BMW has issued a recall for 294,000 UK 3 Series models to fix an issue that could lead to a blower fan fire.
The car maker’s second recall in two weeks relates to a cable that connects the battery and the blower fan, which has been found to overheat during hot weather, causing a fire risk.
The issue affects 3 Series cars built between December 2004 and July 2011, meaning E46 (below) and E90 (top) models. The risk is not powertrain-specific, so cars running with petrol and diesel engines of varying capacities are all included.
A BMW spokesman told Autocar that the brand has notified the Driving & Vehicle Standards Agency of its intention to recall and that it “will begin the recall process immediately".
“BMW has chosen to expand on its existing battery connector recall by also replacing the blower-regulator wiring harness on affected 3 Series models,” the spokesman said. “This involves replacing two wiring connections on the cars already affected and recalling an additional 88,000 cars in the UK.”
BMW’s latest UK recall comes in the year after it recalled 670,000 cars in the US for the same issue. The company said it refrained from issuing a fix in Britain because it was not believed that the problem could arise in the UK’s cooler climate.
However, with a recall issued last week for close to 312,000 cars that could have a power cut issue, BMW said it is “taking the opportunity to proactively check and replace the wiring harness of the blower regulator”.
The company said that, in doing so, it is “taking every precaution in terms of safety while minimising disruption and inconvenience to affected customers”.
BMW’s first recall related to the corrosion of a battery terminal cable that could cause 1 Series, 3 Series, Z4 and X1 petrol and diesel models produced between March 2007 and September 2011 to lose all electrical power without warning. It has been linked to a fatal accident in 2016, when a British man swerved his car into a tree while trying to avoid a broken-down BMW on an unlit road.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Bmw recall
F10 520d has a fan issue. A colleague has a 1 series same problem. Bmw are pretending there insoluble. With the fans.
2013 3 Series GT Showing 2011 Recall Electrical Problem Symptoms
So I have a 2013 3 Series GT exhibiting exactly the same electrical problem symptoms as the 2011 range which is now immobile with BMW Assist and Customer Services saying there is nothing they can do to recover the car to one of their dealerships. Such poor service from BMW......
I suspect..
..that this is the period where BMW started going for volume and what happened was certain parts were "out of sight" and could to be made from cheaper materials like tin instead of silver plating on the electrical contacts as "no one would notice" what goes on under the dashboard I also suspect that this was round about the time when mechanical/electrical engineering at BMW started to take a "back seat" to electronic engineering hence "piped engine noises". This is exactly the reason why I have stuck with a relatively old car because I know they only want it to to get out of warranty. Also UK people have to ask why the US gets treated for the same product defect differently and why do manufacturers think they don't have to do anything when there is a clear safety issue. Typical UK, fail a car for showing too much white for an idicator bulb at MOT, however cars catching fire for no good reason is not "enough" for the government/D.O.T to be concerened about the safety of it's citizens. What's it all about?