NHTSA Complaint #10968554 — 2005 BMW 545I

I AM WRITING TO YOU TO ADDRESS A CURRENT NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ADMINISTRATION (NHTSA) SAFETY RECALL AFFECTING MY VEHICLE (AND PRESUMABLY MANY SIMILAR VEHICLES). I CURRENTLY OWN A 2005 BMW 545I 4-DOOR SEDAN (VIN: [XXX] WITH 84,474 MILES AND HAVE RECENTLY EXPERIENCED A FRONT PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANT DETECTION MAT MALFUNCTION. THIS SENSOR MALFUNCTION AFFECTS THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AIRBAG IN THE EVENT OF A COLLISION. THE ERROR CODES MY VEHICLE IS DISPLAYING ARE THE SAME AS THOSE ADDRESSED IN THE NHTSA SAFETY RECALL (NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER 08V384000, DATED 5 AUG 2008) INDICATING A PASSENGER AIRBAG HAS MALFUNCTIONED, "OFF", AND WILL NOT DEPLOY IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY. THE NHTSA RECALL INDICATED BMW IS RECALLING 2004-06 5-SERIES MODELS (INCLUDING THE 545I) EQUIPPED WITH SEAT TYPES THAT MAY PRODUCE SIMILAR ERRORS DUE TO CRACKING THAT DEVELOPS WITH AGE. FRANKLY, I FIND IT RIDICULOUS THAT OTHER VEHICLES WITH THE SAME YEAR, MAKE, AND MODEL ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME MALFUNCTIONS AND ERRORS AS MY VEHICLE, HOWEVER, THOSE VEHICLES ARE BEING COVERED UNDER A CURRENT BMW SAFETY RECALL WHILE MY VEHICLE IS NOT. IN THE END, MY PASSENGER AIRBAG WILL NOT DEPLOY IN THE EVENT OF A COLLISION FOR THE SAME MALFUNCTIONING SEAT SENSOR, YET, BMW HAS TURNED A BLIND EYE TO MYSELF AND I PRESUME A LARGE NUMBER OF OWNERS WITH THIS SAME PROBLEM. CAN THE NHTSA ADDRESS THIS ISSUE WITH BMW NA? THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR TIME AND CONSIDERATION REGARDING THIS MATTER. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME AT ANY TIME IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS ISSUE. HAVE A GREAT DAY. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR