BMW has expanded a recall of its diesel-powered cars, with 268,000 UK examples affected.
The fault in question is a potential glycol leakage from the exhaust gas recirculation cooler, which – combined with soot deposits – may result in smouldering particles. BMW says “in very rare cases” this can lead to the intake manifold melting and “in extremely rare cases” cause a fire to break out.
The recall only applies to diesel-engined cars, and affects examples of the 3 Series, 4 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, X3, X4, X5 and X6 with four-cylinder units produced between December 2014 and August 2016. The same cars produced between July 2012 and June 2015 and fitted with a six-cylinder diesel engines are also affected.
• BMW fire risk recall: All UK 3 Series built between December 2004 and July 2011 affected
Examples of the 1 Series, 2 Series, 7 Series and X1 with four-cylinder engines built between March 2011 and January 2017, and with six-cylinder engines built between August 2010 and June 2015, are also affected by the recall.
The news follows on from an earlier recall in August 2018, which involved 480,000 BMW diesel models across Europe and Asia. A total of 1.6 million vehicles are affected globally.
BMW has confirmed this latest recall is not related to two others that occurred in May 2018 in relation to 3 Series fires – caused by a faulty wiring harness connected to the heater – and a fault across various models in the range to do with unexpected stalling cutting off engine power and lights.
• BMW recalls 300,000 cars over stalling issue
In a statement, BMW said: “The technical campaigns initially decided for European and Asian countries in mid-August 2018 involved around 480,000 BMW diesel vehicles. During further examination of engines with a similar technical setup, the BMW Group analysed individual cases that were not included in the original technical campaigns.
“These individual cases posed no significant risk to our customers. Nonetheless, the BMW Group decided to further reduce even this minor risk by expanding the country-specific technical campaigns. It is the goal of BMW Group to support the trust and confidence of our customers in our products.”
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