Bmw 540i, Bmw 540i Xdrive, Bmw 750e Xdrive, Bmw 840i, Bmw 840i Xdrive, Bmw M550i, model years 2021 to 2026. Filed by BMW of North America, LLC and reported to NHTSA on 12 August 2026. 27,720 vehicles potentially affected.
What the notice says BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2022-2026 840i, 840i xDrive, 2021-2023 540i, 540i xDrive, M550i xDrive, and 2024-2026 750e xDrive vehicles. The connection between the driveshaft and the rear differential may become damaged, possibly resulting in a loss of power to the rear wheels or a vehicle …
Is your vehicle included? Check with your VIN at NHTSA, or ask a dealer. This page is an independent copy of the notice, kept so you can see what changed after it was published. It is not the authority, and the authority’s own text is the one to act on.
What owners ask about this recall
- Which vehicles does recall 26V525 cover?
- BMW 540I, BMW 540I Xdrive, BMW 750E Xdrive, BMW 840I, BMW 840I Xdrive, BMW M550I, model years 2021-2026.
- What is wrong with them?
- BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2022-2026 840i, 840i xDrive, 2021-2023 540i, 540i xDrive, M550i xDrive, and 2024-2026 750e xDrive vehicles.
- What can happen if it is not put right?
- An unexpected loss of drive power can increase the risk of a crash. In addition, a damaged driveshaft can result in a vehicle rollaway if the parking brake is not applied, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
- Is there a fix yet?
- Yes, and it is free. Dealers will inspect the connection between the driveshaft and rear axle differential, and apply adhesive or replace the driveshaft and rear axle differential, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed October 2, 2026.
- What should I do now?
- Check your own vehicle by its VIN with NHTSA, which is the record to act on.
Answered from the register this site holds. NHTSA is the record to act on.
What the authority says can happen if this is not fixed: “An unexpected loss of drive power can increase the risk of a crash. In addition, a damaged driveshaft can result in a vehicle rollaway if the parking brake is not applied, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.”
affected
in the notice
caught
| Campaign | 26V525 |
|---|---|
| Filed by | BMW of North America, LLC |
| System at fault | Power Train:Driveline:Driveshaft |
| Reported to NHTSA | 12 August 2026 |
| Model years | 2021-2026 |
| Vehicles named | BMW 540I, BMW 540I XDRIVE, BMW 750E XDRIVE, BMW 840I, BMW 840I XDRIVE, BMW M550I |
What the notice says today
The defect
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2022-2026 840i, 840i xDrive, 2021-2023 540i, 540i xDrive, M550i xDrive, and 2024-2026 750e xDrive vehicles. The connection between the driveshaft and the rear differential may become damaged, possibly resulting in a loss of power to the rear wheels or a vehicle rollaway.
The consequence
An unexpected loss of drive power can increase the risk of a crash. In addition, a damaged driveshaft can result in a vehicle rollaway if the parking brake is not applied, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect the connection between the driveshaft and rear axle differential, and apply adhesive or replace the driveshaft and rear axle differential, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed October 2, 2026. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning October 2, 2026.
What it said before
Nothing has changed while we have been watching. We last read the wording of this campaign on 17 September 2026, and it matched the copy we already held.
That copy hashes to 843560db3e9ab43cd2da7cb37165d03b…, so if it is ever edited the change is provable rather than a matter of memory.
This is one of 816 notices in the record whose component field names power train. Across that group the median wait before owners were written to was 42 days.
Last checked . No change has been recorded in the wording.
The models named here, across their whole recall history
- BMW 540i recalls: 11 US campaigns
- BMW 540i Xdrive recalls: 4 US campaigns
- BMW 750e Xdrive recalls: 6 US campaigns
- BMW 840i recalls: 9 US campaigns
- BMW M550i recalls: 4 US campaigns
How to cite this record
Quoting the wording on this page means quoting a version, so the date belongs in the citation:
CarsMultiverse, recall 26V525, wording as read on 17 September 2026. https://carsmultiverse.com/recall/26v525/
The copy quoted above hashes to 843560db3e9ab43cd2da7cb37165d03b…. If the notice is reworded later, that fingerprint will not match, which is how a reader checks that the quotation was of the version we say it was.
The cross-border matches used on this site are deposited as a citable dataset: doi:10.5281/zenodo.22087136. The recall wording itself is published by the national authority named above and is theirs, not ours.
The recall record and its wording are published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and are US Government public domain. The dated archive, the comparison and any before-and-after above are CarsMultiverse. How fresh every engine behind this page is, is public on the status page. To check a specific vehicle, use NHTSA’s own VIN lookup.
Other BMW notices we hold
- 26V524: 2024-2026 X3 sDrive30i, X3 30 xDrive, and X3 M50 xDrive
- 26V478: 2024 S 1000 RR US, and 2020-2026 S 1000 RR motorcycles
- 26V441: 2018-2020 530e xDrive, 2017-2019 740Le xDrive, 2018-2020 530e iPerformance, 2016-2018 330e iPerformance
- 26V305: 2017-2018 C Evolution motorcycles
- 26V214: 2017-2025 K 1600 GT, GTL, B and 2018-2025 Grand America
- 26V115: one 2026 S 1000 RR motorcycle
- 26V096: 2025 M5 Sportswagon, 2025-2026 M5, 2024-2025 750e xDrive, 2025-2026 550e xDrive, 2023-2025 I7, 2023-2025 7 Series, 2024-2026 i5, and 5 Series
- 26V064: 2026 228i Gran Coupe, 228i xDrive Gran Coupe, and M235i xDrive Gran Coupe
All 328 BMW campaigns we hold · Every manufacturer in the record
The fingerprint of this notice
We take a SHA-256 of each of the three blocks of text the authority publishes and keep the first eight characters. As we last read campaign 26V525 on 23 August 2026, they were:
- Defect summary
56d75881 - Consequence
b9e58eac - Remedy
ee639ccb
We first read this notice on 21 August 2026. It has not moved since. If it ever does, these characters will not match, and the change will be dated here.
The wording we hold for 26V525 · how the whole register is watched
This notice names one vehicle among several registers that have written about it. Every notice this site holds for the BMW 540i Xdrive, in all seven, is kept on that vehicle's own page, with the newest in each.
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Owners of these cars
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