German automaker BMW said Friday that a recall started in China last week has now been extended worldwide, affecting 489,000 vehicles, including 156,000 in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported.
The company is issuing a worldwide recall of many models of cars with certain six-cylinder gas motors after identifying a problem with a bolt used in the engine, according to the WSJ. The vehicles, which also include the Series 5 and the Z4 sports cars, are from model years 2010 to 2012, the company said in an email.
BMW says in rare cases one of four bolts holding the cover on the engine's variable camshaft timing system breaks, which can then cause other bolts to fail, the WSJ reported. BMW said it would check whether bolts holding a certain component in vehicles with six-cylinder engines were prone to loosening or breaking.
In cars affected, oil begins leaking from the unit, causing the timing system to become sluggish and can eventually lead to complete engine failure, according to the WSJ.
The company says customers will be notified if their models are affected and that the repair takes a few hours at most, the WSJ reported.
BMW had recalled 232,000 imported and locally produced cars in China earlier this month for the same reason, according to the WSJ.
Drivers of potentially affected vehicles may continue to drive their vehicles, but if they see warnings like "check engine" or "service engine soon", they should immediately contact their nearest authorized BMW center, the company said, the WSJ reported.
BMW said it had informed the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the recall, according to the WSJ. BMW's recall follows a string of recalls by leading automakers Toyota Motor Corp.
Toyota said on Wednesday it would recall more than 6 million vehicles while General Motors Co is being investigated by U.S. lawmakers for its slow recall of 2.6 million cars related to problems with ignition switches, the WSJ reported.
