BMW recall on the hot seat Company says 75,000 of its 5- and 7- series cars have problems with the front-seat heating mats. December 28, 2004: 6:42 AM EST

Story from cnn.com

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - BMW AG will recall some 75,000 of its 5- and 7-series cars after problems were discovered with front-seat heating mats, the German luxury car maker said Tuesday.

Seat mats could overheat in certain circumstances, damaging the surrounding upholstery and possibly resulting in slight burns, a spokesman said. The defect is limited to the seats and does not affect other parts of the automobile.

He put the estimated cost of the recall at 16 million ($21.7 million).

About 69,750 sedans of the 5 series launched in mid-2003 are affected by the recall, of which more than 29,000 were sold in Germany. Of the 7 series, 5,550 cars were affected. The recall affects cars made between February 2003 and June 2004, the spokesman said.

BMW's Chinese venture with local partner Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. also said it would recall more than 1,000 of the 5-series sedans made at its Shenyang plant due to faulty heating mats.

BMW shares shrugged off the news, trading almost flat at 33.20 in morning trading in Europe.

Traders said quality issues were nothing new at BMW, which this year recalled about 4,000 of its 5-, 6- and 7-series and X5 off-road vehicles due to engine problems.

In April, BMW had recalled more than 18,000 cars in the previous 5-series in Japan.

 

Gives a whole new meaning to "getting burned" when buying a new BMW.

 

LMAO! That is truly saaaaaaaaad...

 

Before buying a new BMW just burned your pocket.

Now it singes your entire ***.

 

pretty scary that the heated seats are so hot that it burns your ***....

 

Just imagine how bad it can be if it's coupled with the early i-Drive glitch that prevented from responding to attempts to turn the seat heaters off!! (arched-back driving anyone?)

BTW, here's the link to the news for anyone forwarding this news elsewhere:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/28/pf/a...w_recall.reut/

 

Recalling the new 5 and 7-series themselves is only half the problem. The other half?......Recall the guy responsible for them.
You-know-who.

 

Ya'll got some funny one-liners in here.

 

Thanks...........I try to make up for my lack of ability to post pictures by doing humor and good write-ups.

 

well at least the seat belt and door lock were separate, otherwise...

 

man... you are one very funny guy

 

And, you are the good job.. LMAO.

 

On a more serious note, I wouldn't be surprised if the BMW hot-seat problem is traced to bad wire connectors. Bad electronic hardware and connectors are a problem that has plagued a lot of European cars lately. (See my post under the thread about J.D. Power and VW-Toyota rankings, where I described that in detail). Studies and audits have shown that one of the chief problems of the European makes compared to Japanese is the high failure rate of electrical connectors due mainly to their design and the difficulties in manufacturing.

 

The Germans change their connector styles too much, and their electrical insulation is a favorite snack food for rodents. Toyota is still using the same connectors as they did years ago.

 

if something aint broken, don't touch it. i guess germans are still trying to find the right stuff