The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Wednesday asked BMW Korea and owners of BMW vehicles to complete corrective measures (recall) before the summer heat wave comes to prevent the possible recurrence of BMW vehicle fires.
BMW Korea has been in effect since January this year, replacing not only EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) but also intake manifold system, which directly causes fires, following a report by a joint civilian investigation team on the cause of BMW fires in December last year.
The number of vehicles subject to the recall is 172,000 in all 70 models, including BMW 520d, 320d, 520d xdrive, X4 xDrive20d, X3 xDrive20d and 118d. Although 93.0% (160,000 units) of these EGR modules have been replaced, the rate of replacement for the intake manifold system is only 53.6% (92,000 units).
The ministry believes that without the recall action, there could be a greater risk of fire in the event of a heat wave in summer.
"In order to prevent fires, we urgently need to replace the intake manifold system, which is the cause of the actual fire," a ministry official said. "We ask the owners of the vehicles to take corrective action as soon as possible at a service center nearby."
Meanwhile, the ministry is seeking to revise the Automobile Management Act to legislate to improve the recall system, including bolstering the punitive damages system, raising fines and strengthening data submission in the wake of last year's BMW incident.
The revision was proposed by the National Assembly in September last year and is currently pending with the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee. The ministry will also establish an information system by the end of this year to strengthen its capacity for defect investigation.