Question on recalls

[tagta3]

To those who have done the blower motor fan recall or repair themselves, as much as I hate to bring the car into the dealer for 3 recalls, airbag, battery fuse box cable, and blower motor - they said they have the airbag and battery cable parts on hand but for the blower motor recall they need "to inspect the car first to see what parts are needed so might need the car for a few days."

I would imagine they would carry all the potential parts needed for the blower fan recall instead of bring car in, inspect, wait a couple days for ordered parts to come in approach. From my understanding I thought it is a harness with new improved connectors, then if contacts on the blower fan PCB was also damaged they would replace that board as well. Am I missing something? I would think these recalls could be done in 1 day by appointment.

[Banana Hammock]

When I had the airbag recall done, they rescheduled my appointment because they didn't have the part. I'm assuming they know what parts they need and will schedule accordingly.

[M43S7RO]

When I arrived at the dealer for the blower and airbag recalls, I was told that they did not have an eta on availability of parts to fix the blower relay. Not sure how difficult it would be to just fix myself...

[R3dliner]

I'm reading the blower motor TSB only applies to cars produced before May 2011? Can someone confirm this?

[eatsleepboost]

I have a 4/10 build car and I got the letter in the mail. Local dealer does not have parts yet.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by tagta3

To those who have done the blower motor fan recall or repair themselves, as much as I hate to bring the car into the dealer for 3 recalls, airbag, battery fuse box cable, and blower motor - they said they have the airbag and battery cable parts on hand but for the blower motor recall they need "to inspect the car first to see what parts are needed so might need the car for a few days."

I would imagine they would carry all the potential parts needed for the blower fan recall instead of bring car in, inspect, wait a couple days for ordered parts to come in approach. From my understanding I thought it is a harness with new improved connectors, then if contacts on the blower fan PCB was also damaged they would replace that board as well. Am I missing something? I would think these recalls could be done in 1 day by appointment.

Download the recall info yourself if you're curious. The blower motor thing might have a specific process/test/criteria for them to check if it needs the replacement parts or not.

For brand new recalls, the parts might be in short supply hence they aren't exactly "stocking" them. It also takes up valuable shelf space and they don't want to be sitting on lots of parts that may never even get used.

[CjM3]

FWIW I called in to BMWNA to get a more specific answer on the blower motor recall. Currently they are finding a solution/parts and will be sending out another notification letter when they have a fix/parts. This was around 4/25 when I called.

[tagta3]

Originally Posted by CjM3

FWIW I called in to BMWNA to get a more specific answer on the blower motor recall. Currently they are finding a solution/parts and will be sending out another notification letter when they have a fix/parts. This was around 4/25 when I called.

The fix is a final fix I believe, correct?

[CjM3]

Originally Posted by tagta3

The fix is a final fix I believe, correct?

I would assume so, I don't think they would want to tear into our dashes more than once lol.

[Mr.TT]

I was at the dealer for an unrelated issue and they did have the parts and did the recall.

My work order has "replacement cable heater" and "blower regulator"

The notes said "removed right front bottom dash panel and inspected ac regulator and harness, did find discolored in harness. per SI replaced short harness and regulator"

So it does seem like they need to diagnose to understand the nature of the repair which may prevent a full understanding of how long or even if they can do the repair.

[CjM3]

Originally Posted by Mr.TT

I was at the dealer for an unrelated issue and they did have the parts and did the recall.

My work order has "replacement cable heater" and "blower regulator"

The notes said "removed right front bottom dash panel and inspected ac regulator and harness, did find discolored in harness. per SI replaced short harness and regulator"

So it does seem like they need to diagnose to understand the nature of the repair which may prevent a full understanding of how long or even if they can do the repair.

I find it really interesting that some people have had a fix done, yet BMWNA claims no fix has been identified or parts sourced yet.

[tagta3]

Originally Posted by CjM3

I find it really interesting that some people have had a fix done, yet BMWNA claims no fix has been identified or parts sourced yet.

I agree, that's why I was confused by the statement and wondered if they had not identified a final fix. Well I don't know how comfortable I feel giving them the car for that long with the stories I read about on the forum. Thus the reason for my original post - to see if anyone thought it was weird that they needed the car that long. Thanks everyone in advance for your replies.

[CjM3]

Originally Posted by tagta3

I agree, that's why I was confused by the statement and wondered if they had not identified a final fix. Well I don't know how comfortable I feel giving them the car for that long with the stories I read about on the forum. Thus the reason for my original post - to see if anyone thought it was weird that they needed the car that long. Thanks everyone in advance for your replies.

Your dealer may just have replaced the wiring with a new parts not necessarily with the parts that fix the actual problem? I could be wrong. But it makes sense they would want to confirm the board was damaged before replacing that as well. Saves them money per say.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by CjM3

Your dealer may just have replaced the wiring with a new parts not necessarily with the parts that fix the actual problem? I could be wrong. But it makes sense they would want to confirm the board was damaged before replacing that as well. Saves them money per say.

