BMW has another headache in China — and the scale keeps growing. The company has widened two existing starter campaigns, with another 150,858 vehicles due for free repairs from October 30, 2026. The twist is that two completely different defects sit behind similar symptoms. Their worst-case outcome is much the same, though: localized overheating and a risk of fire. The details were published by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, SAMR.
The biggest hit falls on imported BMWs. Campaign S2026M0091V covers 93,071 examples of the 2, 4, 5 and 6 Series, plus the X4, X5, X6 and Z4, built from February 22, 2021 to April 29, 2025. The cause is premature internal starter wear after repeated engine starts. At first, the car may simply become harder to start. In the worst case, however, an internal short circuit can lead to localized overheating and fire. The new action expands a recall announced on March 11, 2026 that already covered 147,830 imported BMWs.
Another 57,787 cars face a different scenario. Campaign S2026M0092V covers 57,423 China-built BMW 5 Series cars produced from December 11, 2017 to August 28, 2020, while S2026M0093V covers 364 imported BMW 7 Series cars built from June 29, 2016 to January 18, 2018. Here the culprit is not wear but insufficient moisture protection for the starter relay. When cars pass through flooded areas, water can enter the relay, causing circuit corrosion and a short circuit. In the worst case the starter may overheat, once again creating a real fire risk. This branch expands a separate recall announced on November 14, 2025.
The fix is the same for all three starter groups — BMW will install an upgraded starter free of charge. But the same SAMR notice also lists another 218 BMW and MINI vehicles, and they should not be mixed into this starter story. Campaigns S2026M0094V and S2026M0095V cover 157 China-built and 61 imported vehicles. Errors during earlier repairs or software loading may have prevented diagnostic software from being updated to the required version. As a result, the system might fail to warn the driver about a potential fault in the integrated DSCi brake booster. The software will now be reinstalled free of charge.
So what happens next? The main wave starts on October 30, 2026. BMW will notify owners by registered mail and ConnectedDrive messages, after which affected cars can receive a free starter replacement. The fact that BMW has had to widen already announced campaigns again says plenty: the original boundaries of the potentially affected fleet were not broad enough.
The official SAMR numbers for the starter campaigns are S2026M0091V, S2026M0092V and S2026M0093V. All three begin on October 30, 2026, and the remedy is a free replacement of the starter with an upgraded unit. Owners will be contacted by registered mail and through ConnectedDrive; further details are also available from BMW’s service hotline at 400-800-6666.
