BMW has extended a safety recall for diesel vehicles across various model lines over a potential fire risk – now affecting around 268,000 units in the UK and 1.6 million globally.
According to the Bavarian marque, the fault could see the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler can leak glycol liquid, which could result in "smoldering particles" when combined with high temperatures in the EGR modules and "typical soot particles".
If the condition occurs, BMW says the car's intake manifold could melt and pose a fire risk in "extremely rare cases".
Originally, 480,000 vehicles were thought to be affected, with a global recall campaign launched by the manufacturer in August. However, the company has since extended that to 1.6 million units this week.
Affected model lines include the 3 Series, 4 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, X3, X4, X5 and X6 fitted with four- and six-cylinder diesel engines. Four-cylinder variants included in this recall were built between December 2014 and August 2016, while six-cylinder units were produced from July 2012 through June 2015.
Other model lines will be 'checked' as part of the proceedings as well, including 'certain' 1 Series, 2 Series, 7 Series and X1 models built as early as 2010.
In a statement, BMW said:
During further examination of engines with a similar technical setup, the BMW Group analyzed 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.
The announcement comes after another major recall was issued by the manufacturer in the UK in May, which saw more than 300,000 vehicles built between 2007 and 2011 asked back over a potential stalling fault.
Australia
Speaking with CarAdvice, BMW's local division couldn't confirm whether Australian-delivered models are impacted by this recall, though issued the following statement:
BMW Group Australia is aware of the Exhaust Gas Recirculation campaign currently underway internationally. We are awaiting confirmation regarding details for the Australian market. Any customers who have queries regarding this campaign should contact our customer interaction centre on 133 269.
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