A joint government-private investigation team has found that German automaker BMW covered up defects in its models and put off recalls which led to a series of incidents where its vehicles caught fire in South Korea.

In its final investigation report on Monday, the team said it obtained documents that suggested BMW headquarters set up a task force in October 2015 to deal with problems involving cracks in its vehicles' exhaust gas recirculation(EGR) coolers.

The investigators said they found internal files dating back to July of last year in which the carmaker mentions EGR cooler cracks and holes in the intake manifold in detail.

BMW had earlier claimed it became aware of the link between the EGR problem and the fires in July of this year.

The Transport Ministry plans to file a complaint against BMW with the prosecution and impose a fine totaling eleven-point-two billion won.