Airbags for Our M3

When we bought our M3, the seller–an old friend of ours–mentioned that this car had been caught up in the recent Takata airbag mishap. The passenger airbag had already bee replaced, he said, but so far the driver side only received the interim update. He gave us a letter detailing the final update.

Fortunately BMW is smarter than us, and they have a website for recall info. We just entered our VIN and learned that, yes, we were due for an airbag replacement. Call the dealer to schedule an appointment, they said.

Parts had to be ordered, they said, so they asked us to schedule the appointment a week or so out.

The airbag replacement would take an hour or so, the nice lady at our local dealer explained, so we could wait for it.

We arrived at our scheduled date and time and were greeted at the entrance to the service department. They were expecting us, going as far as greeting us by name.

About 90 minutes later, they returned the car to us—washed, too, we might add. Obviously there was no charge for the visit.

As the service advisor explained afterward, the “interim” airbag was just a newer example of the original part number. The final airbag is a redesigned piece. Either way, hopefully we never have to use it.

So, this whole Takata airbag thing: What’s your take on it? Is it a nothing story, minor inconvenience or a big deal? When we heard that a friend’s friend succumbed to airbag injuries, we became a bit more interested in the matter.

Comments

conesare2seconds HalfDork
1/6/17 2:21 p.m.

Hadn't heard about Riff, hate that happened to him. The airbag deal is no joke.

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
1/6/17 2:39 p.m.

conesare2seconds wrote: Hadn't heard about Riff, hate that happened to him. The airbag deal is no joke.

A friend's car has been at the dealership since August waiting on an airbag. Since he needs it for work, they put him in a rental. So, yeah, he's been in a rental since summer.

Apexcarver PowerDork
1/6/17 3:03 p.m.

Airbags that throw shrapnel at you in a manner that is often fatal when they are supposed to be protecting you is a bit of a big deal. If not addressed, it undermines a safety system that has been proven to save lives.

Takata has an issue with the type of propellant they used. Here is one of the more informative articles that I have come across. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/takatas-switch-to-cheaper-airbag-propellant-is-at-center-of-crisis.html?_r=0

Plus they made a TON of them, so ramping up production to cope with both new cars and replacing the millions of old ones (somewhere around 30 million units in the US alone and growing) is a challenge to that industry. Plus, you take a design that used one propellant to allow it to be smaller and try to design with a different propellant... Now add that they are looking at some other airbags from ARC...

An inconvenience, but at least your airbags will protect you in a crash rather than having a chance of sending a hunk of metal through your face/neck/chest.

Plus, some of them stand a pretty good chance of hurting you when they should be saving you. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-30/nhtsa-says-313-000-honda-vehicles-have-high-risk-takata-air-bags

Tyler H GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
1/6/17 3:11 p.m.

Thanks for another reminder that I should schedule an appt for the my 330. Got the letter that they finally have part availability.

Didn't think about it until the other day when a car turned left onto a divided highway, where there isn't a cut-through, directly into my lane. Head on at 65mph would have hurt even without the shrapnel.

Driven5 Dork
1/6/17 3:19 p.m.

Since, to the best of my knowledge, it's a combination of actual age and environmental induced aging that determines the likelihood of failure, I think it currently spans the full spectrum from minor inconvenience to big deal. I did get the "exploding shrapnel device" replaced on our Fit. But since life is nothing but a series of calculated risks, I decided that the probability of a newer car in a lesser aging climate having such a failure was low enough that it wasn't worth altering my usage of the car up until a fix was made available. So more of a 'minor inconvenience' for me. That being said, my wife still didn't appreciate when I referenced it as "the death trap" in conversation.

NEALSMO UltraDork
1/6/17 4:18 p.m.

Good reminder. I still need to bring my wagon in for the recall.

dyintorace GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
1/6/17 4:20 p.m.

Thanks for the reminder! It hadn't occurred to me that my new to me 325iT might be under the recall. I used the BMW link you provided and, sure enough, both front airbags are subject. I just called the local dealer, they have both in stock and can see me Monday morning!