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-   -   Mahindra XUV500 recalled for side airbag software upgrade (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/160834-mahindra-xuv500-recalled-side-airbag-software-upgrade.html)

Mahindra & Mahindra have issued a recall for the XUV500 SUV. The recall concerns vehicles manufactured on or before July 2014. According to the official statement, the units are being given a side airbag software upgrade. The upgrade will be carried out free of cost for customers who will be individually contacted by the company. This upgrade will be limited only to a software change and no parts will be replaced.

Customers can also visit the ‘Service Action’ section of the website and check whether their vehicle is part of the service action.

Since it's a software upgrade only for side airbags, I assume only W8 variants would be affected. Right?

Cheers,
Vikram

I received SMS for software Upgrade. Mine is NOV-2013 Manufactured.

And interestingly, the Service Action website shows the variant option as W4 also !
EDIT: I guess it is for other recalls (if needed).



The W4 & W6 variants indeed do not have side/curtain airbags !
So this is only for W8 variants.

Mine is November 2013 make. Yes, I received a message a few minutes back.



I got it confirmed in the service action page of Mahindra XUV 500.

May I request a few W6 owners to please check if their vehicles are included in the recall?
I am aware that W6 does not have side-airbags and therefore should not be affected by this recall. BUT, a fellow W6 owner has already confirmed that his vehicle is part of this recall. So just want to check if his was a one off case (may be a mistake), or there is something that M&M is not telling the owners.

I just got an sms SDP for this service but not sure what it is for.

As per the details on the Service Action page, "There is a possibility of an intermittent fault code that might inhibit deployment of the side curtain airbag."

Yours is which variant? W6 or W8? IIRC, yours is W6.

Yes you are right. Mine is w6. So can they ADD side curtains airbag in my w6 :)

There is something fishy about this recall. There is more to this than meets the eye.

How can they recall W6 models for a "Side airbag related software upgrade" when W6 doesnt even have side airbags?

Nitin, do us a favour please. Call your RM and ask the above question to your RM.

An answer on the service action FAQs regarding all variants. So this software update is not limited to only W8 and AWD.

"Since the software architecture is common, we are upgrading the software across all variants including W8, W6 & W4 so that your vehicle will have the latest version."

I have a W4, and received the message today morning. Got the 'software update' done in the afternoon.Service centre guys called it a minor software update.
I think they may have remapped the ECU, the low end power delivery since the update has improved steeply.

Is it common for automakers to mask actual issues(which may lead to not so positive word of mouth) under the pretext of minor updates?

Just got a call from GM of Koncept Mahindra (Kapil) and he informed me that my vehicle is included in this service. Its just a software update which is common for all variants hence W6 (which doesn't have side airbags) are also included.

Also to clear the air about power being increased due to this update is False. There is no connection bewteen these two. This was confirmed by Kapil. So please don't get excited that your XUV will become a super sonic jet, it will remain a Cheetah. :D

A fellow XUV owner and a BHPian spoke to a M&M representative and was told that software is same for all airbag deployments and the current software update is for better airbag deployment.

So my personal take on this recall is that, it affects all airbags and therefore all W8/W6/W4 are included in the recall. Speaking about "side airbags" is most likely an attempt to underplay the criticality and thereby to control the noise and negative-publicity associated with any recall in India.

A massive recall puts tremendous pressure on the service center infrastructure. It also involves cost to M&M as the service centers would eventually charge back the cost to M&M, for applying the service-action to each vehicle. So I don't believe, M&M is recaling W6 and W4 models and incurring costs just so that the owners can have the latest software which by the way does not have ANY impact to their vehicles (as they don't have side airbags). If this wasn't important AND applicable to all models, Mahindras could have easily waited for the W6/W4s to come in for next service and then apply the patch.

Another grouse that I have with M&M is the sheer amount of time they waste after understanding a problem and finding a solution. e.g. in this case, all vehicles from July'2014 onwards already have the updated software which is so critical to warrant a recall. Then why did M&M wait for 6 months for initiating the recall? Last time when I asked this question, the answer was ...parts involved in recall need to be manufactured by vendors and stocked by the dealers in adequate numbers so that there is no supply issue when the recall is announced. In this case, even that excuse is not valid as its a piece of software code that we are talking about.

Agree with SDP here, we can definitely conclude that the recall concerns all the three models and is most probably not about side airbags - the issue in question may be front airbags, or in my opinion, even ECU remapping leading to increase in low end power/torque delivery as a positive by-effect.