Airbag safety warning for around 300,000 Audi, BMW and Skoda cars in Spain

The OCU consumer group has detailed all the models affected by the recall notice

Raquel Merino

Malaga

Monday, 17 April 2023, 11:57

Spain’s organisation of consumers and users (OCU) has learned through the European Union's Rapid Alert Service of a safety issue that affects several car models from the well-known manufacturers Audi, BMW and Skoda. In Spain alone, the OCU estimates that there may be some 300,000 affected vehicles.

The safety problem is found in the models that incorporate airbags manufactured by Takata brand in specific years. As the OCU explained, the problem is that, over time, the airbag parts can deteriorate. This can cause excessive internal pressure if deployed, which could cause the body of the airbag to burst, allowing metal fragments to penetrate the cushion material and injure vehicle occupants.

These are the affected cars

Audi

Audi A4, S4, A4 Cabriolet, S4 Cabriolet, RS4, RS4 Cabriolet, Audi A6, S6, A6 Allroad Quattro and RS6 built between 23 February 2004 and August 2011.

Audi A5, Q5, Q5 Hybrid, SQ5 TDI, SQ5 TDI plus built between 13 September 2008 and 26 November 2012.

TTS Coupe, TT Coupe, TTS Roadster, TT Roadster, TT RS Coupe, TT RS Roadster, R8 Coupe, R8 Spyder built between 3 September 2014 and 11 February 2017.

BMW

The same problem has been detected in the airbags of BMW vehicles of almost the entire range (BMW1, BMW 2, BMW 2 Active Tourer/Gran Tourer, BMW 3, BMW 4, BMW 5, BMW 6, BMW X1, X3, X4 , X5, X6 and the BMW M2, M3, M4, X5M) manufactured between February 2012 and 28 December 2014.

BMW

Skoda Citigo, Roomster, Fabia II, Fabia III, Rapid, Yeti, Kodiaq, Octavia III, Superb II, Superb III models manufactured between 1 June , 2012 and 15 December, 2017.

The OCU said that Audi, BMW and Skoda themselves are taking charge of alerting users with these vehicles to replace the dangerous airbag. However, it advises drivers who have one of them to contact the relevant after-sales service departments of the manufacturer where they will indicate the steps to follow.