NHTSA recall 21V521000
A recall listed here may apply to a vehicle of this year, make and model. Only the manufacturer can say whether it applies to one vehicle: check the VIN with the official lookups.
| Published by | NHTSA (United States) |
|---|---|
| Campaign number | 21V521000 |
| Manufacturer | BMW of North America, LLC |
| Reported | 2021-07-08 |
| Owners notified | 2021-09-03 |
| Component | AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGER; AIR BAGS:FRONTAL |
| Units potentially affected | 138 |
| Part numbers | 6994376 / 6994374 |
| Report | Annual report 3, for 2025 quarter 3 to 2026 quarter 2 |
|---|---|
| Filed with NHTSA | 2026-07-29 |
| Vehicles in the campaign | 138 |
| Reported remedied | 130 (94%) |
| Reported unreachable | 0 |
| Reported removed | 0 |
These are the manufacturer's totals for the whole campaign at the end of 2026 quarter 2, as filed with NHTSA. They do not say whether one vehicle has been remedied: check the VIN with the official lookups. The reports are from data as of 2026-10-19.
What is wrong
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2018-2019 X3 sDrive30i, X3 xDrive30i, X3 M40i and 2019 X4 xDrive30i, and X4 M40i vehicles. The front passenger seat occupant classification system may have been improperly assembled, which could result in the misclassification of the seat as unoccupied, and deactivate the front air bag.
What can happen
A deactivated front air bag will not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the seat foam, which includes the occupant classification system, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 3, 2021. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
Notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.
| 2018 BMW X3 | |
|---|---|
| 2019 BMW X3 | |
| 2019 BMW X4 |
A vehicle with no link is not in this site's catalog, which covers cars, multipurpose vehicles and trucks by model year. The campaign is from data as of 2026-10-19.
Bulletins for the same vehicles and component
| B720325 | 2025-06-17. Warranty extension. The Supplemental Restraint Systems (SRS) Front Passenger’s Seat Occupancy Capacitive Interior Sensor (CIS) Mat for defects in materials and/or workmanship that causes a false seat occupancy alert to occur has been extended to 10 years / 120,000 miles as determined from the vehicle's original in-service / first delivery date. |
|---|---|
| B720225 | 2025-06-17. Warranty extension. The Supplemental Restraint Systems (SRS) Front Passenger’s Seat Occupancy Capacitive Interior Sensor (CIS) Mat for defects in materials and/or workmanship that causes a false seat occupancy alert to occur has been extended to 10 years / 120,000 miles as determined from the vehicle's original in-service / first delivery date. |
| B720325 | 2025-05-27. Warranty extension. A situation may occur where the front passenger seat is not occupied. However, a “fasten seat belt” warning and a front passenger seat air bag deactivation message appears. If the situation is currently present, sit in the seat and move the seat to a slightly different position. The POL (Passenger Occupancy Light) light should now function correctly. Copyright ©2025 BMW of North America, Inc. 5/12/25, 11:11 AM 72 03 25_G01/G02 FALSE ALERT RF SEAT OCCUPIED W BELT UNBUCKLED-EXTENDED LIMITED WARRANTY about:blank 1/9 In some cases, the Air bag Warning Light was illuminated, and the following Advanced Crash Safety Module (ACSM) fault is stored: 930A1C - Front passenger seat occupancy detection transmitting fault (moisture) |
| B720225 | 2025-04-18. Warranty extension. The Supplemental Restraint Systems (SRS) Front Passenger’s Seat Occupancy Capacitive Interior Sensor (CIS) Mat for defects in materials and/or workmanship that causes a false seat occupancy alert to occur has been extended to 10 years / 120,000 miles as determined from the vehicle's original in-service / first delivery date. |
| B720325 | 2025-04-18. Warranty extension. The Supplemental Restraint Systems (SRS) Front Passenger’s Seat Occupancy Capacitive Interior Sensor (CIS) Mat for defects in materials and/or workmanship that causes a false seat occupancy alert to occur has been extended to 10 years / 120,000 miles as determined from the vehicle's original in-service / first delivery date. |
| B650122 | 2025-01-23. Warranty extension. The limited warranty for the Knee Air Bag wire harness repair cable procedure for defects in materials and / or workmanship has been extended to 10 years / 120,000 miles as determined from the original first in-service / delivery date. |
| B650122 | 2023-12-06. Service bulletin. A check control message (CCM) for the restraint system (Air bag) appears. In the instrument cluster, the red air bag warning light lights up permanently. One of the following fault codes is stored in the ACSM (air bag control unit): 930949 - Knee airbag, driver: short circuit to negative terminal 93094F - Knee airbag, front passenger: short circuit to negative terminal 93094C - Knee airbag driver's side: Resistance too great 930952 - Knee airbag, front passenger: Resistance too great |
| B650122 | 2023-09-18. Service bulletin. A check control message (CCM) for the restraint system (Air bag) appears. In the instrument cluster, the red air bag warning light lights up permanently. |
| B650122 | 2023-01-03. Service bulletin. A check control message for the restraint system appears. In the instrument cluster, the red air bag warning light lights up permanently. One of the following fault codes is stored in the ACSM (air bag control unit): 930949 - Knee airbag, driver: short circuit to negative terminal 93094F - Knee airbag, front passenger: short circuit to negative terminal 93094C - Knee airbag driver's side: Resistance too great 930952 - Knee airbag, front passenger: Resistance too great. |
| SIB650122 | 2022-08-22. Service bulletin. A check control message for the restraint system appears. In the instrument cluster, the red air bag warning light lights up permanently. One of the following fault codes is stored in the ACSM (air bag control unit): 930949 - Knee airbag, driver: short circuit to negative terminal 93094F - Knee airbag, front passenger: short circuit to negative terminal. |
A bulletin is the manufacturer's note to its dealers. It is not part of this recall.