BMW recalls vehicles for 3rd time due to engine fire risk

I did not know about the first 2 times.  

https://www.yahoo.com/news/bmw-recalls-vehicles-3rd-time-134008223.html

They are recalling 917k vehicles+ because 8 caught fire?

That's .0008% and there have been zero crashes or injuries. 

Seriously? That's insane.

Well, fortunately for BMW lots of those cars/suv's already litter the junkyards so they won't need to worry about all of them. I'm not sure why they couldn't continue using the PCV system that my E28 has, you know, a rubber tube connected straight from the valve cover to the intake which I'm meets all modern environmental standards lol

Toyman! said:

They are recalling 917k vehicles+ because 8 caught fire?

That's .0008% and there have been zero crashes or injuries. 

Seriously? That's insane.

I agree, at least on the surface. 

The only thing I can think is that they've done further research and have found that the failure rate is going to increase significantly due to deterioration of... whatever it is that is stopping the short from happening, or else they want to make news that ICE vehicles catch fire too, ahead of the sky-is-falling reports of EV fires that we're going to be seeing for the next 10 years. 

Edit: Angry Corvairs post below makes me realize that, this was probably a very intelligent recall.

came close enough to a fire for me. That glowing thing is the PCV heater under the intake manifold on my E60, Dec 2018. Started engine, drove away, smelled burning plastic and shut the car down, couldn't find anything with power off so started the engine again and started looking. Found it! A less attentive driver certainly would have had a fire.

Toyman! said:

They are recalling 917k vehicles+ because 8 caught fire?

That's .0008% and there have been zero crashes or injuries. 

Seriously? That's insane.

GM Recalled 141k Bolts, and stopped production/sales to direct all newly produced batteries to retrofits, over 16 fires (fewer when the recall was issued, I believe). 

Automakers have to take any and all threats to safety/human lives extremely seriously. Even at that small a percentage. Once a safety risk is known, it cannot be ignored - and at some point, recall is the only way to show that you have legally done everything you can to keep every customer safe.

GM's initial reaction to the Ignition switch issue (which, let's remember - started with 1 engineer being careless about documentation), set the tone for how not to react to learning about a genuine safety issue.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

came close enough to a fire for me. That glowing thing is the PCV heater under the intake manifold on my E60, Dec 2018. Started engine, drove away, smelled burning plastic and shut the car down, couldn't find anything with power off so started the engine again and started looking. Found it! A less attentive driver certainly would have had a fire.

That's really innovative of ze Germans at BMW to make the problem part glow for easy identification. Much better than a check engine light.

In reply to PMRacing :

And it's even the same colour. Neat, isn't it?

In reply to mtn :

Indeed. The PCV hoses have electric heating elements molded into them, and they live really close to other highly flammable things.

Sometimes those recalls are a caused by a specific situation that not everyone encounters.  In the 80's, Audi had a recall to prevent "thermal events" in the 4000/5000 turbos, which never caused a problem out here in the flatlands, but climbing the Coquihalla highway out of Vancouver had an almost perpetual stream of barbequed Audis on the shoulder.  If only a couple of dozen cars suffer, but all of them were doing a specific thing, that's trouble.

How many of you guys live in a climate that will kill a early X5 engine in 40 seconds on a cold start?  Freeze up the crankcase breather, but leave the vacuum hose and the oil separator drain tube to the bottom of the oil pan clear... 

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

I cannot count how many 325/328 and 528s I have replaced the whole PCV system because a cold snap converted it from a crankcase ventilation system to a crankcase evacuation system.

And the oil in the exhaust takes weeks to finish burning off.

I figured they were self-immolating out of embarrassment from the grilles on their newer brethren.....

classicJackets (FS) said:

Toyman! said:

They are recalling 917k vehicles+ because 8 caught fire?

That's .0008% and there have been zero crashes or injuries. 

Seriously? That's insane.

 

GM Recalled 141k Bolts, and stopped production/sales to direct all newly produced batteries to retrofits, over 16 fires (fewer when the recall was issued, I believe). 

Automakers have to take any and all threats to safety/human lives extremely seriously. Even at that small a percentage. Once a safety risk is known, it cannot be ignored - and at some point, recall is the only way to show that you have legally done everything you can to keep every customer safe.

GM's initial reaction to the Ignition switch issue (which, let's remember - started with 1 engineer being careless about documentation), set the tone for how not to react to learning about a genuine safety issue.

Heck, Mazda had two recalls because of spiders. And I don't think they actually caused any fires, just that they could.

classicJackets (FS) said:

Toyman! said:

They are recalling 917k vehicles+ because 8 caught fire?

That's .0008% and there have been zero crashes or injuries. 

Seriously? That's insane.

 

GM Recalled 141k Bolts, and stopped production/sales to direct all newly produced batteries to retrofits, over 16 fires (fewer when the recall was issued, I believe). 

Automakers have to take any and all threats to safety/human lives extremely seriously. Even at that small a percentage. Once a safety risk is known, it cannot be ignored - and at some point, recall is the only way to show that you have legally done everything you can to keep every customer safe.

GM's initial reaction to the Ignition switch issue (which, let's remember - started with 1 engineer being careless about documentation), set the tone for how not to react to learning about a genuine safety issue.

The problem that makes bolt and many of the ev and plug in hybrid things much much more concerning and noteworthy is that they occur while the vehicle is unoccupied and usually charging. Many times in a garage. While people are asleep in the house. Ever seen a lithium battery fire?

Keith Tanner said:

classicJackets (FS) said:

Toyman! said:

They are recalling 917k vehicles+ because 8 caught fire?

That's .0008% and there have been zero crashes or injuries. 

Seriously? That's insane.

 

GM Recalled 141k Bolts, and stopped production/sales to direct all newly produced batteries to retrofits, over 16 fires (fewer when the recall was issued, I believe). 

Automakers have to take any and all threats to safety/human lives extremely seriously. Even at that small a percentage. Once a safety risk is known, it cannot be ignored - and at some point, recall is the only way to show that you have legally done everything you can to keep every customer safe.

GM's initial reaction to the Ignition switch issue (which, let's remember - started with 1 engineer being careless about documentation), set the tone for how not to react to learning about a genuine safety issue.

Heck, Mazda had two recalls because of spiders. And I don't think they actually caused any fires, just that they could.

I'll accept a car that burns itself down ... but one with spiders?? I want my money back. 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Check out the "02Pilot mod" (yes, I developed it; no, I didn't name it). Solves the problem of M54 crankcase ventilation systems clogging up once and for all. There's plenty of documentation of successful implementation out there, but let me know if you want more details.

In reply to 02Pilot :

Not particularly, but it's interesting to know that it exists.

Legally, that would be an emissions modification and one can get in Big Trouble if done professionally.

Practically, almost all of those cars are long gone here, so I doubt I will ever work on one again.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Yes, I suppose in a professional capacity there would be...liabilities (though I know of a couple shops that are installing it).