The contact owns a 2004 BMW 330. The contact stated while driving at approximately 20 MPH, the front center of the vehicle crashed into the front center of another vehicle and the air bags did not deploy. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed. The contact stated that her and her husband both sustained injuries and sought medical attention; the contact stated that a piece of her nose detached, there was a gash on her knee and that she broke her hips, ribs, and one of her arms. The contact also stated that her husband bruised his face, heart, broke his hips, sustained laceration to his lungs and liver and fractured his right foot; The other party also sustained several unknown injuries. The vehicle was towed to an unknown location. A dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 145,000.
2004 BMW 330I airbags problems
20 complaints (18% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 144,000. 2 crashes reported.
- owner complaints
- 20
- of this car's complaints
- 18%
- typical mileage
- 144,000
- crashes
- 2
- recalls
- 3
Which part fails
Owners did not name a specific part.
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
BMW 330I airbags problems in other years
Related recalls
Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2000-2005 323iT, 325iT, 325xiT, 320i, 323i, 325i, 325xi, 328i, 330i and 330xi and 2000-2006 323Ci, 325Ci, 328Ci, 330Ci, M3 Coupe, 323Cic, 325Cic, 330Cic, and M3 Convertible vehicles equipped with non-desiccated frontal Takata PSAN inflators and PSPI passenger frontal air bag inflators containing phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant that were used as interim remedy parts for previous Takata recalls. These inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
- Risk
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger's front air bag, free of charge. The recall began February 13, 2020. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1‑800‑525‑7417.
Recall number 20V018000 · Recall details
Air bags
- What is wrong
- BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2000 323i sedans, coupes, convertibles, and Sports Wagons; 2000 328i sedans and coupes; 2001-2005 325i sedans, coupes, convertibles, and Sport Wagons; 2001-2005 325xi sedans and Sports Wagons; 2006 325i coupes and convertibles; 2001-2006 330i sedans, coupes, and convertibles; 2001-2005 330xi sedans; and 2001-2006 M3 coupes and convertibles to address a safety defect in the passenger side frontal air bag which may produce excessive internal pressure that could cause the air bag inflator to rupture upon deployment of the air bag.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure could cause rupturing of the inflator resulting in metal fragments striking and potentially seriously injuring the passenger seat occupant or other occupants.
- Remedy
- Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until they have been repaired. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger side frontal air bag, free of charge. An interim notice was mailed to owners in September 2014. A second notice was mailed when an adequate supply of parts became available, on December 1, 2014. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1‑800‑525‑7417 or email BMW at [email protected].
Recall number 14V428000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal: driver side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2002-2005 325i, 325xi, 330i, and 330xi Sedans, and 325xi and 325i Sportswagons, 2002-2006 330Ci, 325Ci, and M3 Convertibles and 325i, 330i, and M3 Coupes, 2002-2003 M5, 540i, 525i Sedan, and 530i Sedans, and 540i and 525i Sportswagons, and 2003 X5 3.0i and 4.4i Sports Activity Vehicles. Please note that the 5-series and X5 vehicles are only included if they are equipped with the optional sports steering wheel. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the vehicle has been remedied. BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front driver air bag module, free of charge. The recall began Aug 2016. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1‑800‑525‑7417. Note: This recall supersedes recall 14V‑348 in its entirety. Additionally, vehicles that have had their driver side frontal air bag replaced previously as part of a recall remedy need to have their air bag replaced under this recall as well. Note: On December 17, 2015 BMW removed the model year 2004 X5 3.0i and 4.4i Sports Activity vehicle from this recall. Those vehicles were mistakenly identified as including the air bags that are subject to this recall.
