BMW Fires

[mac-z4]

This is a bit scary.


http://abcnews.go.com/Business/bmw-m...ry?id=47335778

[paris1]

Any time I see Brian Ross' name associated with a news story, I take it with the proverbial grain of salt. Ross was a major player in ABC's sensational coverage of the Toyota unintended acceleration farce a few years back. In fact his coverage disgusted me so much I swore off network news and have never watched it since. He exemplifies the absolute worst in sleazy TV journalism.

[cruisingdownthestreet]

i suspect the blinker fluid was low

[rking117]

Originally Posted by paris1

Any time I see Brian Ross' name associated with a news story, I take it with the proverbial grain of salt. Ross was a major player in ABC's sensational coverage of the Toyota unintended acceleration farce a few years back. In fact his coverage disgusted me so much I swore off network news and have never watched it since. He exemplifies the absolute worst in sleazy TV journalism.

Interesting, I don't think Brian Ross lit a match and tossed it into the vehicles... We should not discredit an account just because of who reported it. the facts are simple in the matter.

1. BMW owner noticed a weird smell in the vehicle
2. After telling her husband about it he went to investigate the matter.
3. He also noticed a problem when he heard snap, crackle and pop which is when the vehicle ignited.
4. By the time the FD arrived house and car were a loss.

The other matter of fact in this story is that there are a number of vehicles around the world that have experienced the same thing. Brian Ross was not there.

Brian Ross... I dont like nor dislike him. So dont think im taking up for Brian Ross. Nope that is not happening here.

What i am trying to say is that too many times we hear stories (like your post i quoted my friend) that simply try to detract from the real story. We should not do that. The reason why is because these fires did happen. Brian Ross didn't start them. We as owners of BMW need to know that BMW is doing everything possible to look into the matter and if we keep the pressure at a minimum then they will just like any other business sweeping it under the rug until such a time that a mountain appears. Please dont take this as an attack on you personally as it is not. My comment is meant only to refocus us on the real story which is not Brian Ross or what ever his name is but focus on the issues that are at hand here.

I would like to know that when i go to bed at night that my car is going to protect me not harm me. Do i have to now start parking my car outside? Am i safe driving down the road? What happens if the car catches fire and the doors wont unlock? Arent those better things to think about?

Why do I think this is so important? Simple.

Recently i had a fault display on my F30 (yeah i know this is the E89 forum) and i took it to the shop for repairs. they told me that the wires connecting factory harness was breaking and it needed to be repaired. I asked well wont you have to replace the entire harness for that and they let me know it was the wires that were the problem. They had cracked and was sending the wrong signal down the wrong wire. They said they just needed to tape it up and it would be all fixed. 30 minute job from what i understood. Great! i was thinking.

When i got home i thought about this a bit. wires cracking that means the insulation was breaking down thus allowing one wire to touch bare metal of another wire. That isnt good. Especially since the vehicle is a 2014. Had it been like 20 year sold i would have expected that. heck maybe even 15 but this car wasnt even 5 year old yet.

the good news is two fold.
1. my problem was fixed by some tape.
2. my car didnt catch fire.

BUT one has to ask what if... What if the wire that had cracked was a 45 amp wire connecting the starter to the battery? What if that wire had grounded? Essentially that wire would have become a heating element just like your stove. Everything that comes into contact with it will heat up until combustion begins.

I give this word of caution for some simple reason. I studied the field of electricity and electronics. I worked in the auto installation business for a while and one thing i know was that you had to be extremely careful with wiring. If you did it wrong it could cost someone their life.

So simply put do you really feel so comfortable now after reading my comment that you still feel that Brian Ross' story shouldnt be paid attention to? Lets see how you sleep tonight?

BTW my F30. It got the boot. it sits in the driveway now not in the garage AND that decision was made before the exposure of all of the recent stories about vehicle fires. My wife, kids and my life are way more important than some zealous reporter named, Brian Ross...

[bmw>benz]

Originally Posted by rking117

Interesting, I don't think Brian Ross lit a match and tossed it into the vehicles... We should not discredit an account just because of who reported it. the facts are simple in the matter.

1. BMW owner noticed a weird smell in the vehicle
2. After telling her husband about it he went to investigate the matter.
3. He also noticed a problem when he heard snap, crackle and pop which is when the vehicle ignited.
4. By the time the FD arrived house and car were a loss.

The other matter of fact in this story is that there are a number of vehicles around the world that have experienced the same thing. Brian Ross was not there.

Brian Ross... I dont like nor dislike him. So dont think im taking up for Brian Ross. Nope that is not happening here.

