The trouble for owners of BMWs with lethal airbags

UPDATE 19/12/2019 9:00am: Clarification around legality of removing airbag added.

BMW Australia has bought back more than 1000 E46 3 Series vehicles from owners who don’t want their potentially lethal Takata airbags replaced, but those who do will be without their cars for at least six months while new replacement parts are sourced.

A total of 12,663 BMW E46 3 Series built between November 1997 and June 2000 are among nearly 80,000 vehicles recalled in Australia this week because they are fitted with a potentially deadly airbag containing Takata 5AT Non-Azide Driver Inflator (NADI) propellant.

The recall is in addition to the replacement of about 3.4 million potentially deadly Takata airbags in around 2.8 million vehicles Down Under, where more than 400,000 affected cars remain on the road, but also involves the potential for driver’s airbags to fire shrapnel at occupants in a collision.

Last month, BMW and the ACCC advised owners of BMW E46 vehicles with NADI-type airbags, which have been linked to one Australian death and a serious injury and are also fitted to BMW models in Japan and the US, to stop driving their vehicles immediately.

At the time, the ACCC said “BMW will offer to arrange a loan or hire car or reimbursement for alternative transportation costs until parts are available for airbag replacement, or until other arrangements can be made.

“Alternatively, the consumer may discuss the vehicle being purchased by BMW.”

Since then Audi has also announced an unprecedented buy-back plan for its affected vehicles, but unlike its crosstown German rival BMW will proceed with the recall fix if owners wish to retain their vehicles.

Audi opted to simply buy back its affected cars because that’s understood to be cheaper than engineering and testing replacement airbags for them, many of which are also more than 20 years old.

Other brands including Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Honda, Suzuki and Ford, have indicated they would reimburse or provide alternative transport to affected owners.

BMW Australia this week confirmed to carsales that the car-maker had already inspected nearly 20 per cent of the 12,663 vehicles recalled, of which roughly 1000 had been repurchased by the German company.

“A large proportion of the 20 per cent we have inspected have been bought back by BMW Australia, but we are not sharing the specific number at this time as that is an internal matter between the BMW Australia dealer network and BMW Group Australia head office,” said a spokesman.

But the fix won’t happen overnight for those wanting their beloved E46s repaired, with the BMW spokesman confirming that “replacement parts are due to be available from the third quarter of 2020”.

He was unavailable to say what the latest availability of parts could be and said that in the meantime “vehicles we hold for customers are stored in a secure facility”.

It is understood BMW is using Redbook data to determine values of the affected 3 Series models, but is treating each vehicle on a “case by case” basis to assess a final buyback figure.

However, carsales has spoken with two individual E46 owners who have expressed contrasting fortunes in the recall and buyback process.

One owner was told that parts were not available for his car, before having to negotiate hard to reach a mutual agreed value for the vehicle.

He was also informed that he would need to pay a deposit or bond to make use of a ‘complimentary’ loan vehicle if he chose not to proceed with the buyback.

Another was told by a BMW dealer that her vehicle's airbag would be removed "within a few days" and then informed that it would not be fixed until at least 2021.

After she declined the dealer’s purchase offer for her 1999 323i, she demanded her vehicle be returned with airbag fitted. The dealer returned the car with the airbag and a letter stating it and BMW Australia "will not be held liable nor take responsibility for any loss you may or may not incur with your choice to retain and/or drive your vehicle".

The dealer also noted that if the driver's airbag (the only NADI-type airbag fitted to the E46, which came with 10 in total) was removed, the vehicle would no longer be roadworthy and BMW would be obliged to advise the relevant state road transport department.

“They lied to me from the start,” she said. “They gave me the impression they’d fix the car straight away then said that could take years and offered me a hire car for four weeks. Then I found out they’re dumping our cars in an outdoor holding yard.

“They offered me $4000 and then $6000 but it’s priceless to me. They’re conning everyone, especially old people. The tow truck driver said ‘good on ya’ because so many people are being ripped off.”

Asked about the fate of those vehicles repurchased, spokesman said: “We are crushing cars and storing cars and also donating them to emergency services and the like. There are different ways of treating the cars once we’ve obtained them.

“We understand that people are very attached to their cars. It’s important that we talk to them individually about their vehicles. A lot of factors come into it.”