Correct. This is basically the same thing as the airbag recall -- they just put the same faulty design right back in there. BMW has to quickly engineer a revised part, test it, send to manufacturing, and then begin distributing to dealers. That takes a while.

[Mr.TT]

Originally Posted by CjM3

Your dealer may just have replaced the wiring with a new parts not necessarily with the parts that fix the actual problem? I could be wrong. But it makes sense they would want to confirm the board was damaged before replacing that as well. Saves them money per say.

The TSB issued in Dec 2017 has one set of part numbers for the cable and regulator, and the revised one in Mar 2018 has a bunch of additional information and PNs.

My particular car looks like it needed "repair type 2" and the PNs associated with my repair coincide with that repair type.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/201...7V676-4326.pdf

I honestly didn't even remember about the recall until I took my car in and they told me it was open and performed the repair.

Edit: based on the revised Mar 2018 TSB, I'm not sure why BMWNA would make a claim that they don't have a fix. The link I posted above certainly is written like there's a fix, and that the fix is symptom dependent.

[tagta3]

Originally Posted by dparm

Correct. This is basically the same thing as the airbag recall -- they just put the same faulty design right back in there. BMW has to quickly engineer a revised part, test it, send to manufacturing, and then begin distributing to dealers. That takes a while.

Is the airbag the same faulty design to give us X number of years til a final solution or is the final solution out yet? According to the parts manager I know at the dealership, he says the ones that are going in now are the new, desiccated propellant, so they are the final repair. I hope he is right on that.

So what do you guys recommend, take a bunch of pictures of the car before dropping off for a few days and hope for the best I guess?

[M.Hagen]

Originally Posted by Mr.TT

The TSB issued in Dec 2017 has one set of part numbers for the cable and regulator, and the revised one in Mar 2018 has a bunch of additional information and PNs.

My particular car looks like it needed "repair type 2" and the PNs associated with my repair coincide with that repair type.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/201...7V676-4326.pdf

I honestly didn't even remember about the recall until I took my car in and they told me it was open and performed the repair.

Edit: based on the revised Mar 2018 TSB, I'm not sure why BMWNA would make a claim that they don't have a fix. The link I posted above certainly is written like there's a fix, and that the fix is symptom dependent.

Thanks for providing this.

I did the repair myself last year after my blower motor stopped working. I actually did essentially what "Repair #2" states in the TSB.

I wonder if the dealership will recognize the pictures I took and perform "Repair #1" where the whole harness is replaced, and reimburse me for the blower regulator I purchased.

It says a new recall letter will be sent with the details of when parts will be available. I have not received the new letter, but do have the original.

[CjM3]

Originally Posted by Mr.TT

The TSB issued in Dec 2017 has one set of part numbers for the cable and regulator, and the revised one in Mar 2018 has a bunch of additional information and PNs.

My particular car looks like it needed "repair type 2" and the PNs associated with my repair coincide with that repair type.

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/201...7V676-4326.pdf

I honestly didn't even remember about the recall until I took my car in and they told me it was open and performed the repair.

Edit: based on the revised Mar 2018 TSB, I'm not sure why BMWNA would make a claim that they don't have a fix. The link I posted above certainly is written like there's a fix, and that the fix is symptom dependent.

Interesting maybe I spoke to someone who wasn't completely informed, or I misheard and she just told me they didn't have the parts yet.

[Mr.TT]

Originally Posted by M.Hagen

Thanks for providing this.

I did the repair myself last year after my blower motor stopped working. I actually did essentially what "Repair #2" states in the TSB.

I wonder if the dealership will recognize the pictures I took and perform "Repair #1" where the whole harness is replaced, and reimburse me for the blower regulator I purchased.

It says a new recall letter will be sent with the details of when parts will be available. I have not received the new letter, but do have the original.

There is this note in the TSB:

TREAD Act - Previous Customer-Pay Repairs
If your center is presented with a reimbursement request for a “qualifying customer-pay repair” that was
performed on an “affected vehicle” prior to the release of this Recall Service Information bulletin, BMW of
North America, LLC (“BMW NA”) will reimburse this previous repair

I also found this note from BMW NA about how they handle repairs not done at a dealer:

https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/at...5&d=1409570584

Seems like you have a shot!

[slowm3]

I only got my airbag recall done, when I brought up the blower motor, the tech guy said they need to receive the parts first. Haven't heard anything since then, still waiting

[MachinesWithSouls]

Originally Posted by eatsleepboost

I have a 4/10 build car and I got the letter in the mail. Local dealer does not have parts yet.

Your car and mine met at the factory. 4/10 is my build date to, and I also got the letter. The day I fixed the air bag, ironically.

[miked7285]

For those that care - I brought my car in for the airbag recall to Santa Monica BMW and they had all the parts for the blower motor wiring as well (I was surprised they had it in stock). Took 3 hours and I'm done.