By all accounts, the electric BMW i5 is a very good sedan but it is the subject of a new recall in the United States that impacts a touch under 5,000 examples. The fault is quite a curious one too and involves the control unit used for the external artificial sound generator.
The recall issued through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that during vehicle start-up, the sound generator control unit may not generate the required artificial sound when the vehicle is on the move. This sound is used to alert pedestrians to the car’s presence and means the i5 fails to fully conform to FMVSS 141 Section 5.
BMW says owners of impacted vehicles will not be alerted to the fault. It can be triggered by a communication fault in the CAN bus.
Driven: The BMW i5 M60 xDrive Blends Big Electric Power With Big Luxury
The car manufacturer started testing a host of i5 pre-production vehicles in September about the activation of the external artificial sound generator. The testing procedure ran through until the end of November and covered more than 100,000 miles and BMW discovered that in rare cases, the external artificial sound generator control unit may not properly activate the sound generator.
BMW decided to issue a vehicle stop ship order at the assembly plant responsible for building the i5 on December 8. This order was quickly upgraded to a voluntary non-compliance recall. BMW is not aware of any customer complaints, warranty claims, or field reports related to the fault.
A total of 4,926 vehicles are impacted in the United States. These are all 2024 model year i5 eDrive40 and i5 M60 models that were manufactured between June 26, 2023, and December 14, 2023. Dealers have been instructed to resolve the issue by updating the artificial sound generator software.
