BMW, Mazda cars examined for flaws in power steering

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Mazda Motor Corp. cars are under investigation by the U.S. auto-safety regulator for possible defects that can cause the power steering to fail, raising the risk of a crash.

The BMW Z4 and Mazda3 have been the subject of 140 complaints related to a flaw in the power steering, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today on its website. The probe covering more than 342,000 cars may lead to recalls.

The safety agency is elevating oversight of defects following record recalls of more than 8 million vehicles by Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest carmaker. The auto industry is on alert after Toyota's recalls for defects linked to unintended acceleration, said Bill Visnic, senior editor at Edmunds.com, a research firm in Santa Monica, California.

"Nobody's hanging around waiting on these things," Visnic said. "No one wants to say they let the next unintended acceleration fall through the cracks."

The model year 2007-2009 Mazda3s have had three reported crashes out of 33 complaints and model year 2003-2005 BMW Z4s have had one crash and 107 complaints, NHTSA said.

"We will provide all the information they request and we cooperate with them always at these levels," said Tom Kowaleski, a U.S.-based spokesman for BMW, based in Munich.

Mazda issued a notice to dealers a year ago about the defect, providing instructions for dealing with consumers who complained, spokesman Jeremy Barnes said today in an interview.

"We are aware of the NHTSA concern," said Barnes, who is a U.S. spokesman for Hiroshima, Japan-based Mazda. "We are working hand-in-hand with NHTSA on the investigation."