BMW recalls hundreds of thousands of cars due to fire risk

BMW is recalling a mid six figure number of vehicles worldwide after identifying a potential fire risk linked to the starter motor.

The Munich based carmaker said inspections and customer complaints revealed that excessive wear can develop in the starter motor’s magnetic switch after a high number of starts. In some cases, this could make it difficult or impossible to start the vehicle and, in the worst case, lead to overheating and a fire while the engine is running.

Specialist publication kfz-betrieb reported that around 575,000 vehicles from various model series are affected globally. BMW confirmed that 28,582 vehicles will be recalled in Germany, but has not provided a full global breakdown.

The recall covers vehicles produced between July 2020 and July 2022, including variants of the 2 Series Coupe, 3 Series, 4 Series, 5 Series and 7 Series sedans, as well as the 6 Series Gran Turismo, X4, X5, X6 and Z4 models.

BMW advised owners of affected vehicles not to leave their cars unattended while the engine is running until the issue is addressed.

The company had previously launched a large scale recall in September for vehicles produced between September 2015 and 2021 over a separate starter system defect linked to water ingress and corrosion. In that case, the fire risk could arise even when the engine was not running.

The current recall is linked instead to wear related issues in the starter system and is considered more likely to pose a risk while the engine is operating.

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