A small number of the newly released 2023 BMW 7-Series models have been recalled in the United States due to an issue with the Telematics Control Unit.
A recall notice published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that the Telematics Control Unit may not have been programmed correctly by the supplier. As a result, vehicle location information may not be transmitted to an emergency responder call center in the event of an emergency call being made, either manually or triggered automatically after a crash.
BMW notes that while the emergency call function remains functional, the lack of vehicle location information could delay emergency responders in locating the vehicle, potentially increasing the risk for any injured occupants.
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The German car manufacturer first became aware of a potential issue on July 6, 2022 when a 2023 740i was being evaluated during a road test but the vehicle location information was not transmitted to an emergency responder call center. BMW initially didn’t know if the issue was triggered by the cellular network, the electrical architecture and programming of the test vehicle, supplier programming of the ECU, and/or other factors but after more investigations, determined the issue was likely due to supplier programming of the Telematics Control Unit.
Involved in the recall are a total of 116 BMW 740i and 760i xDrive models produced between September 8, 2022 and October 1, 2022, as well as 53 examples of the 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 built between September 8, 2022 and October 13, 2022.
BMW is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue. Dealers were notified of the recall on November 21, 2022 and fortunately, none of the impacted vehicles have been delivered to customers. The issue will be resolved through a simple update of the Telematics Control Unit.
