BMW Sued by Burn Victim After Delayed X3 Recall Fix Turns Deadly
A delayed recall fix can be highly frustrating, and the knowledge that you’re driving around in a vehicle that could fail at any time is sobering, but for one couple, what might have been no more than an inconvenience turned tragic. According to a new lawsuit, a fire in the engine bay of a 2016 BMW X3 xDrive28i led to a couple’s house catching fire, causing the death of their pets and injuries to themselves, which the husband never recovered from, reports CarComplaints.com. The widowed plaintiff alleges that this all happened because BMW did not address a recalled water pump issue soon enough.
The Course of Events That Led to a Deadly Fire
BMW
The lawsuit was filed by Jennifer Lea Higdon in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta division), contending that on January 22, 2025, at around 9 AM, she started her X3 to let it warm up in the cold weather before returning inside the house to retrieve her purse. When she returned to her vehicle, she allegedly saw fire emanating from the engine compartment and, minutes later, “a fireball erupted from the car,” spreading to the house. When firefighters arrived on the scene, she and her husband, Timothy Sean Higdon, were still inside trying to save their three dogs and two cats, but the pets, sadly, died in the house fire. When the family emerged, they had burns on their hands and faces and were so badly burned that they had to be life-flighted to the Grady Burn Center in Atlanta, 100 miles away.
Related: Park It Outside: BMW Issues Recall After Cars Catch Fire While Off
“As a result of the fire, Jennifer Higdon sustained major full-thickness burns covering 16% of her total body surface area, including her hands, wrists, face, eyelids, ears, neck, upper back, and shoulders,” reads the lawsuit. “She also experienced corneal abrasions and inhalation burn injuries that required immediate intubation.” She has scars over her upper body and donor scars on her thigh from skin grafting, too. But things were worse for her husband, who tragically died in June 2025 with the medical examiner noting that “a house fire less than a year ago” was among the “significant conditions contributing to death.”
Why Higdon Blames BMW for the Tragedy
BMW
The lawsuit says that the state fire marshal concluded the fire originated in the engine compartment of the BMW parked outside the couple’s home, and although the suit doesn’t specifically say that officials determined this engine bay fire was caused by a faulty water pump, the lawsuit contends that it was the cause. In August last year, BMW recalled more than 720,000 vehicles for water pumps that could lead to a fire, but at the time, a remedy was unavailable. BMW issued interim notices to customers in October 2024, and although the manufacturer was aware of at least 18 instances of the water pump issue, owners were not told to stop driving their vehicles. Worse still, the lawsuit alleges that Remedy is Available recall letters were not mailed until October 2025, though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says they were sent in March 2025. Either way, the remedy came too late for the Higdons, and Jennifer blames BMW for not immediately repairing or replacing the water pump.
