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I saw this in the Times this morning. Some BMWs - it looks like a batch made in 2010 - had a fault which could suddenly wipe out all the electrics. A man was killed in 2016 when he swerved to avoid a suddenly-stalled BMW, and hit a tree. The report came to light at his recent inquest.
My 2010 125i was recalled for this in autumn 2017 and fixed; but as the report says recalls were made in other countries much sooner. Here's the relevant extract:
However, after a meeting in February 2016, BMW convinced DVSA officials that the faults were under control and no British vehicles were recalled, the hearing was told.
Mr Gurung, from Aldershot, was in his Ford Fiesta with his wife on a dark A-road at 6.20am when the BMW saloon in front stalled and its brake lights cut out. He swerved to avoid the car and hit a tree. He died at the scene and his wife was seriously injured.
The inquest was told that it was not until two months after Mr Gurung’s death that BMW customers in the UK were informed about the flaw, with 36,000 affected cars being recalled in February last year.
BMW received its first complaints about a batch of 370,000 cars, including the 1 Series, 3 Series and Z4 models in 2011 when at least five cases were fixed under warranty.
A representative of the manufacturer told the inquest that the electrical fault was not “critical” because drivers could steer and brake — despite their headlights, hazard lights, indicators and brake lights not working.
The fault was caused by the cars’ battery cable connectors and fuse box terminal degrading, potentially causing a break in the electrical connection between battery and fuse box.
Andrew Tudor, DVSA lead engineer, told Mark Hill, BMW’s supplier quality engineer, during the February 2016 meeting that “we do not want a fatality”.
Ed Ramsay, questioning Mr Hill on behalf of Mr Gurung’s family, said: “The lead engineer from the DVSA has said to you in light of the concern, we do not want a fatality. In other words the risk that had been identified was a risk of death. If someone’s vehicle suffers a total electrical failure on a motorway or on an A-road they lose the ability to use their brake lights or hazard lights and that gives rise to serious injury or death. No lights is the biggest concern. Another road user cannot see the powerless car.”
Mr Hill insisted: “It is not a safety defect because a prior warning [such as the car not starting] is given to the user in the majority of cases . . . this is deemed not critical because the driver is still able to steer the car and brake the car. The car is still under control.”
John Williams, representing the insurer Aviva, asked Mr Hill: “In that three-and-a-half-year period [since the US recall] why was it not addressed in this country? It is entirely unsatisfactory for BMW UK or Germany to have allowed the same problem to appear in this country in the same type of vehicles and institute no effective campaign. All of the series have got this component in them.”
Referring to British customers, he said: “BMW has told them absolutely nothing about it . . . BMW wanted to avoid the cost of recalling all those vehicles. Why did it wait for this fatal accident to occur before it issued any form of recall?”
Mr Hill replied: “The decisions are made in Germany and not the UK to recall cars.”
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