A class-action lawsuit has been filed against BMW in the United States alleging that liquid spilled in the cupholders can leak through the center console, mess with the electronics and trigger the airbags.
The complaint was recently filed in a U.S. District Court in Orange County, California. It is claimed that if liquid is spilled into the cup holder, wires for the SRS airbag control module sitting directly underneath the cup holder can get wet and damaged. This can apparently trigger the airbags or result in other electronic issues.
The lawsuit states that a number of BMW models suffer from the issue and takes particular aim at the 2020 X7 M50i SUV. The Drive notes that the lawsuit also cites a number of different cases posted by BMW owners to the Bimmerpost forum. In one case, an X7 owner claims the issue led to a $2,900 repair bill.
Read Also: BMW’s New X7 Special Edition For The UAE Comes With Its Very Own Scent
“Placed a soft drink in Cup Holders of a 2020 BMW X7,” the forum user posted. “The lid was not on well and some of the soda spilled onto the gearshift center console. Not much, the cup did not come out of the cup holders or anything like that just some spilled as driving… the soda was still 95% full in the cup. But… car goes into emergency stop in the left lane of highway and unable to drive. Goes into Park and won’t shift into drive or reverse and dash says bring to dealer immediately. Car gets towed to BMW and tech tells me the liquid damaged a part under the gear shift… cost to fix $2900.00 and not covered by warranty.”
The plaintiff’s attorney, Hovanes Margarian, claims that thousands of other BMW models suffer from the same problem.
“We believe there are thousands of vehicles which have this same design, which is defective,” Margarian said. “The way it is arranged the cars are prone to malfunction when either there is a spill in the cupholder or condensation on the cup.”
BMW has not yet commented on the lawsuit.
