BMW Recalls 1.6 Million Vehicles to Fix Faulty Passenger Airbag

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is recalling 1.6 million cars globally for a front-passenger air- bag defect that has caused manufacturers including Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. to repair millions of vehicles.

BMW 3-Series models produced from May 1999 to August 2006 should be brought in to fix bag-inflation devices, the Munich- based company said today in a statement. The project is in addition to a 240,000-car recall for the flaw in vehicles built in 2001 through 2003 that was announced in mid-2013. Autos already brought in under that program don’t need to be repaired, BMW said.

The faulty inflaters, from Japanese supplier Takata Corp., prompted mass recalls at Toyota, Honda and Nissan Motor Co. of more than 5 million vehicles last month. BMW said today that it isn’t aware of incidents related to air bags in its cars. Fixing the vehicle takes about an hour, BMW said.

Scrutiny of potential safety flaws in the auto industry has been increasing, with automakers in the first six months of 2014 already recalling more vehicles in the U.S. than in any other full year on record. General Motors Co., which accounts for about two-thirds of that total, is under investigation for taking years to recall millions of vehicles for faulty ignition switches.