Airbag recall previously "done" but old airbag still in place.

[scubastove]

This one might sound a bit silly, but going through the service records of my car I see the driver's side airbag recall was "done" in early 2019 under previous ownership. Upon glancing at the steering wheel/airbag/horn, it looks like the airbag was never truly replaced- there are no holes behind the wheel where a screwdriver would have to break into to release the airbag module. On top of that, the airbag module itself generally looks like it's from 2002, it's well-worn and the BMW logo has some patina (and definitely does not look new).

I brought the car to BMW a few weeks ago for them to take care of the passenger side recall, and brought this up to them but they said that "by law the car couldn't have been returned to the owner without having the recall taken place".

I think it was marked in the books as complete, but the job was never done to my car. Do I have any recourse here to have BMW actually replace the unit? When I brought it up to the service manager he basically dismissed it because it was marked as completed in their system.

Thanks!

[heinzboehmer]

If I remember correctly, there's a manufacture date on the back of the airbag. If I were in your position, I would remove it and check that. If it's not from around when the dealer claims to have changed it, then the recall wasn't completed.

BTW, this is what the original 02 airbag looked like in my car the day after I bought it:



If yours was replaced about a year ago and looks worn, there's a big chance that it actually wasn't replaced.

[ATB88]

I guess the question is: couldn’t the dealer just claim that the PO swapped out the new airbag they installed for an old one?

[scubastove]

If I remember correctly, there's a manufacture date on the back of the airbag. If I were in your position, I would remove it and check that. If it's not from around when the dealer claims to have changed it, then the recall wasn't completed.

BTW, this is what the original 02 airbag looked like in my car the day after I bought it:



If yours was replaced about a year ago and looks worn, there's a big chance that it actually wasn't replaced.

So I just got off the phone with one of the dealerships I take the car to, they said the recall was initially an inspection at first, and if the BMW tech deemed the airbag needed to be replaced, they replaced the unit. So from what I understand, not all vehicles were affected by this? Or they were? I really don't know, all I know is that in the event of a collision (knock on wood) I still don't feel safe with that airbag from 2002.

[Arith2]

So I just got off the phone with one of the dealerships I take the car to, they said the recall was initially an inspection at first, and if the BMW tech deemed the airbag needed to be replaced, they replaced the unit. So from what I understand, not all vehicles were affected by this? Or they were? I really don't know, all I know is that in the event of a collision (knock on wood) I still don't feel safe with that airbag from 2002.

Not all were "affected". I read the TSB on it. I wouldn't trust it either but the good news is no one actually died from the issue, just took a few shards of molting metal to the face.

[scubastove]

just took a few shards of molting metal to the face.

Sounds awful. Thanks!