NHTSA Complaint #11513083 — 2001 BMW 540I

The contact owns a 2001 BMW 540I. The contact stated that the dealer had previously performed an unknown air bag recall repair; however, the failure occurred a year after the recall repair was performed. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and turned off, an explosion was heard. The contact entered the vehicle and noticed that the passenger's side air bag had deployed, which shattered the front windshield. The air bag and an unknown warning light were illuminated. The driver's side air bag deployed a month later. The contact stated that there was no impact to the vehicle that could have caused the air bags to deploy. Additionally, the vehicle made an abnormal sound after it was turned off. The vehicle also needed to be jumpstarted daily due to the battery failing to retain a charge. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.