Recall number 15V318000 · Recall details
Related investigations
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.During the course of PE14-016, ODI determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by Takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.Nonetheless, at ODI's insistence, all 10 vehicle manufacturers initiated a regional recall within approximately two weeks of the opening of the investigation.The regions recalled initially included Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, areas with high absolute humidity and climatic conditions believed to be a significant factor in the inflator ruptures.As part of the recall actions, inflators removed from remedied vehicles are to be returned to Takata for testing.Takata's initial test results on passenger inflators from remedied vehicles indicated a much higher than anticipated rupture frequency for inflators returned from Florida.Accordingly ODI requested all 10 manufacturers expand the regional recalls for passenger inflators to include other geographic areas where high absolute humidity conditions exist, including the Gulf States and other coastal areas.Takata's testing of the passenger inflators to date continues to indicate this geographic area as having the highest risk, with no ruptures occurring from inflators returned from outside the expanded recall regions.During PE14-016 four additional passenger inflator field events occurred, all in vehicles from the same expanded geographic region.Also during PE14-016 four additional driver inflator field events occurred including two in vehicles from regions not known for high absolute humidity, specifically California and North Carolina.Accordingly, ODI requested all five of the affected vehicle manufacturers currently using the subject Takata driver inflators expand to nationwide recalls.Significantly, neither of the affected vehicle manufacturers or Takata provided any explanation to account for these two driver air bag inflator ruptures outside the area of high absolute humidity.Takata testing of returned driver inflators indicates a lower rupture frequency as compared to passenger inflator testing.All test ruptures reported by Takata to date have occurred on inflators returned from high absolute humidity areas.The investigation now includes all manufacturers and vehicles known to be affected at this time.ODI's investigation will focus on, among other things, root cause analysis, other potential defect consequences, identification of affected vehicles scope, and adequacy of the remedy.The five ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at http://www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/Searchreference under the following identification numbers: 10537899, 10568848, 10585224, 10605877, 10651492
EA15001
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.During the course of PE14-016, ODI determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by Takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.Nonetheless, at ODI's insistence, all 10 vehicle manufacturers initiated a regional recall within approximately two weeks of the opening of the investigation.The regions recalled initially included Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, areas with consistently high absolute humidity and climatic conditions believed to be a significant factor in the inflator ruptures.As part of the recall actions, inflators removed from remedied vehicles are to be returned to Takata for testing.Takata's initial test results on passenger inflators from remedied vehicles indicated a much higher than anticipated rupture frequency for inflators returned from Florida.Accordingly, ODI requested all 10 manufacturers expand the regional recalls for passenger inflators to include other geographic areas where high absolute humidity conditions exist, including the Gulf States and other coastal areas.Takata's testing of the passenger inflators to date continues to indicate this geographic area as having the highest risk, with no ruptures occurring from inflators returned from outside the expanded recall regions.During PE14-016, four additional passenger inflator field events occurred, all in vehicles from the same expanded geographic region.Also during PE14-016, four additional driver inflator field events occurred including two in vehicles from regions not known for high absolute humidity, specifically California and North Carolina.Accordingly, ODI requested all five of the affected vehicle manufacturers currently using the subject Takata driver inflators expand to nationwide recalls.Significantly, neither of the affected vehicle manufacturers or Takata provided any explanation to account for these two driver air bag inflator ruptures outside the area of high absolute humidity.Takata testing of returned driver inflators indicates a lower rupture frequency as compared to passenger inflator testing.All test ruptures reported by Takata to date have occurred on inflators returned from high absolute humidity areas.The PE is now closed/upgraded to an Engineering Evaluation (EA15-001) to include all manufacturersand vehicles known to be affected at this time.ODI's EA investigation will focus on, among other things, root cause analysis, other potential defect consequences, identification of affected vehicles scope, and adequacy of the remedy.The recalls related to this PE are: 14V343, 14V344, 14V348, 14V351, 14V353, 14V655, 14V700, 14V701, 14V752, 14V763, 14V770, 14V773, 14V787, 14V802 and 14V817.The number of vehicles affected are an estimate since some vehicles may have both the driver and passenger side inflators recalled. The five ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at http://www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/Searchreference under the following identification numbers: 10537899, 10568848, 10585224, 10605877, 10651492
PE14016
What 2004 BMW 330I owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Takata recall first I should say that this is not a complaint about an incident. This is a complaint about the failure of bmw to provide a timely replacement for the thirteen (13) year old driver's side airbag in my 2004 bmw 330i, which has spent all of its life in a high absolute humidity location (houston, texas). I first contacted bmw on april, 26, 2016 regarding the takata airbag recall on my 2004 bmw 330i. They first offered to perform an interim repair or an alternate provided vehicle. However, the insurance company informed me that the replacement vehicle would not be covered under my current policy. I followed up again on july 15, 2016, and bmw informed me that interim repairs were no longer being offered because final repair parts would be available shortly. They said I would receive a notice in the mail letting me know when I could take my vehicle in to my local bmw center for repair. I have verified that my address and contact info is correct with both bmw and the repair center in houston, texas. Houston, texas is a high absolute humidity area and this car is 13 years old with the original airbag still installed. I drive this car every day to and from work in high traffic areas inside the city of houston. I believe bmw has had ample time to procure a replacement airbag, and I have called them and wasted several hours of my personal time on this still unresolved issue. In short I believe bmw is stalling with the replacement of older model year airbag replacements, because they believe these vehicles are "end of life" and there is little incentive for bmw to fix them. However, this vehicle has low mileage for its age: eighty thousand (80,000) miles, and the lack of an airbag replacement will diminish the resale value or make it much more difficult to sell.
