Consumer Federation of California

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Washington — Under government pressure, BMW AG agreed on Monday to expand its recall of vehicles with possible defective driver-side air bags by 140,000 3 Series cars from model years 2004-06.

BMW becomes the last of five automakers to expand Takata driver-side recalls after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration demanded the action Nov. 18.

“A small number of such cases in certain areas of the U.S. have been reported,” BMW said in a statement. “None of the reported cases involve BMW vehicles. Nonetheless, the company will cooperate fully with NHTSA by replacing the driver-side front air bag.”

BMW spokesman Dave Buchko said the callback includes all the vehicles NHTSA had sought.

The automaker already had recalled about 11,000 cars with driver-side Takata air bags in high-humidity states.

“All five affected automakers have agreed to conduct a national recall of defective driver’s side air bags made by Takata at our request,” David Friedman, NHTSA deputy administrator. “BMW notified us today of their intent and we’re reviewing their official filing to ensure that it captures all affected models and years.”-

Automakers have now recalled in total more than 61 million vehicles in 2014, more than doubling the previous record of 30.8 million vehicles called back in 2004. Leading all automakers is General Motors Co., which has recalled more than 30 million vehicles this year, including more than 26 million in the United States.

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Tags: Auto Safety