60 000 X5's Recalled for Brakes

About half of them are in the US, but other countries is also affected.

"The affected cars are those produced between October 2006 and March 2010," BMW SA said. "In individual cases, brake force assistance may be impaired or even fail. The brakes remain functional but higher brake pedal pressure is required, which will be perceived as unfamiliar.

"We will be contacting all affected customers to have the brake servo checked and the brake vacuum pipe replaced at their nearest dealer. This will take around two hours and BMW will pay for the repair."

The biggest individual country affected is the USA with around 30 000 vehicles. In South Africa, 941 vehicles are affected. "We are not aware of any accidents occurring," BMW SA added. "The safety recall is based on the results of our quality monitoring programme.

A repot from the US monitored by Wheels24 said a small amount of oil could leak from a brake hose and cause the power-assisted braking to fail. Brakes would still work but the problem could increase stopping distances.

BMW America says it had no reports of crashes or injuries and, in its case, the problem was discovered when warranty claims increased.