German luxury vehicles manufacturer BMW has confirmed that it is recalling thousands of i4 and iX EVs in the U.S. to fix a glitch in their noise generators. The US auto safety watchdog National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires modern EVs to have noise-generating device, so that pedestrians can hear them coming their way, thus circumventing accidents. Some of BMW EVs, including the i4 eDrive40 and iX xDrive50 SUV, have problems with their noise generators.

Admitting that some of its EVs’ noise generators might malfunction, BMW has issued a recall for more than three thousand units of the i4 eDrive40 and iX xDrive50 SUV. More precisely, the German manufacturer is recalling 1,988 units of i4 eDrive40 and 1,442 units of the iX xDrive50 SUVs manufactured between 2022 and 2023. Thus, a total of 3,431 EVs are being recalled by the company.

Normally, manufacturers fit their EVs with a sound generator to generate a buzzing noise, especially when driving at low speeds. Depending on the manufacturer, the system is essentially a front-mounted speaker that generates anything ranging from white noise to a whir or a buzz.

In the aforementioned recalled EVs, the sound generator activates when backing up might fail. The company states that it might sporadically experience a fault condition. In simple words, the beeping and humming might not play when reversing.

The glitch was discovered by the company at one of its manufacturing facilities during quality control checking, which prompted it to make a full analysis to detect the affected models. It came to the conclusion that only the eDrive40 variant of the i4 and the xDrive50 variant of the iX might be suffering from the fault.

The BMW i4 eDrive40 comes equipped with a single rear-mounted electric motor capable of churning out 335 hp and a single battery that promises a range of around 300 miles on a single charge. The iX xDrive50 SUV boasts dual-motor all-wheel drive (AWD) system capable of producing up to 516 hp, as well as a 111.5-kWh battery that delivers an estimated range of up to 324 miles.

Owners of the affected EVs will soon start receiving notices, asking them to schedule a service appointment for their vehicles at authorized dealerships. The manufacturer will rectify the affected vehicles by simply updating the software.