394K BMWs recalled; air bag inflator may explode WPXI [Video]

BMW is recalling more than a quarter million vehicles after the company said the cars’ air bag inflator may explode.

According to documentation released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the following BMWs are subject to recall:

2006-2011 3 Series Sedan

2006-2012 3 Series Sportswagon

2009-2011 3 Series Sedan

In all, 394,029 vehicles have been recalled.

The cars may have a replacement sport or M-sport steering wheel that has an inflator that can explode when it is deployed. The device is a Takata PSDI-5 inflator. It is not an approved or officially offered replacement part, the NHTSA reported.

The original-equipped inflator, which is not under recall, does not have ammonium nitrate, according to the federal agency.

“As noted in Section 4 of Takata’s Defect Information Report, 16E-005, the Takata PSDI-5 inflator propellant may experience an alteration over time, which could potentially lead to overly aggressive combustion in the event of air bag deployment,” the NHTSA said in the recall issued this week.

Tens of millions of …