August 6^th, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in China (AQSIQ) announces that BMW-Brilliance Automotive Ltd has carried out a recall program based on the Administrative Regulations on Defective Automotive Product Recalls of China.  

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BMW-Brilliance Automotive Ltd is a joint venture between Brilliance China Automotive and German luxury carmaker BMW. According to the announcement, from September 23^rd, 2013, BMW-Brilliance Automotive Ltd will start to recall 143,215 5-series long wheelbase cars, which were manufactured between August 24^th, 2009 and August 31^st, 2012. The company will offer free replacement of defective power line plugs in the electric power steering system that may cause safety risks.

Electronic stability program is a kind of Traction Control System, including ABS (Anti-lock brake system) and ASR (Anti-Slip Regulation). Electronic stability program (ESP) is a computerized technology that improves the safety of a vehicle's stability by detecting and reducing loss of traction, which may cause skid. When electronic stability program detects loss of steering control, it automatically applies the brakes to help "steer" the vehicle where the driver intends to go.

Braking is automatically applied to wheels individually, such as the outer front wheel to counter oversteer or the inner rear wheel to counter understeer. Some ESP systems also reduce engine power until control is regained. ESP does not improve a vehicle's cornering performance; instead, it helps to minimize the loss of control.

According to AQSIQ, there are hidden troubles in the ESP system of these recalled BMW-Brilliance cars. When the vehicle type is running on surface water, water may enter the plug and cause corrosions on the plug. Then the corroded plug will produce a higher resistance, which will decrease the power steering of the vehicle. Therefore, a warning will appear in the center console of the vehicle, which causes security risks.