BMW will recall 120, 246 vehicles in China due to problems with the vehicles' batteries, China's quality watchdog said on Tuesday.

The recall, which starts from 10 May, will affect the BMW 5 Series, BMW 6 Series Coupe and BMW 6 Series Convertible models built between 2003 and 2010, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement on its website.

Potential problems with the battery cable cover may be incorrectly mounted and can result in the electrical system malfunctioning, the vehicle failing to start and, in some cased, to charring or fire, it said.

This is part of BMW's global recall of 1.3 million units which covers all BMW 5 and 6 Series models of the previous generation, built between 2003 and 2010 on the market.

This is the biggest recall for BMW in recent years, the company said in a statement this morning. 9,000 vehicles in Australia and 368,000 in the United States will be affected. Nearly 300,000 will be recalled in Germany and more than 100,000 in the UK will need to be checked.

BMW was also reportedly fined 3 million U.S. dollars for failing to notice U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration its safety problems in time nine months ago.