NHTSA Complaint #11131020 — 2011 BMW 328I

IN LATE 2017-EARLY 2018 THE PASSENGER SEAT BELT WARNING CHIME WOULD COME ON OCCASIONALLY WHEN SOMETHING LESS THAN 5 POUNDS WAS ON THE SEAT AND NO ONE WAS SITTING ON THE SEAT. EVENTUALLY, IT HAPPENED ALL THE TIME WHEN NOTHING AT ALL WAS ON THE SEAT. I ALWAYS NEEDED TO DRIVE THE CAR WITH THE SEAT BELT CONNECTED. I LEARNED IT WAS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AND CONTACTED BMW DEALER IN EARLY 2018 WHEN THE CAR HAD 88254 MILES AND THEY SAID IT WAS NO LONGER COVERED UNDER WARRANTY AND WOULD COST ABOUT $1300 TO FIX THE AIRBAG SENSOR MAT. I FOUND A REPAIR PLACE TO REPLACE THE OC3 PASSENGER SEAT MAT WITH BMW PART FOR ALMOST $900. I HAD NO IDEA THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM UNTIL AUGUST 2018 I RECEIVED A NOTICE FOR THE EXACT SAME PART FOR OUR OTHER CAR, A 2004 X3 WHICH GAVE A WARRANTY EXTENSION AND OFFERED REIMBURSEMENT IF THE PART HAD ALREADY BEEN REPLACED. I CONTACTED BMW AND THEY REFUSED TO OFFER SAME EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR AIRBAG SENSOR MATTS IN MY 2011 328I. SINCE MY CAR EXPERIENCED THE EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS AS THOSE COVERED BY THE WARRANTY EXTENSION AND, I HAVE FOUND ONLINE THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH MANY BMWS, THE LOGICAL CONCLUSION WOULD INDICATE THAT THERE IS A FLAW WITH THE SENSOR ITSELF NOT SPECIFIC TO THE X3 MODEL. IN FACT THE SENSOR HAS NOT YET FAILED IN OUR 2004 X3 THAT HAS OVER 160,000 MILES. THE 2011 328 SENSOR HAD THE SAME EXACT SYMPTOMS WITH A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE FOR THE AIRBAG SYSTEM. I'VE OWNED MANY VEHICLES WITH THIS SAME FEATURE AND HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS. AT THE VERY LEAST A NEW INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE DONE TO DETERMINE WHETHER THIS IS A SERIOUS ISSUE FOR ALL BMW MODELS. I DROVE FOR OVER A YEAR WITH THIS PROBLEM UNTIL I REALIZED IT WAS A SAFETY ISSUE AND THE AIRBAGS MIGHT NOT WORK IF THE SENSOR WAS BROKEN. IT WAS VERY EXPENSIVE TO FIX. MY ONLINE RESEARCH SHOWED THERE MAY ALREADY BE A NHTSA CLAIM RELATED TO THIS. THANK YOU