FRANKFURT -- German luxury carmaker BMW AG said Friday it was recalling 164,000 of its X5 sports utility vehicles worldwide due to a fault with the brake hose, a move that would cost up to 5 million euros ($5.38 million).

"We have written to customers asking them to bring their cars to the garage. It could affect 164,000 cars, 19,900 of them in Germany," a BMW spokesman said, adding that the necessary adjustments would only take a few minutes.

He said the brake hose in some of the cars could come loose over the front axle, which could lead to damage and a loss of brake fluid in extreme cases. The recall affected cars built between August 1999 and April 2002.

BMW shares were down 2.1 percent at 26.15 euros by 1230 GMT, underperforming European peers on the DJ European autos index, which was flat.

Since it started building the X5, BMW has delivered close to 240,000 of the cars to customers worldwide. The model has been one of the company's main drivers of growth in the important U.S. market. BMW said it was not aware of any accidents linked to the fault, which it had discovered during routine quality checks.

 Williams and engine suppliers BMW have tightened up their partnership as they challenge for the Formula One world championship this year.

"Since June 2002, we have conducted a root and branch assessment of how BMW and Williams work together," said Williams general manager Alex Burns in a statement at the launch of their new FW25 car at the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday.

"The benefits of this extensive project are starting to pay tangible dividends and I can confidently say that Williams and BMW are now operating an almost seamless enterprise."

Both sides said the improvements would speed up the exchange of information between the factory in Grove, England, and BMW headquarters in Munich.