BMW recalls nearly 500 cars after a Takata airbag inflator blew up and seriously injured a driver

• BMW is recalling vehicles after a customer's airbag inflator blew up, causing serious injuries.
• The airbag inflator was made by the Japanese firm Takata.
• In the last decade, more than 100 million Takata inflators have been recalled worldwide, Reuters reported.

BMW is recalling nearly 500 SUVs due to fears over the safety of the airbag inflators in the vehicles after a customer suffered serious injuries when one exploded.

A complaint made on October 23 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) claimed that an airbag inflator in a 2014 X3 exploded in Chicago and sent a large piece of metal into the driver's lung, The Associated Press reported.

Shrapnel from the explosion appeared to cause chest and shoulder injuries, while a surgeon also removed a gold-colored disc from the driver's lung, The AP reported.

The recall affects 486 X3, X4, and X5 SUVs from 2014, all of which are equipped with airbags made by Japanese company Takata Corp., the NHTSA said.

More than 30 million of the company's airbags are under investigation by the NHTSA, as they have the potential to explode and injure or kill the driver.

"Long-term exposure to high heat and humidity can cause these air bags to explode when deployed. Such explosions have caused injuries and deaths," the NHTSA says.

In May 2023, BMW issued a "Do Not Drive" warning to another 90,000 vehicles with Takata airbags.

The airbags "have an extremely high probability of failure during a crash. If the inflators rupture, the metal fragments ejected toward the driver's face could kill or leave them with devastating, life-altering injuries, an NHTSA press release on the recall said.

While more than 100 million Takata inflators have been recalled worldwide over the last decade, over 30 million Takata inflators are still under investigation by the NHTSA. Most have not been recalled.

BMW and Takata did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment, which was made outside of normal working hours.