A gasoline-powered BMW 3-Series, which wasn’t included in the latest recall list, caught fire in Yongin, Gyeonggi on Monday. [YONHAP]BMW cars are still bursting into flames in Korea as a huge recall here continues after a spate of vehicle fires over the summer crippled the German automaker.
A BMW X5 30d SUV caught fire on Tuesday evening in Seoul while it was being driven. The 2007 version of the model is powered by diesel and is not included in the recall list. The fire did not cause any injuries.
Just a day earlier, a gasoline-powered 3-Series model that wasn’t included in the latest recall list caught fire in Yongin, Gyeonggi.
The driver pulled over after realizing that the steering wheel was not operating properly. The engine quickly caught fire once the car had stopped, the driver told a local fire station. No injuries were reported.
“We are currently looking into the case to figure out the reason behind the fire,” a spokesperson for BMW Korea said Tuesday. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
It was only a matter of time before some lawyers would round up BMW owners in Korea and start launching lawsuits. What is interesting is that they are calling on President Trump to do the investigating for them since he is supposedly hostile to German auto manufacturers:
Ha Jong-sun of Barun Law, who is leading a class action suit against BMW over fire-prone engines, speaks during a press conference at the law firm’s office in Seoul, Monday. The lawyer said BMW drivers in Korea would file lawsuits against government officials and send letters to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump. / Yonhap
BMW drivers in Korea sent letters to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump to urge the German and U.S. authorities to investigate the cause of engine fires in BMW vehicles, an attorney for the drivers said Monday.
The so-called “BMW fire victims group” consisting of 1,000 BMW car owners in Korea also said they are considering filing lawsuits against government officials at the transport and environment ministries for their alleged dereliction of duty.
“We decided to send letters to Merkel via German Ambassador to Korea Stephan Auer to ask the German government and prosecutors to investigate BMW headquarters for its alleged concealment of the defect,” Ha Jong-sun of Barun Law told reporters at the law firm’s office in Seoul.
The lawyer added the victims would send letters to Trump to call on him to issue an executive order to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to initiate its own investigation into potential defects in exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) valves and coolers in BMW’s SUVs.
“Accordingly there is an immediate need to check the safety of EGR valves and coolers in X3, X5 and X6 diesel SUVs sold in the U.S. to prevent fatal car fires and save innocent lives on U.S. highways and roads,” Lee Gwang-deok said in the letter.
The victims plan to ship a burnt BMW vehicle to the U.S., as the cause of its fire has not been discovered in Korea.
They expect the U.S. president to take an appropriate measure, considering he has been hostile toward German carmakers. [Korea Times]
You would think that with all the media attention on BMW cars catching fire that the owner of this vehicle would have had his car inspected and repaired by now. The cynic in me thinks we may be at a point where owners want their cars to catch on fire to launch lawsuits against BMW:
A BMW sedan caught fire in South Korea on Monday in the latest in a series of similar cases that have sparked a police investigation the German carmaker’s massive recall in Korea.
The fire broke out in the 520d sedan around 4:49 p.m. as it traveled on an expressway in the city of Mungyeong, 155 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Firefighters put out the blaze and no one was hurt, officials said.
It was the latest in more than 35 similar fires that have affected BMW vehicles this year.
Police have launched an investigation after a group of BMW owners filed a complaint accusing the carmaker of negligence and other charges. BMW has blamed defects in the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) for the fires. [Korea Times]
If you own a BMW you better get it checked out soon:
Two more diesel vehicles, a 730Ld model, left, and a 320d, right, caught fire on Korean highways on Thursday. The former is not included on a recall list announced by BMW Korea last month. [YONHAP]Two more BMW diesel cars caught fire Thursday morning, less than an hour apart, as Korea’s Transport Ministry mulls banning the fire-prone BMW vehicles from Korean roads.
This makes 36 cases of BMWs bursting into flames in Korea this year, eight in the last nine days.
As some of the vehicles that caught fire in recent weeks are not even included in BMW’s official recall list, industry analysts are raising new doubts about the company’s description of the cause of the fires.
On Thursday, a 730Ld model caught fire on the Namhae Expressway in South Gyeongsang.
The fire was extinguished within 15 minutes, according to the local fire station. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but BMW is saying the fires are being caused by an exhaust gas recirculation issue.
