FRANKFURT, Oct 1 – German luxury automaker BMW said Friday it was recalling 350,800 BMW and Rolls-Royce vehicles worldwide owing to brake problems that a spokesman stressed were "without danger."
Of the total, 5,800 vehicles were limousines built by Rolls-Royce in Britain, a BMW spokesman told AFP.
In the United States, BMW has recalled 198,000 vehicles but the problem was "without danger" for passengers, the spokesman said.
The problem concerned braking systems that could become "slightly more difficult to use" following an extended period of operation, he added.
In Britain, a BMW spokesman told AFP: "It\’s a voluntary recall, we took it upon ourselves. It affects large-engined 5, 6 and 7-series (BMWs) and Rolls Royce" cars.
Large engined models are those equipped with V8 and V12 engines.
"The potential fault is a small leak that could develop in the power-assisted braking system … if there is a leak the car would lose some breaking power but should still be able to stop," the UK spokesman said.
Last year, BMW sold 1,068,770 of its own brand automobiles and 1,002 Rolls-Royce worldwide.
Shares in BMW showed a loss of 2.04 percent to 50.39 euros to lead losers in midday trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange, while the DAX index of leading stocks was 0.73 percent higher overall.