BMW will recall over 156,000 vehicles that feature 6-cylinder engines in the U.S. due to a defect that could cause engine damage or stalling.
The automaker said it would check if the bolts holding a certain component in the vehicles were likely to loosen or brake, according to Reuters.
BMW recalled 232,000 imported and locally made cars in China for the same reason earlier this month.
The decision was announced on Thursday, The New York Times reported.
"In very rare cases the bolts holding the variable camshaft timing (Vanos) unit housing may become loose or, in extreme cases, break," BMW said.
The driver would be alerted by a check-engine warning light in these cases. The company added that the engine could lose power and "if ignored, the problem can become progressively worse, eventually leading to no-start conditions, stalling and engine damage."
The recall affects models of the 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series, 5 Series Gran Turismo, X3, X5, X6 and Z4 from 2010 through 2012, along with the 2012 6 Series, The New York Times reported.
David Buchko, a spokesman for BMW, said in an email that no accidents related to the issue have been reported.
BMW's decision follows recalls from other large automakers, such as Toyota Motor Corp., which announced a recall of over 6 million vehicles on Wednesday, and General Motors Co., which is being investigated for its slow recall of 2.6 million cars connected to problems with ignition switches, Reuters reported.
In the BMW's report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the company said it received almost a dozen warranty claims in 2011 "for various malfunctions involving the Vanos System." Vanos is the company's variable-value timing technology. The automaker received additional complaints in 2012 about vehicles that would sometimes stall, The New York Times reported.
BMW said it was offering an extended warranty on almost 170,000 additional vehicles with 6-cylinder engines from 2010 through 2012. The company said the vehicles "experience much lower rates of Vanos bolt failure, will receive an extended warranty to address this condition." Information on the models and length of warranty has yet to be released.
