BMW has issued a global recall of all of its plug-in hybrid models due to a battery fire risk.
The recall affects petrol-electric versions of the 3, 5 and 7 Series, the BMW X1, BMW X2, BMW X3 and BMW X5 SUVs, the 2 Series Active Tourer and the Mini Countryman PHEV, if built between 20 January and 18 September 2020. It also affects i8s built this year until production ended in April. Roughly 26,700 cars are affected, with 2930 already delivered to buyers and the remainder awaiting delivery.
Engineers have found problems with foreign contaminants, which may have been sealed into the battery packs themselves during production.
A brand statement says the PHEV recall and delivery halt is "a preventative measure" as "internal analysis has shown that in very rare cases particles may have entered the battery during the production process. When the battery is fully charged this could lead to a short circuit within the battery cells, which may lead to a fire."
German media reports that a fix is expected to start being rolled out by the end of the month.
It is not the first recall to affect BMW's plug-in models. All of the above models bar the i8 were subject to a recall earlier this year to remove welding beads left on the battery.
Ford has also suffered a similar battery fire risk recall for its Kuga PHEV, announced in August and still not yet resolved. Affected owners, who are being told not to use the car's pure-electric range, are being offered free service and maintenance plans and £500 worth of free fuel.
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X5XDrive40i Safety Issue
I’m one of the unlucky customers with a brand new @X5XDrive40i its now 12 weeks old, 6 weeks of which it has been at the dealers with no date for return they say maybe Decemebr!! Our car not only has the recall problem but also has what looks like a safety issue, our @X5XDrive40i car just decided to turn off fully! that’s right went totally dead while driving in petrol mode as we knew about the recall, all the electronics screens everything stopped dead including the car on a very busy A road the @X5XDrive40i had very little braking ability and wasn’t able to put the handbrake on!! @BMW customer service Uk don’t really care and send you the basic return email which you can tell they have not really looked at the problem. I have also emailed the UK CEO Graeme Grieve but it seems he doesn’t have to reply to customers. I would welcome Lawrence Allen contacting me with regards to the @X5XDrive40i recall.
BMW's have long been the 'hot
BMW's have long been the 'hot ticket', but this is pushing the limits!
More seriously though, many brands have had problems with their battery supplies, from Apple to Samsung to Ford and Hyundai, so it's pretty unfair to condemn BMW over anyone else.
I wonder if a hybrid fire extinguisher will be added to their extensive and expensive options list?
BMW playing with matches
Thing is they had to recall 270k diesel cars because of... a fire risk. No one is condemning them over anyone else, check out the Tesla, Vauxhall hate of past recall instances
Thats big recall and possibly very expensive
Another BMW boo boo. On a similiar footnote I think samsung had the exact same problem.