BMW has issued a second recall for 8,725 X3 SUVs from model years 2018-2022 that may not have been properly repaired in a late-summer recall campaign. The SUVs have cargo rails that can detach and become projectiles inside the cabin in an accident.
In July, BMW recalled nearly 300,000 X3 models to more securely bolt interior cargo rails in place. The company said rails had come loose in an accident but couldn’t disclose details due to a lawsuit.
Now, BMW tells the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that at least four dealerships “indicated that they experienced some difficulty with the repair procedure.” On investigation, engineers discovered that some repair kits may not have included the right bolts.
Most X3 units received an effective repair, the company says, but bolts may have been too short to be effective for a small number. So, the company has issued dealerships replacement bolts of the correct length. Dealers will repeat the repair for cars that received the short bolts.
By law, dealers never charge for recall repairs.
Manufacturers recall many cars to fix safety defects, sometimes more than once. While automakers try to reach every owner to ask them to bring the vehicle in for repair, they rarely reach all of them. Millions of vehicles on American roads need free recall repairs. To find out if your car is one of them, check the easy VIN tool at our recall center.
