People drive BMW cars at the company's EfficientDynamics Driving Event held in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, on Sept. 5, 2009. Korea Times file

By Kim Jae-heun

BMW Korea plans to recall 180,000 vehicles equipped with an engine ventilation device that could spark an engine fire when overheated, the company said Thursday.

"There has not been a single case of a BMW car catching fire in Korea due to the defect in our engine ventilation device. Still, we are bringing cars in for examination and to prevent the defect from causing fires," a BMW Korea official said.

The official also said the exact date of the recall has not been decided yet and BMW Korea is in talks with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

"Our warranty service centers will call the BMW owners to bring in their cars for a free examination within this year," he added.

The German carmaker plans to bring in more than 1 million cars worldwide. The vehicle models subject to BMW's recall are the 1, 3 and 5 series in the sedan category and X3 and X5 in the SUV segment, manufactured between 2006 and 2013.

The United States will return the most cars of 917,106, followed by 98,000 from Canada and 18,000 from Korea.

BMW has already recalled its problematic vehicles two times in 2017 and 2019 in the U.S. over the same issue. However, incidents involving fires breaking out in the German-made cars have continued and BMW conducted an internal investigation that found defects with a purge valve.

The company said a car parts supplier made a mistake while manufacturing the engine ventilation device, which can break over time due to frequent overheating.

BMW further warned that its customers should stop the vehicle if they see smoke rising from the engine or smell burning plastic while driving.