BMW recalls hundreds of SUVs in US due to deadly airbag issue that has already killed 27 Americans

BMW has recalled 486 SUVs in the United States after an airbag failed in October, sending shrapnel into the driver’s lung, chest and shoulder.

The recall is the latest to hit auto parts maker Takata, whose airbags have been investigated by U.S. regulators for years and are found in millions of vehicles around the world.

The part in question is the driver’s side airbag inflator, which is actually manufactured by ARC Automotive but used by Takata in their airbags. This device uses volatile chemicals to cause a small explosion that quickly inflates the air bag in the event of a crash.

However, under certain circumstances, the metal canister containing the chemicals can explode in a crash, sending metal fragments into the car.

Twenty-seven deaths have been linked to defective Takata airbags in the U.S., and at least 38 worldwide. In the United States alone, more than 400 people have been injured by airbags.

In the latest recall, affected vehicles include several BMW SUV models manufactured between February and March 2014.

Because of how widespread the problem could be, NHTSA has advised drivers to check your recovery database by entering your vehicle identification number (VIN).

Takata has had approximately 67 million of its airbags recalled for safety concerns, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

However, many defective units remain in cars on the roads.

Takata filed for bankruptcy in 2017, after recalls and lawsuits cost the company billions.

The problem arises from the chemicals that inflate the air bags.

When crash sensors at the front of your car detect a major impact, they send a signal to an on-board computer that activates the inflator.

Inside an air bag inflator is a chemical substance that, when a spark is generated, will break down into harmless components.

In the early 1990s, this chemical was sodium azide, which rapidly decomposed into sodium and nitrogen upon detonation.

However, Takata switched to ammonium nitrate in the late 1990s, the same chemical that makes the fertilizer suitable for homemade bombs.

The problems began in 2004, when the first reports of dangerous airbag detonations began to emerge.

Since then, recalls have been carried out piecemeal, with different automakers recalling a small batch of vehicles at a time.

The true number of cars affected is in the tens of millions.

Even without problems, an inflator works like a pump. When you apply an electrical charge, it detonates.

The problem with defective Takata airbags occurs when heat and humidity cause the ammonium nitrate to break down prematurely, so that when the airbag explodes, it explodes with too much force.

When this happens, the inflator container ruptures and the force of the explosion causes pieces of the container to break into everything they can reach.

In the case of BMW’s new recall, the incident that led to the incident occurred in October, when a driver was seriously injured by an airbag in an accident.

Shrapnel entered the driver’s lung, but he survived. BMW has said it has not yet inspected the vehicle, according to The ap.

General Motors faced a similar recall earlier this year, but for almost one million vehicles. The American automaker blamed Takata for the problem.

But even when the units appear to be to blame, automakers have been slow to implement recalls, leading to additional lawsuits.

Mercedes-Benz, for example, paid $12.5 million in fines last year for failing to promptly inform drivers about air bags.

Officials predict that in 2024 NHTSA will expand the airbag recall to include 52 million Units produced by Takata.