What i am trying to say is that too many times we hear stories (like your post i quoted my friend) that simply try to detract from the real story. We should not do that. The reason why is because these fires did happen. Brian Ross didn't start them. We as owners of BMW need to know that BMW is doing everything possible to look into the matter and if we keep the pressure at a minimum then they will just like any other business sweeping it under the rug until such a time that a mountain appears. Please dont take this as an attack on you personally as it is not. My comment is meant only to refocus us on the real story which is not Brian Ross or what ever his name is but focus on the issues that are at hand here.

I would like to know that when i go to bed at night that my car is going to protect me not harm me. Do i have to now start parking my car outside? Am i safe driving down the road? What happens if the car catches fire and the doors wont unlock? Arent those better things to think about?

Why do I think this is so important? Simple.

Recently i had a fault display on my F30 (yeah i know this is the E89 forum) and i took it to the shop for repairs. they told me that the wires connecting factory harness was breaking and it needed to be repaired. I asked well wont you have to replace the entire harness for that and they let me know it was the wires that were the problem. They had cracked and was sending the wrong signal down the wrong wire. They said they just needed to tape it up and it would be all fixed. 30 minute job from what i understood. Great! i was thinking.

When i got home i thought about this a bit. wires cracking that means the insulation was breaking down thus allowing one wire to touch bare metal of another wire. That isnt good. Especially since the vehicle is a 2014. Had it been like 20 year sold i would have expected that. heck maybe even 15 but this car wasnt even 5 year old yet.

the good news is two fold.
1. my problem was fixed by some tape.
2. my car didnt catch fire.

BUT one has to ask what if... What if the wire that had cracked was a 45 amp wire connecting the starter to the battery? What if that wire had grounded? Essentially that wire would have become a heating element just like your stove. Everything that comes into contact with it will heat up until combustion begins.

I give this word of caution for some simple reason. I studied the field of electricity and electronics. I worked in the auto installation business for a while and one thing i know was that you had to be extremely careful with wiring. If you did it wrong it could cost someone their life.

So simply put do you really feel so comfortable now after reading my comment that you still feel that Brian Ross' story shouldnt be paid attention to? Lets see how you sleep tonight?

BTW my F30. It got the boot. it sits in the driveway now not in the garage AND that decision was made before the exposure of all of the recent stories about vehicle fires. My wife, kids and my life are way more important than some zealous reporter named, Brian Ross...

I wouldn't worry about this story.

I read this last week
http://jalopnik.com/abc-news-big-inv...a-b-1795121798

IIRC the car in this story is a 2008? Almost a 10 year old car. God knows how it was maintained....how many cheap mechanics have been through it.

To this day, I still have not found a mechanic that I trust to work on my car. Every time I have decided to use one, I have caught mistakes. Just last month I was watching one work on my brothers 335. We warned him about some exposed terminals. He disagreed and 5 minutes later there was a small fire in the engine bay. This being a highly recommended shop on these forums. Won't give out the name because he was a nice guy.

[paris1]

The Jalopnik article is exactly what I'm talking about. Brian Ross has been guilty of some of the sloppiest reporting imaginable on automotive issues. Clearly his priority is inflating/distorting issues for the sake of increased ratings.

[rking117]

Originally Posted by bmw>benz

Just last month I was watching one work on my brothers 335. We warned him about some exposed terminals. He disagreed and 5 minutes later there was a small fire in the engine bay...

I get you for sure. Sorry to hear that this happened. Since you didnt say ho wold your brothers 335 was ill refrain from the why did those terminals break down question. But i totally understand the point you are making and i agree that a bad mechanic can cause more problems that solve. That is why I tend to do my own work when i can unless my vehicle is still under warranty of course. Then why would i suffer like that right? Anyway sorry bro.

[Vetracr]

Where there is smoke, there is fire. Pun intended. Forgetting about who reported it about 40 fires have been reported with various year, model BMW's. As an engineer I ask the question about the design methodology of BMW electtical systems. Did the same engineers or department work on the designs? Did the same bean counters insist on a cheaper wire or insulation? These are valid questions and frankly I worry about whether my Z4 will self ignite in my garage. Any reasonable person would.

[letse90]

On that topic I was surprised to find a hard top wire chaffed on my Z4. Issue is not only that the hard top stopped working and it cost a few hundred bucks to fix at the dealer, but how on earth an 8 year old car could have electrical wires chaffing or breaking?
We all love BMWs here (at least I do, my Z4 is the best car I ever drove), and it hurts that BMW is not doing much about it.

[Tangent]

From what I've found, there are on average 31 vehicle fires report per hour in the US with a total of about 287,000 per year. This was between 2003-2007. A total of 40 in that perspective isn't even statistical noise. But it's enough to get clicks on news stories.

[paris1]

And you'll notice the story has died and gone to 24 hour news cycle heaven.