Ok… So I discussed this issue with a few friends, and went ahead and called a few stealers and some subcontracted car rental places and BMW of North America.

My first go around resulted in the following information:

1. BMW is offering to give people affected by this recall a rental car for up to $55/day, rented on a per month basis. You have visit a dealer, and sign a bunch of paperwork, and agree that you will not drive your affected car until after it has been repaired.

2. There is no concrete ETA on when the airbag modules will be available, but some of the dealerships are saying that for us (California), it will most likely be 2017, since priority will be given to people in humid climates.

3. No injury/death has occurred in any BMW’s (yet) as a result of this problem. Keyword is yet.

4. There currently is a stop sales on all preowned BMWs affected by this recall. Dealerships are not allowed to sell any preowned BMW with this issue.

#4 has interesting implications for folks planning to do a trade in…

Apparently, Honda and Toyota have a similar thing going on, because the fleet rental agency I called in Carlsbad referred me to the fleet office in Encinitas and Clairemont, because they said the Carlsbad one deals more of the rentals from toyota and honda customers.

So if you are affected by this recall, you have to ask/insist before they give it to you.

Hmm. A free rental until 2017. No maintenance, no repairs on wear and tear items on the rental, unlimited mileage… and if you own multiple cars, you can temporarily stop your insurance on the recalled car that you won’t be driving. (Your insurance policy probably says for a car rental, any policy on any car would cover the rental, like mine does..)….When I have time, I’m going to be calling BMW NA to ask to see if they’ll offer a direct reimbursement to me and/or to see if there’s any comps from #4 as a result of accelerated depreciation…not that I was going to ever trade my car in.