Due to fire hazard: driving ban at BMW

Author: Mario Schmidtgen
Date: 15.08.2018

Over 300,000 vehicles affected by defect

There exist fire hazards for over 300,000 vehicles of the brand BMW. Affected by this is the Korean market as well as the European market including Germany. BMW has now voluntarily started a callback. The Korean government, however, makes higher demands.

In the period from January to July, there were 27 engine fires in Korea. As a result, the South Korean Ministry of Transport announced that there will be driving banns for more than 20,000 vehicles of the BMW brand. In response, BMW had apologized and offered that the 106,000 affected diesel vehicles could be bought back to a safe state in a workshop from 20 August on.

In order to avoid accidents, Transport Minister Kim Hyun Mee recommended every BMW driver to use the offer in any case. The drivers should not be punished by the driving ban, but much more motivated to have their vehicle checked as soon as possible. The ban applies as soon as an owner of BMW receives an e-mail on the subject.

In Europe, 323,700 cars have to be recalled as well. Alone in Germany, 96,300 diesel vehicles are affected by the recall. The affected customers should be informed by the dealers in the next few days. A driving ban for affected vehicles has not yet been imposed in Germany.

According to BMW, the Korean and European cars are identical in construction. How much the recalls will cost BMW is currently not clear. However, the expense of exchanging modules is estimated by a company spokesman to be a “low three-figure” euro amount. If one assumes costs in the amount of about 500 euros, BMW would receive about 160 million euros.

In Korea, the local CEO apologized for the inconveniences and also made the offer for free security checks. Defects are then corrected directly. All exhaust gas recirculation modules will be replaced by modified versions from 20th August on. In Korea, the BMW drivers get a rental car for the time of repair. Currently, already 2000 customers have accepted the offer. BMW denies a belated call back. According to a company spokesman, the cause of the fires was just found in June.