Bmw recalls 1.3 million 5 series and 6 series

[The _Don]

PistonHeads Headlines - BMW recalls 1.3 million 5 Series and 6 Series

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

So they built them for 7 years and only now realise they were fitting the battery cable covers incorrectly!

 

[Shude]

Oh dear, how sad, never mind.</Windsor Davies>

 

[Benzmanc]

It's a ruse, they're retrofitting indicators to them

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

It's a ruse, they're retrofitting indicators to them

Or updating the "motorway lane guidance" software so they can drive in lanes other than the "BMW Lane".

let's see where this goes...........

 

[grober]

The recalls will be undertaken by dealers and are expected to take between half an hour and an hour. There will be no charge.------- By the way Sir/ Madam since you are here in the showroom have you seen our latest 5 series model- it's on a particularly advantageous finance deal at the moment--------!

 

[Peter DLM]

BMW and Toyota seem to be the only manufacturers who don't appear to hide issues under mere service bulletins or pretend they don't exist. Shame MB and others don't follow suite.

 

[mobeyone]

BMW and Toyota seem to be the only manufacturers who don't appear to hide issues under mere service bulletins or pretend they don't exist. Shame MB and others don't follow suite.

I have to agree here, MB deny problems until they have no choice.

 

[gIzzE]

Yeah, BMW do tend to recall everything rather than putting on the system as 'If the customer mentions xxxxxx then carry out xxxxxx...'

 

[Deleted member 37751]

So they built them for 7 years and only now realise they were fitting the battery cable covers incorrectly!

A bit like Mercedes building cars that rust and denying it...

 

[davidjpowell]

A bit like Mercedes building cars that rust and denying it...

Not at all. BMW are fixing them

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Not at all. BMW are fixing them

Terrible English on my part David, I meant to say that Mercedes never did admit to rusting cars whereas BMW are at least admitting to their faults.

 

[st4]

Not at all. BMW are fixing them

Let's all go buy 320d Msports. No rust and just as comfy as a Merc.

 

[Mr E]

BMW and Toyota seem to be the only manufacturers who don't appear to hide issues under mere service bulletins or pretend they don't exist. Shame MB and others don't follow suite.

I know most of the comments about this have been tongue-in-cheek, but it is worth noting how the Safety Recall process actually works.

Safety recalls are strictly controlled and OEMs don't, at the end of the day, have a say in whether they are issued or not.

In essence a Safety Recall is issued when there is evidence of a design or construction issue that poses a risk to safety. They can be instigated by the OEM, or VOSA (or the appropriate body in another EU country) can get the OEM to instigate an enquiry (monitored by the Vehicle Safety Board) if they believe that a design/construction issue poses a risk to safety. This second avenue is usually kicked off either through an accident investigation or through reports received from members of the public, etc. If a safety issue is found, then the OEM must issue a Safety Recall - The General Product Safety Regulations (2005) cover this.

A safety defect is defined as "a feature of design or construction liable to cause a significant risk of personal injury or death". For a Safety Recall to be issued, evidence must exist to show that there is a safety defect as defined above and the defect must be common to a number of components, vehicles or products. In other words, there must be a risk of the problem occuring on more than one vehicle.

Things that are not considered to be defects are things that can be identified during routine maintenance/service and not repaired, and problems that give prior warning due to warning lights, marked changes in handling and unusual noises.

Anything outside of that definition is not a defect subject to a Safety Recall, and so the OEM cannot raise a Safety Recall for such matters.

Other non-safety related defects are handled outside of the official VSB Safety Recall process - these will be the Service Bulletins, Technical Upgrades and the like.

The whole area around Safety Recalls is quite closely managed and monitored by VSB.

 

[grober]

While not disputing what you say----- that seems slightly at odds with what the PistonHeads article says? - assuming its a regurgitation of a BMW press release.
"In some remote cases, the battery cable inside the boot may be incorrectly mounted," says BMW. "This can result in the electrical system malfunctioning, the vehicle failing to start and, in some cases, to charring or fire."
But while that sounds alarming, BMW says that fewer than 1 per cent of the vehicles it has checked have exhibited any signs of the trouble. Just nine cases of the wiring issues have been reported and BMW says no injuries or fires have resulted - but it's enough to trigger a recall.

To fit the criteria you put forward surely quite a few vehicles must have burst into flames?

What I can't reconcile is this type of action compared with the apparent indifference of the regulatory bodies to the huge numbers of premature road coil spring failures experienced in a very large number of cars from a wide spectrum of manufacturers today due to penny pinching on simple post winding stress relieving treatments because---------- its not a safety issue.

 

[Dieselman]

What I can't reconcile is this type of action compared with the apparent indifference of the regulatory bodies to the huge numbers of premature road coil spring failures experienced in a very large number of cars from a wide spectrum of manufacturers today due to penny pinching on simple post winding stress relieving treatments because---------- its not a safety issue.

I can't recall a car crashing due to a road spring failure, can you?

 

[Oli]

A bit like Mercedes building cars that rust and denying it...

Or TVR never admitting their engines were made of chocolate.

 

[grober]

I can't recall a car crashing due to a road spring failure, can you?

Fair point--- I doubt if many accidents are recorded as being caused by sudden spring failure- however I'll wager there's quite a few put down to sudden tyre failure [ possibly caused by broken spring damage?] or loss of control at speed Problem with high speed accidents is often the front suspension of the car is wrecked and the driver killed and who can then determine whether spring failure/damage occurred pre or post accident? There is also the problem of road debris where lots of "spring ends" are increasingly to be found littering the highways up and down the UK. I think its a potential " hidden cause" of accidents which remains unrecognised/unrecorded. What we do know is that spring failure is on the increase on today's roads at relatively low mileage. We know this because so many people experience it at low speed. The unfortunate few who experience high speed failure may not be in a position to pursue any complaint. I just find VOSA's attitude to this to be inconsistent- worn suspension or steering components = MOT failure why because failure might cause an accident or loss of control---- Known high incidence of broken springs which could EASILY be markedly reduced by changes in the manufacturing processes costing next to nothing ---- attitude is then different ---chances are it will be OK thinking prevails --- so lets "tolerate" it I find that an unacceptable attitude to adopt. Why tolerate a known failure situation when a cheap solution exists- doesn't make sense to me.

 

[BTB 500]

From Sniff Petrol ...

 

[tux]

It's a ruse, they're retrofitting indicators to them

PMSL! I've just had a coffee/keyboard interface moment.