BMW is recalling a total of 93,632 iX series, i3 and i4 electric vehicles in China and will fix them with software updates.
(Image credit: BMW Weibo)
BMW is recalling tens of thousands of electric vehicles (EVs) in China because of software problems that pose safety risks.
The German luxury carmaker is recalling a total of 93,632 iX Series, i3 and i4 EVs in China and will fix them with software updates, according to an announcement posted today on China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) website.
The vehicles are involved in two types of software problems, the first of which poses a risk of power interruption and the second a risk of failure to make pedestrian protection sounds.
The vehicles BMW is recalling that are involved in the first type of potential problems include:
37,197 iX3 electric vehicles with production dates from September 26, 2020, to December 30, 2022.
18,500 China-made i3 electric vehicles with production dates from April 12, 2022 to December 28, 2022.
1,985 i4 electric vehicles from November 22, 2021 to October 24, 2022.
2,929 iX electric vehicles with production dates from July 27, 2021 to October 19, 2022.
The vehicles included in this recall are subject to a software miscalculation due to an improperly set voltage monitoring threshold for the high-voltage battery control unit microcontroller.
This could lead to unexpected interruption of vehicle charging or high voltage system shutdown, which in extreme cases could cause power interruption and pose a safety hazard, according to the announcement.
The vehicles recalled involving the second type of potential hazards include:
China-made i3 electric vehicles with production dates from April 14, 2022 to January 11, 2023, and iX3 electric vehicles with production dates from November 26, 2020 to January 19, 2023, for a total of 33,021 units.
The software signal processing logic of the pedestrian protection warning tone control unit in the recalled vehicles has a problem that may cause the vehicle to fail to emit an external pedestrian protection warning tone when driving at low speeds or when backing up.
This could increase the risk of pedestrian injury and pose a safety hazard.
In addition to these EV recalls, BMW is also recalling 763 imported BMW 7 Series vehicles with production dates from July 19, 2022 to December 15, 2022.
The vehicles included in this recall may not recognize the correct position of the seat due to a software issue with the front passenger seat module control unit, rendering the front passenger airbag inoperable.
BMW Brilliance, a joint venture between BMW and Brilliance Auto based in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, will "program the software" for the recalled vehicles to eliminate the safety hazard.
With the rapid growth of the smart electric vehicle industry, software problems are causing more and more recalls.
Last May, BMW announced a recall of 6,636 China-made iX3 electric vehicles because of a software design problem with the vehicles' battery control units.
On December 1, BMW recalled 38 imported BMW iX and i4 electric vehicles and three imported older BMW i3 electric vehicles in China due to battery problems.
BMW's 2022 BEV sales in China were 41,886 units, up 91.6 percent year-on-year, according to data the company announced on January 10.
BMW delivered 791,900 BMW- and MINI-branded vehicles in China in 2022. This means that BEVs contributed about 5 percent of the BMW Group's sales in China.
