BMW screw-up?

German auto maker BMW confirmed Friday it was recalling almost half a million cars to fix a weak screw in six-cylinder engines.

The company said it had extended its repair action globally after the defect had already been made public in the US and China where the bulk of the affected vehicles had already been fixed.

BMW spoke of 20,000 cars affected in Canada, over 10,000 units in Germany and 6,600 vehicles in Japan, all of them built between September 2009 and November 2011.

Wave of recalls

There had been no accidents connected to the faulty screws and owners were told they could continue to drive the cars before the fix, but were advised to contact repair shops, if engine warning lights lit up.

The Munich-based carmaker did not make a mention of what it though the recall action would cost the company, not did it specify which supplier could be held responsible for the faulty parts.

The number and scope of recalls globally acting carmakers have been forced to launch has increased dramatically in recent years.

General Motors is still under enormous pressure for having started a recall too late, reportedly causing the death of many people. The world's largest auto maker, Toyota, has also had it good share of recalls in recent years, with 6.5 million units across the globe needing an overhaul over technical defects.

hg/dr (Reuters, dpa)