BMW recalls older 3s for Takata air bag 'shrapnel'

James R. Healey and Meghan Hoyer, USA TODAY | USATODAY

BMW is recalling 42,080 older model 3 Series cars in the U.S. — about 220,000 worldwide — because the passenger air bag could explode too forcefully and send metal or plastic shrapnel flying at the passenger.

This is yet another recall involving airbags from large Japan-based auto safety-parts supplier Takata.

The bag assemblies for the 2002 and 2003 BMW 3 Series cars were supplied by Takata, which also supplied potentially shrapnel-producing passenger bags that forced Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda and General Motors to recall some 3.4 million vehicles worldwide last month.

Takata also supplied the driver-side airbags that were blamed for two deaths in Hondas in 2009. Honda, in five different actions, recalled a total of 2.5 million vehicles in the U.S. for that problem. Each time, Honda says, deeper evaluation of Takata data showed more bags and vehicles could be involved, and the recall had to be expanded. The most recent, and perhaps final, expansion of Honda's driver's bag recall was December 2011.

The passenger bag problem is "the same sort of scenario," says Honda spokesman Chris Martin. Faulty bag igniter components can deploy the bag too forcefully, taking pieces of the bag igniter hardware with it as potentially lethal projectiles.

The BMWs involved are 2002 and 2003 model year 3 Series sedans and wagons built from January through December 2002, and 2002 and 2003 model 3 Series and M3 coupes and convertibles made from February 2002 through December 2002.

The Takata problem bags reported overall so far are clustered mostly in automakers' 2001 to 2003 model-year vehicles.

Automakers generally say Takata has improved manufacturing processes in the decade since the faulty bags were built, and the problem won't be repeated. "We are still comfortable with Takata as one of our long-term suppliers," Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons says.

Takata "agrees with our customers' decision for the recall and will continue to fully support them in every way possible moving through this process, including providing detailed ongoing technical analysis and replacement parts as required," Takata spokesman Alby Berman says.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which polices safety recalls — nearly all of which are done voluntarily by car companies — says it "has been in communication with Takata and the affected automakers regarding the recalls. At this time, the agency is satisfied with the response by Takata and the various vehicle manufacturers," though it says it will continue to monitor the situation.

Takata's has had problems going back to the 1990s. It supplied faulty safety belts that triggered a recall of more than 9 million vehicles in the U.S. in 1995, a near-record at the time. Firestone had recalled some 10 million potentially faulty 721 radial tires in the late 1970s.

Since then, Firestone set a new recall record in August 2000 when it announced a recall of 14.4 million tires that were prone to tread separation. Most were on Ford Explorer SUVs, and Ford separately replaced additional Firestone tires.