The list of recalls continues to lengthen as two German automakers – BMW and Mercedes-Benz – issued recalls for separate problems on more than 400,000 vehicles.
BMW is recalling 156,000 cars due to issues with aluminum bolts that secure the housing for the variable camshaft timing adjustment unit can loosen over time and may break and could cause stalling.
The action covers the 2010-12 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series Gran Turismo and X3, X5, X6 and Z4 along with the 2011-2012 5 Series and 2012 6 Series vehicles. Additionally, BMW is extending the warranties for another 170,000 inline six-cylinder 2010-12 vehicles, which are not covered in the recall, to address similar problems if they arise. The vehicles were built between September 2009 and February 2012.
BMW said in 2011 that it first had 12 warranty claims in the United States related to the camshaft unit. BMW has no reports of crashes or injuries linked to the problem in the U.S.
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Mercedes-Benz is recalling about 253,000 vehicles to tackle tail light problems with 2007-2011 models, including the C300, C350, C63. The maker noted due to a grounding problem, the tail lights may dim or fail during use, resulting in a failure to alert other drivers the car is slowing down or stopping, increasing the possibility of a crash.
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The automaker plans to notify owners in June of the issue while the parts will arrive at dealers in August or September. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) started an investigation last year, which was upgraded to an engineering analysis.
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After NHTSA asked for more information last month, Mercedes-Benz opted to issue the recall, according to the Detroit News. NHTSA had reports of more than 400 complaints, five crashes and one injury. Mercedes-Benz received more than 23,000 warranty claims related to the issue.
