[MoFex]

WASHINGTON -- Federal safety officials are investigating whether more than 300,000 BMWs should be recalled to repair advanced airbags.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is reviewing various 2004-06 BMW models because the sensing system for the front passenger’s front-impact airbag may malfunction.

Federal regulation requires advanced airbags. Their deployments are supposed to be tailored to the severity of a crash and the type of passenger present, mainly to prevent inadvertent injuries to children and small adults.

But NHTSA says the BMW airbags may be turned off when they should not be.

The agency said today that it and BMW together have collected more than 700 complaints about the sensing system. BMW also has recorded more than 23,000 possibly related warranty claims, according to a document on NHTSA’s Web site.

NHTSA said BMW introduced a revised sensor mat for the passenger seat in December 2005. BMW issued a technical service bulletin about the airbags in June 2006.