"BMW to recall 312,000 cars after finding engines could cut out while being driven" - Telegraph

Chassis numbers for all Z4 UK recalls are on the VOSA site

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/search.asp?cboStartMonth=1&cboStartYear=1992&cboEndMonth=1&cboEndYear=2020&cboMake=BMW&cboModel=Z4&cboSortOrder=rec_launch_date&cboAscDesc=ASC&PageSize=10&tx=0.4822896&newsearch=newsearch
 
@Ewazix

I'm looking on this site to understand how to figure this out - https://www.autocheck.com/vehiclehistory/autocheck/en/vinbasics

But I will be honest with you, I'm not really sure how this works out... also it seems like that link doesn't have the new issue there!?

My VIM is WBABU52040LL90524

Annoyingly I'm going for a road trip around south of france at the end of the month with my whole family (convertible trip). I'm guessing I won't be able to get that done in time so I have contacted my local independent to see if they can get it done sooner (if applicable). Hopefully they will get back soon, but can't be sure.

Would you guys go anyways? It's been over 10 years without issue so far, would this extra break make a difference!? Only other option is going in my wifes Mitsubishi Colt, which is far from appealing!
 
It looks like its the 2017 recall, but now extended back to 2007 - 2011 built cars and will presumably be added to search sites soon. If the car has survived 10 years and there's only been one serious incident I wouldn't be too concerned and just wait to hear TBH.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/bmw-recall-3-series-z4-x1-car-safety-issues-uk-latest-a8342851.html

A spokesperson for BMW said: “BMW is expanding the existing B+ battery connector UK recall. This relates to predecessor generations of the 1 Series, 3 Series, Z4 and X1 built between March 2007 and September 2011. “BMW will be contacting all affected customers by post advising them of how they can book their car in to have the work carried out. We will commence contacting affected customers in the next three weeks.”
 
Surprise , surprise....not just E85's, my 2009 E89 had a complete electrical failure while I was driving on the Trans Canada Highway. at night. !!!
Something in the junction box in the back burned up and there I was, doing 75mph in the left lane (not the curb lane) , traffic all around
me and I had no engine, no lights, unable to shift out of 7th gear in the DCT,. Imagine how pissed the other drivers were when my car went dark then pulled across their lane and onto the shoulder where I coasted for half a mile in the dark.... Couldn't even get into the trunk to get any emergency triangles, or the tow hook ....had to wait for a tow truck to show up so he could put jumpers on the battery to power the trunk opening. Very scary and dangerous.
 
I have seen this happen about half a dozen times with some of our customers cars..

Never a Z,but 3 series ....
 
@mcbeee - that must have been scary to say the least!

@Z4M-2006 - from your opinion, what would need doing on a car like mine, or is it difficult to say?
 
On the basis of there not being a single report on here that I am aware of it happening to an E85 / E86 I would just forget about it and sleep easy at night :wink:
 
@ph001 - I know what you mean, but not how sure I can convince my pregnant wife :cry:

@mcbeee - which part did they replace out of interest?
 
Seeing the item on Watchdog last night was a bit of an eye opener! It seems there have been two different problems and it's been more common than was reported. BMW have been slopey-shouldered s4its until they were called out publicly about the spontaneous combustion and now the shut down issue which contributed to a death. A recall has been extended back to cover earlier cars and BMW will be contacting affected owners.

It's all highlighted the fact that neither the Governmant, VOSA, DVSA or anybody else has the power to force a manufacturer to recall a dangerous product which is crazy!
 
Theog said:
@ph001 - I know what you mean, but not how sure I can convince my pregnant wife :cry:

@mcbeee - which part did they replace out of interest?
Click to expand...
the “junction box”, it controls all the electrics in the car. Hidden in the boot I believe. I also believed it was caused by some twat technician not tightening the ground connection properly after ripping the car apart earlier in the year , (to eventually find a broken valve spring. That also recoded everything so I lost my Dinan for a while too :x ) now that I hear that there is a wire that melts... :o I think that was probably the cause.. this was one of the reasons I sold the E89 and got a Porsche.
(After 38years as a sparky I found lots of melted wires, 95% were caused by not being connected properly )
 
Leaves me a bit confused. On the one hand it's 'vehicles 2007-2011' but checking that dft.gov.uk site shows my 2008 VIN outside of the range shown. My vin starts WBAB, so I assume it's before WBAD. Unless it's only the last 5 digits that count - in which case my 88417 falls before 93919, the start range for the recall, so it would be part of the recall.
z4vin01.JPG
 
Different models will have had new components introduced at different times according to the life cycle of that model, so 2007 doesn’t necessarily mean all of those models are affected from that date.

Remember also that the issue is likely to be specific to a model platform, so the indications are that it relates to BMW’s E9x 3 series and derivatives from a certain date, so includes E8x 1 series and E89 Z4.

The E85/86 zed is based on the older E46 3 series platform (and electrical architecture) so likely does not have the component(s) fitted that are affected by the recall.

Chris
 
Morning chaps

Quick update from my side:

- I emailed BMW to ask what was going on and they asked me to contact my local bmw Garage
- I called my local BMW garage and they weren't particularly helpful... something on the lines of "did you buy it from us, if not they we may not be able to help you, but don't quote me on that. I will have to find out more info"... few hours later "sorry you arn't a customer of ours so you have to contact BMW" !?
- I called BMW on 0870 505 0160... took about 15mins wait time... guy was very nice and helpful. I registered my car with them which I hadn't before. He then looked up info and confirmed I DIDN'T need any further action. He also confirmed there were no other previous issues.

So really glad this end as the last thing I wanted to do was shelve the Zed for my trip to Nice, France.

@mcbee that sounds horrendous. I really hope mine isn't a box of sparks!

On a side note, before I had the Zed I had a 2007 Seat Ibiza FR. Oddly I think that had a similar issue. Very randomly it used to cut power whilst driving. The dash lights would fade, and before you know it the power steering would go. That felt extremely bad as the steering was already extremely light, so was quite a shock, especially on the twisty country roads.

I took the car to many garages, including Seat and they had no idea.

One time I had an RAC guy had a look at it (who happened to be an electrician before) and said it was a grounding issue, so the battery kept on screwing up. My technical knowledge here is far from supreme, but you would think such a criticall thing would be at the forefront of safety.

What's the point of protective chassis, airbags, crumple zones, abs and pretty much every feature if the electrics is going to fail!? Surely they should double check on these things. Especially not to skimp out on cabling.

Rant over... looking forward to a drive this weekend :driving:
 
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