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2004 bmw 330i. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign numbers: 15v318000 (air bags), 14v428000 (air bags), and 11v438000 (air bags). The parts to do the repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was notified. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2004 bmw 330i. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v318000 (air bags); however, the contact could not get the recall remedied due to lack of communication from the dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Takata recall-I've been going round and round with bmw USA and hendrick motors in charlotte, nc since dec. 2015 trying to get info on when they are going to fix my death trap. I just learned today on this site that my car is priority 1 in high humidity area which charlotte certainly is. Plus the air bag lights have been on since dec and reported to them and this is the low profile sport model car that is a bumpy ride. I was told in jan by bmw that an interim bag was sent to nj specifically for my car, but hendrick clams they no nothing about it., they have my info and every time I call to see when they will have parts for the recall I get the same insppid blow off, we don't know anything but we'll call you as soon as we do.I just received a letter from bmw saying the parts are ready to call and make appt to replace and hendrick says they don't have yet they are on order should be 2 weeks but they cannot confirm the date, no one knows or has any info what so ever so don't bother us any more. I guarantee that priority had been given to any car that was on their lot for resale!
Takata recall repair parts still not available...original notification date july 2015. I have not been involved in an accident...merely want the recall program implemented on my vehicle.
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2004 bmw 330i. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v318000 (air bags); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. ... Updated 08/23/16 *bf updated 09/08/16.
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2004 bmw 330i. The contact stated that the recall notice for the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v318000 (air bags) was received in june of 2015. After contacting the dealer and the manufacturer on multiple occasions, the contact was informed that the parts needed to repair the vehicle were still not available and no estimated time for receiving the parts could be given. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Takata recall-I found out in sept 2015 that my car was part of the airbag recall. I contacted hendrick bmw in charlotte, nc to have them replaced. They told me both the passenger and driver bags were recalled but they only had the passenger available to replace. I'm not in charlotte full time and do not drive it when I'm away. They said I would be called when it was ready. Dec I contacted them again, same story no driver. Feb called bmw USA, the air bag service light had come on and the car is a sport model with low profile tires that drives like a tank and some else had just been killed in an air bag accident. They first said they would arrange for a loaner, then backtracked and offered a "interim replacement" until the "real" replacement drivers side was available which almost 6 months since my first call, no one has any clue when they will be available. Ok....a week or so later got a call from bmw saying I should have gotten a call from hendrick that they have the "interim " bag. I called hendrick, and was told they only have the passenger side, have no idea what I'm talking about, put me in a manager vm that cut off before I could leave message. I called bmw back, left a message in that tone only dogs can hear, and now several weeks later not a word from anyone.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw 330i. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v318000 (air bags) however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of this failure. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available.
Questions about the 2004 BMW 330I airbags
Does the 2004 BMW 330I have airbags problems?
Owners have filed 20 complaints about the airbags of the 2004 BMW 330I, 18% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 2004 BMW 330I airbags problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 144,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2004 BMW 330I airbags?
Yes, 3 recalls: 20V018000, 14V428000, 15V318000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the BMW 330I have bad airbags?
The BMW 330I model years with the most airbags complaints are 2006 (133 complaints), 2001 (35 complaints) and 2003 (24 complaints).
Other 2004 BMW 330I problems
Lights 83Visibility 11Electrical 10Engine 3Brakes 1Fuel system 1Seat belts 1
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