A software fault inside the body control module can shut off the ignition of nearly 50,000 Volkswagen Tiguans while they are being driven, taking the airbags, power steering assist and exterior lights down with it. Volkswagen traced the defect to 2025 model year Tiguans built between March 24 and August 30, 2025, and filed the recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as campaign 26V587. Notification letters are scheduled to reach owners by mail on November 6.
Volkswagen dealers were notified of the fix on September 18, and no crashes, injuries or warranty claims tied to the defect have been reported to date. The Tiguan is one of Volkswagen’s best-selling U.S. models, and the recalled build window covers roughly the vehicle’s entire first five months of 2025 production.
A body control module glitch cuts the ignition mid-drive
The root of the problem sits in a component called the FCCU manager inside the body control module, which was configured incorrectly and can misinterpret routine error-correcting code errors as a signal to reset the module. According to NHTSA’s recall report, “a software issue may cause the Body Control Module (BCM) to reset unexpectedly while the vehicle is being driven,” and when that reset happens, the ignition itself can shut off along with it. There is no dashboard warning that precedes the reset and no diagnostic trouble code specific to the failure, meaning a driver would have no notice before losing power. NHTSA’s report describes the fault as intermittent rather than tied to any particular speed, road condition or driving style, which is part of why Volkswagen could not narrow the recall to a smaller subset of the production run.
Volkswagen put the number of potentially affected U.S. vehicles at 49,958 units, all 2025 Tiguans built during the five-month window before the company corrected the issue on its production line. The affected body control modules were supplied by Continental and run software versions 0324 or 0325.
Airbags, steering and lights go dark together
Because the body control module manages so many of the Tiguan’s systems, a single reset does not just kill the engine. NHTSA’s report says the ignition shutdown can also disable power steering assist, exterior lighting, dashboard warning indicators and the rearview camera in the same moment, which is why the agency treats a defect that sounds like a stall as a crash risk instead. A driver who loses power steering and lighting at highway speed, with no airbags standing by if the situation ends in a collision, faces a materially different risk than one whose car simply stalls in a driveway.
Volkswagen traced the problem back to January 2025, when a test vehicle’s ignition switched off unexpectedly during evaluation. The company’s investigation later found the same fault surfacing in other markets, and it opened a U.S. recall as a precaution even though it could not fully rule out the error occurring domestically. It is the Tiguan’s use of a specific body control module software variant, not shared with other Volkswagen models, that confines the recall to that one nameplate; the automaker’s last major U.S. recall, in July 2025, covered roughly 58,000 Atlas and Atlas Sport SUVs over backup cameras that intermittently failed to display video, an unrelated defect traced to low-voltage conditions rather than a software reset.
Between the two recalls, Volkswagen has now pulled back more than 100,000 U.S. vehicles inside about fourteen months, though the company has not framed either defect as connected to the other, and the fixes involve entirely different components and suppliers.
A fix already in production, a notice still months away
Volkswagen corrected the defect on its production line during the 36th calendar week of 2025, roughly the start of September, meaning Tiguans built after that point should already carry the fixed software. For vehicles built earlier, in the affected March-to-August window, dealers will install a free update to body control module software version 0326 or newer, a job that does not require replacing any hardware.
Owners do not need to wait for the mailed notice to act. CarComplaints reports the recall is filed under Volkswagen’s internal number 57KL, and owners can call the automaker at 800-893-5298 now to confirm eligibility and schedule the software update, rather than waiting until the November 6 letter arrives. Volkswagen has also told owners they can look up their vehicle by its 17-character VIN on NHTSA’s recall website to check eligibility immediately, without needing the campaign number or a dealer visit first.
Kelley Blue Book’s review of the recall notes that Volkswagen dealers will update the body control module free of charge regardless of a vehicle’s warranty status, and that the company has confirmed no accidents or injuries have surfaced in connection with the defect since the investigation opened. Until the update is installed, the defect can recur on any given drive, with no dashboard warning to tell a driver a reset is about to happen.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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