make a software update that doesn't allow the car to move if the seat belt isn't fastened.

Do we know if the marginal results for the unstrapped 5% female is for the someone in the driver's seat or anywhere in the vehicle.

If it is just the driver it would be easy to do what I suggested. If it is anywhere, then it would not work.

This just stops the sale at a BMW dealership. I would assume private party or 3rd party dealers could still sell.

 

[harb]

"Please confirm that you don't have any unstrapped female passengers in the car to proceed with startup cycle"

 

[jakecturner]

Anyone knows if this recall is also blocking lease take overs?

Rick

I just finished stage 2 of a lease assumption of a 2015 i3. I assume they wouldn't let it get this far if it was to be cancelled by the recall. Fingers crossed.

 

[shellhunter]

This seems pretty significant to me .
All I3s in the US are being recalled and its hard to imagine how this can be fixed without major structural changes .

 

[alohart]

]All I3s in the US are being recalled and its hard to imagine how this can be fixed without major structural changes .

An i3 owner with deep connections to BMW has learned that the fix will be implemented by a software update that will change the way the steering wheel airbag inflates. This update is being tested now and should be available by mid-December. Of course, we won't know whether this is true until BMW announces the fix publicly.

 

[Robot24]

]All I3s in the US are being recalled and its hard to imagine how this can be fixed without major structural changes .

An i3 owner with deep connections to BMW has learned that the fix will be implemented by a software update that will change the way the steering wheel airbag inflates. This update is being tested now and should be available by mid-December. Of course, we won't know whether this is true until BMW announces the fix publicly.

I heard the same from a dealer a few days ago, fingers crossed. I hope the sw roll out will be quick..