NHTSA upgrades 2001–2011 Acura, BMW and 14 other makes’ vehicles probe to engineering analysis: Air Bag Inflator Rupture

Vehicles under investigation

As listed in NHTSA’s investigation file. Not every vehicle of a listed model is necessarily affected.

What ODI says

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers. All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems. During the course of PE14-016, ODI determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by Takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers. Nonetheless, at ODI's insistence, all 10 vehicle manufacturers initiated a regional recall within approximately two weeks of the opening of the investigation. The regions recalled initially included Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, areas with high absolute humidity and climatic conditions believed to be a significant factor in the inflator ruptures. As part of the recall actions, inflators removed from remedied vehicles are to be returned to Takata for testing. Takata's initial test results on passenger inflators from remedied vehicles indicated a much higher than anticipated rupture frequency for inflators returned from Florida. Accordingly ODI requested all 10 manufacturers expand the regional recalls for passenger inflators to include other geographic areas where high absolute humidity conditions exist, including the Gulf States and other coastal areas. Takata's testing of the passenger inflators to date continues to indicate this geographic area as having the highest risk, with no ruptures occurring from inflators returned from outside the expanded recall regions. During PE14-016 four additional passenger inflator field events occurred, all in vehicles from the same expanded geographic region. Also during PE14-016 four additional driver inflator field events occurred including two in vehicles from regions not known for high absolute humidity, specifically California and North Carolina. Accordingly, ODI requested all five of the affected vehicle manufacturers currently using the subject Takata driver inflators expand to nationwide recalls. Significantly, neither of the affected vehicle manufacturers or Takata provided any explanation to account for these two driver air bag inflator ruptures outside the area of high absolute humidity. Takata testing of returned driver inflators indicates a lower rupture frequency as compared to passenger inflator testing. All test ruptures reported by Takata to date have occurred on inflators returned from high absolute humidity areas. The investigation now includes all manufacturers and vehicles known to be affected at this time.ODI's investigation will focus on, among other things, root cause analysis, other potential defect consequences, identification of affected vehicles scope, and adequacy of the remedy. The five ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the following identification numbers: 10537899, 10568848, 10585224, 10605877, 10651492

Official summary by NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation for EA15001, quoted in full (U.S. government work, public domain).

What owners have reported

Owners filed 41 complaints with NHTSA about the model years in this investigation, reporting 3 crashes, 5 injuries. These are all complaints on file for those vehicles, about any problem, not only this one; complaints are unverified owner reports.

Recalls and problems for these vehicles

• Acura MDX recalls by model year
  Acura MDX complaints, TSBs and investigations
• BMW 330I recalls by model year
  BMW 330I complaints, TSBs and investigations
• BMW M3 recalls by model year
  BMW M3 complaints, TSBs and investigations
• Chrysler 300 recalls by model year
  Chrysler 300 complaints, TSBs and investigations

Related recalls

NHTSA links these recall campaigns to EA15001.

• Audi A3 (2013) Air Bag Recall: Driver Air Bag Inflator Rupture Risk
  NHTSA campaign 16V079000October 2, 2016
• Volkswagen EOS (2014) Air Bag Recall: Risk of Serious Injury During Crash
  NHTSA campaign 16V078000October 2, 2016
• Freightliner Sprinter 2500 (2014) Air Bag Recall: Risk of Serious Injury
  NHTSA campaign 16V077000October 2, 2016
• SUBARU FORESTER (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V358000May 25, 2016
• BMW X5 (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V364000May 25, 2016
• HONDA GL1800 (2010) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V347000May 24, 2016
• NISSAN VERSA (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V349000May 24, 2016
• ACURA TSX (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V346000May 24, 2016
• CHRYSLER 300 (2012) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V352000May 24, 2016
• LEXUS ES350 (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V340000May 23, 2016
• FERRARI 458 ITALIA (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V341000May 23, 2016
• ACURA RL (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V344000May 23, 2016
• BMW M3 (2013) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V071000May 2, 2016
• COACHMEN PRISM (2014) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V267000March 5, 2016
• SAAB 9-3 (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V063000March 2, 2016
• ACURA ILX (2016) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 16V061000March 2, 2016
• DODGE CHALLENGER (2010) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 15V444000October 7, 2015
• HONDA ELEMENT (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 15V320000May 28, 2015
• FORD MUSTANG (2014) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 15V319000May 28, 2015
• DODGE DAKOTA (2011) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 15V313000May 27, 2015
• INFINITI QX80 (2014) recall — Air Bags
  NHTSA campaign 14V668000October 24, 2014
• NHTSA campaign 15E040000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15E041000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15E042000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15E043000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V284000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V285000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V286000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V287000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V312000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V318000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V322000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V323000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V324000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V361000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 15V370000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16E005000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16E006000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16E009000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16E042000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16E043000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16E044000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16V036000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16V081000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16V127000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16V128000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16V334000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16V359000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16V361000
  Not in our recall records
• NHTSA campaign 16V363000
  Not in our recall records

Timeline

1. February 24, 2015ODI opens engineering analysis EA15001
2. May 25, 2016NHTSA recall 16V358000 (recall date)
3. October 2, 2016NHTSA recall 16V079000 (recall date)
4. October 2, 2016NHTSA recall 16V078000 (recall date)
5. October 2, 2016NHTSA recall 16V077000 (recall date)
6. OpenNo closing date yet