South Korea's transport ministry said Tuesday that six recent cases of fires in BMW vehicles were not caused by problems in exhaust gas recirculation coolers and pipes.

The Transportation Safety Authority is looking into what caused fires in six BMW models -- 328i, 5GT, 640d, 525d, 320d and X6 -- from October to November. 

"The government will make a thorough investigation into the cases to find out what exactly caused fires in the six models," the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.

BMW has been struggling with declining sales in Korea since last year due to dozens of engine fires, mainly in the 520d model, and subsequent recalls.

The German carmaker said it has nearly completed the recall of its 171,000 BMW and MINI models in Korea to fix faulty EGR coolers and pipes.

BMW Korea, which sells vehicles under the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands, sold 42,813 vehicles in the January-October period, down 19 percent from 53,176 units a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. (Yonhap)