Westwood, NJ – March 8, 2021 – BMW (OTCMKTS:BMWYY) has recalled 14,011 cars whose sunroofs do not adhere to federal safety guidelines about how and when power windows are allowed to close. The recall includes:
- 2020-2021 BMW 228i coupes
- 2020-2021 BMW 228i xDrive coupes
- 2020-2021 BMW M235i xDrive cars
Recall summary
The recall concerns the sunroof, which may continue to close even after the car has been turned off. This breaks a federal safety regulation requiring all power windows, including sunroofs, to be unable to close when the car is off and the front doors have been opened.
In a document submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), BMW said that this recall is caused by window-controlling software intended for European cars “inadvertently” implemented in US cars.
Other BMW xDrive recalls
In February, BMW recalled 901 cars – including 840i xDrive and M850i xDrive – because of a risk that parts of the cars’ braking system may separate if the driver brakes hard. This may result in a loss of anti-lock brakes and “braking assistance,” increasing the risk of a crash.
Risks
If the sunroof continues to close after the ignition is turned off, it may hurt small children and other car occupants.
In fact, the regulation requiring windows to stop closing when the car is off was put in place in 1970 after “numerous cases” of children who suffered injuries or were choked to death after getting stuck in closing power windows. Many of these cases involved children who were left unattended in cars with the ignition off.
The BMW sunroof, however, does feature an “anti-trap” feature, meaning that it would stop moving if it encountered resistance – such as a person’s limb – while closing.
The repair
BMW dealers will reprogram the sunroof’s electronic coding for free. Notifications with more information about how and when to get this repair will be mailed out to owners starting on April 12.
Is your vehicle part of this recall?
Over 14,000 vehicles are included in this BMW recall. To perform a BMW recall check, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.
