People aren’t buying BMWs for their cupholders, but they do expect them to work as advertised. Apparently, that’s not the case with those fitted to a certain 2020 X7 M50i that cost $113,345 when owner Fang Lin purchased the fullsize SUV on December 28, 2019. A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the German luxury automaker for at least $5 million due to leaking cupholders.
On April 26, 2021, the plaintiff brought the car to a BMW dealer to fix the sun visor as its locking bar had become loose, much like the left rear door edge seal. In addition, the third-row seat lock message came on intermittently. The X7 M50i had only 7,502 miles on the clock and spent two days in the shop to iron out those minor issues.
Fast forward to July 8, 2021, Fang Lin returned at the dealer to fix another problem – “the driver’s restrain system malfunction message came on display.” The premium SUV had 8,388 miles on the odometer at that point and spent another two days at the shop. Here is what the documentation attached to the class action lawsuit says:
“Defendant, through its authorized dealers, was unable and/or failed to repair the Subject Vehicle within a reasonable number of attempts. Plaintiff justifiably lost confidence in the Subject Vehicle’s reliability and said defects have substantially impaired the use, value, and/or safety of the Subject Vehicle to Plaintiff.”
BMW is being accused that the X7’s front cupholders have a design flaw causing water to drip, which eventually reaches the airbag control module located right underneath. In a worst-case scenario, that piece of hardware gets damaged and the airbags can “inadvertently deploy,” according to the class-action lawsuit filed by BrightK Consulting, Inc.
Based on the class-action lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Orange County: “Knowing the truth and motivated by profit and market share, Defendant BMW has knowingly and willfully engaged in the acts and/or omissions to mislead and/or deceive Plaintiff and others similarly situated.”
Hovanes Margarian, the plaintiff’s attorney, believes there are “thousands” of BMW owners in this situation. To date, BMW has refused to fix the issue Fang Lin is having with the X7 M50i and its problematic cupholders despite receiving similar complaints in the past from other owners.
“At all relevant times, BMW has been aware of the herein described defect in the cup holders in the Class Vehicles and has consciously disregarded the rights and safety of Plaintiff, members of the Class, and the general public in that numerous complaints about the cup holder’s inability to hold cups with liquid damaging the SRS Air Bag Control Module in the Class Vehicles have been lodged with BMW.”
[Source: Courthouse News Service, Car Complaints]
Keyword: BMW hit with $5 million lawsuit over leaking cupholders as water can damage airbag parts