BMW of North America has announced a recall affecting approximately 11,180 iX xDrive50 and iX M60 electric SUVs due to a potential safety concern related to the vehicles’ cruise control system. According to a document filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there is a risk that drivers may inadvertently come into contact with the cruise control button when turning the steering wheel at low speeds. This unintended contact could result in unexpected acceleration or deceleration. However, drivers will be alerted to the active cruise control through the visible cruise control icon, and they can deactivate the system either by applying the brakes or pressing the cruise control on/off button.
The notice says that owners will be notified by First Class mail advising them of the recall and to schedule an appointment with an authorized BMW dealer to have the remedy performed for free. If this condition were to occur to a potentially affected vehicle prior to this recall, the remedy would be covered by the BMW New Vehicle Limited Warranty program. Therefore, reimbursement for a pre-notification remedy re Part 573.13 and Part 577.11 is not necessary. Dealer notification is expected to begin and end on June 7, 2023.Owner notification is expected to begin and end on July 28, 2023.
There was another BMW iX recall earlier this year. At the time, NHTSA announced that certain 2022-2023 BMW iX xDrive50 (1,443 vehicles) had an issue with the sound generator used when backing up might fail. According to BMW and NHTSA, “during vehicle start-up, the artificial sound generator control unit may experience a fault and fail to generate the external pedestrian warning sound.” As a consequence, the typical pedestrian noisemaker may not play. The recall affected BMW vehicles manufactured between November 11, 2021, and December 22, 2022.
