BMW is recalling about 324,000 diesel vehicles in Europe to fix a technical fault that has caused engine 28 engine fires in South Korea. A faulty exhaust gas recirculation module in BMW diesel cars caused the fires, prompting the company to recall 106,000 vehicles there and issue an apology. South Korea’s Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee said in a statement recently that a government probe would “investigate the fires of BMW vehicles thoroughly and transparently.”
The probe will examine whether the company had “reacted appropriately” to 28 incidents of BMW cars catching fire in the Asian country this year, the minister said. “If any problems are found, we will take stern measures,” Kim added. If the probe finds that the recall was delayed, BMW could be forced to pay a fine of up to 70 billion won (USD62 million) under South Korean law. BMW Korea Chairman Kim Hyo-joon said that they will fully cooperate with the transport ministry’s investigation and complete emergency safety inspections of its vehicles by next week.
BMW said it found the cause of the engine fires was leaks in their exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) coolers. That caused fires when vehicles were driven at high speeds for long periods of time. The company denied speculation that faulty software programs may be behind the fires.
“The root cause is hardware issues. This has nothing to do with software issues,” Johann Ebenbichler, BMW’s vice president for quality management, told reporters in German. He also said the fire will only occur while the vehicles are being driven. “I’d like to make it clear. This cannot happen when a vehicle is parked.” He added.
