BMW Recalls 1.5 Million Cars Over Braking Issue

BMW is recalling 1.5 million vehicles worldwide across its three-brand lineup over a braking system issue, including 270,000 cars in the United States. The recall impacts selected cars built since August of 2022, including the BMW 5-Series and 7-Series, the Rolls-Royce Spectre, two Mini variants, and multiple BMW crossovers.

The issue is an integrated braking system built by auto supplier Continental, which can apparently malfunction. If the system does fail, BMW tells the Associated Press that impacted cars would still be well able to comply with legal braking standards due to a back-up "safe mode." The entire impacted system can be replaced if failures do occur, although not every car affected by the recall will necessarily need the system changed out.

Since the problem reaches many cars built as recently as August of 2024, some cars still on dealer lots will be impacted by the recall; BMW says roughly 320,000 vehicles remain in the company's hands. That will slow deliveries in the immediate future, compounding preexisting sales concerns for the company: the brand is now predicting a decrease in year-on-year deliveries for this year, after previously projecting an increase.

BMW projects costs of in the "high three-digit million" euro range, making the recall a particularly expensive issue. Continental, also using the apparently universal digit-based financial estimation system, is planning for "mid-double digit million" Euros in costs related to warranty claims. In part due to the news, shares of BMW are trading nearly 14% lower than they were five days ago as of this story's publication. Continental's stock has been hit even harder, down 16% over the same period of time.

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