BMW is recalling hundreds of thousands of cars due to a potential fire hazard, the German premium carmaker said on Wednesday.

The global recall is affecting a mid-six-figure number of cars, a BMW spokesperson said.

Newspaper Bild earlier reported on the recall, citing the Munich-based carmaker.

Specialty publication kfz-betrieb said a total of 575,000 vehicles from various series are affected.

BMW said that product inspections and customer complaints revealed that the starter motor in the identified vehicles could be defective, with an increase in wear and tear in the magnetic switch after a high number of starts, making it potentially harder or impossible to start the car.

This carries the risk of causing a fire in the vehicle in the worst-case scenario, the spokesperson said.

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(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach and Rachel More, writing by Linda Pasquini, editing by Thomas Seythal)