BMW: Huge recall and profit warning due to defective Conti brakes

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Volkswagen is not the only one producing bad news: BMW has now had to issue a profit warning due to the problems with its brake-by-wire braking systems that have persisted since the beginning of the year. The company will probably have to repair far more vehicles with the brake system from supplier Continental than initially assumed. It was installed in over one and a half million vehicles, but only a fraction of them are affected. This concerns vehicles of all drive types, including electric cars. A delivery ban applies to around 100,000 BMWs that have already been completed.

Diagnostic program comes OTA

So that not all potentially affected parts have to be replaced, the fault is to be found with the help of a diagnostic program from the supplier, which is installed as an over-the-air update via the wireless interface. Only if defects are detected will customers be asked to visit the workshop with the help of an error message on the display. Continental expects two percent of all vehicles to be affected, BMW fears more.

When the problem became known in March, around 80,000 vehicles were affected by a recall in the USA and 47,000 in Europe, with damages already amounting to 400 million euros. The recall has now been extended to China. As in the USA, the authorities there are demanding the replacement of the entire brake system and are not satisfied with a repair. This is likely to significantly increase the financial damage.

Driving assistance affected

The ABS (anti-lock braking system) and ESP, which is responsible for lane stability and marketed by BMW under the name "DSC", can fail in the cars. As BMW does not install fully electromechanical braking systems, a total failure of the braking function should be impossible. A hydraulic fallback level is available.

Instead of the expected slight increase, the car manufacturer sees a slight decrease, and its profit margin could fall from between eight and ten percent to just six to seven percent. BMW must therefore now inform its shareholders. In response to this announcement, the stock market punished BMW shares with a drop of nine percent and also pulled down those of VW and Mercedes by around three percent, while those of the supplier Continental lost almost ten percent on Tuesday afternoon.

The BMW brand installs the Brake-By-Wire braking systems in the following models:

• 2 Series Active Tourer (test)
• X1, X2 and XM
• X5, X5X and X6 after the latest model update
• 5 Series Sedan (test) and Touring
• 7 Series Sedan (test)

However, Mini with Cooper SE and Countryman as well as Rolls-Royce models are also affected.

Dry faster

Brake-By-Wire ("BBW") is advertised with the claim that the brakes respond faster or more sensitively without the inertia of the hydraulic components ("dry") because they are actuated directly by control signal and electric actuators. Ironically, however, modern BBWs now rely on hydraulic elements again. In electric cars, a BBW system is intended to make the transition from recuperative to friction braking easier. Not least in connection with automated driving, suppliers are repeatedly bringing BBW into play.

(fpi)