Another malfunction in Takata airbags

DETROIT — BMW is telling owners of some older 3-series cars to stop driving them after another recall of dangerous Takata airbag inflators.

A driver in Australia was killed by an airbag malfunction, while another Australian and a driver in Cyprus were injured, according to government documents.

The recently discovered malfunction is different than the defect that led to at least 24 deaths and hundreds of injuries worldwide, though the result, like the earlier issue, also results in airbags that can explode and hurl shrapnel, killing or injuring people. The company is adding about 1.4 million front driver inflators to recalls in the U.S., according to government documents posted Wednesday.

Included are more than 116,000 BMW 3-Series cars from the 1999 to 2001 model years. About 8,000 definitely have faulty inflators and should be parked, BMW said.

In addition, certain Audi, Honda, Toyota and Mitsubishi vehicles made from 1995 to 2000 also are being recalled,.

Unlike previous recalls, the Takata non-azide inflators do not use volatile ammonium nitrate to fill the air bags in a crash. But the air bag propellant can still deteriorate over time when exposed to moisture and explode too fast, blowing apart the inflator body. They also might not fully inflate to protect people in a crash.

Toyota and Honda said they’re still figuring out which models will have to be recalled. U.S. safety regulators said they were told by Mitsubishi that the only U.S. vehicle affected is the 1998 through 2000 Montero.

In a prepared statement, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration urged owners to search for recalls by entering their vehicle identification number at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ recalls.