BMW cars damaged in port accident
6th Gear
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: SF Bay Area
For the sake of argument, if Minis are BMWs then why can't you get warranty work done at BMW dealers? 
Perhaps he is not a fan of the BMW designs..
Perhaps he is not a fan of the BMW designs..
1st Gear
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 14
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Even though MINIs are part of BMW, they are in fact their own little sub-brand therefore needing to be serviced only by MINI dealers.
After reading the statement from BMW about the damaged cars, it seems the ship encountered some bad weather in the Atlantic and that's when the cargo shifted- it only became apparent when they came to port in NJ (their first stop in the US).
After reading the statement from BMW about the damaged cars, it seems the ship encountered some bad weather in the Atlantic and that's when the cargo shifted- it only became apparent when they came to port in NJ (their first stop in the US).
Coordinator :: South East - Florida
Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Tampa, FL
LOL in some places they are in the same dealership.
The BMW side of Ferman MINI/BMW has ruffled it's share of MINI owners feathers over that BMWs are better than MINIs attitude.
Oh well. I do hope there were no MINIs in that boat, I remember awaiting production 2 times, and it SUCKS!
Moderator :: Performance Mods
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: A Den in Maryland
The big roll-on/roll-off ships have to be loaded and unloaded in a specific way. If they were unloading the cars mostly from one side, the ship will begin to list to the side that still had cars on it. If they untied all the cars, they can begin to slip. This will create a chain reaction effect where all the cars will slide to that side of the ship and make it tip even more, where you end up with a ship nearly on it's side and a huge pile of mangled cars on the low side.
I'm, doubting that any Mini's were on board.
The BMW's are made in Germany, and the whole load was probably taken on board in Hamburg or Wilhelmshaven. Mini's ship out of Southhampton, UK. Considering the US appetite for BMW's, that was probably all BMW's.
The BMW's are made in Germany, and the whole load was probably taken on board in Hamburg or Wilhelmshaven. Mini's ship out of Southhampton, UK. Considering the US appetite for BMW's, that was probably all BMW's.
BMW North America Confirms 470 Cars Damaged in Shipping
New M3s and 1 Series among the wreckage
Jan 15, 2008
Bryan Joslin
A cargo ship carrying new BMWs, Mercedes, and Volkswagens arrived in the Port of New Jersey on Friday with more than 470 damaged cars in one of its cargo holds. The cargo ship Courage, operated by Wallenius Lines, encountered rough seas in the Atlantic before arriving at port. Vehicles in one of the ship’s cargo holds were ripped from their lashings during the storm, hurtling cars into one another. In total, about 470 BMWs were damaged, roughly 120 of which are a total loss.
BMW North America spokesman Tom Plucinsky confirmed the incident, which was first reported on the eve of the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Plucinsky indicated that while there were BMWs in several holds of the ship, the damage appears to be limited to just the one. Nevertheless, BMW plans to inspect every one of their vehicles that was on the Courage, looking for damage at chassis tie-down locations and conducting a four-wheel alignment check on each one before releasing them to dealers.
The exact breakdown of the damaged vehicles is still being sorted out, but a significant number of the cars in the affected cargo hold were M3s intended for use as dealer demonstrator vehicles ahead of the full launch of the M3. A fair number of new 1 Series coupes, also intended for dealer use, were damaged as well. The remaining cars consist of customer orders and European delivery vehicles.
BMW says customers concerned about ending up with a damaged car can rest assured that any and all damage will fully disclosed before being sold to dealers. Following its long-standing policy, the damaged vehicles will be handled appropriately based on the degree of damage incurred. For instance, any vehicle whose repair costs approach or exceed its inventory value will be crushed in whole at the port.
Vehicles with damage greater than three percent of their value will be repaired and used as employee vehicles for a period of time before being sold at dealer auctions with full disclosure of the damage and repairs. After being sold at auction, the cars will carry the balance of the original factory warranty.
Cars with less than three percent damage will be repaired, after which the dealer, or the customer in the case of a special order vehicle, will be notified of the damage and repair and then given the option of accepting or refusing the car. Any repaired car that is rejected by either a dealer or a customer will be sent to a dealer auction and the vehicle will be replaced with an identical one at the earliest possible time. All repaired vehicles will carry the full factory warranty.
Those customers who were waiting for their European Delivery vehicle to arrive will have the same options and everyone else. Essentially, they can take a similar vehicle from dealer stock, or they can order an identical replacement new from the factory.
The damaged inventory is an unfortunate setback given the timing. New M3s, 128i and 135i coupes are scheduled to go on sale in just a few weeks, and the loss of at least 120 cars will certainly cause problems with their launch. The remaining 350 or so damaged cars will take weeks to repair, further hampering the introduction of these popular models. Even the process of inspecting and aligning the remainder of the shipment will hold up the delivery of several hundred cars at a time when supply is already low.
This is from http://www.mwerks.com/artman/publish...cle_1296.shtml
New M3s and 1 Series among the wreckage
Jan 15, 2008
Bryan Joslin
A cargo ship carrying new BMWs, Mercedes, and Volkswagens arrived in the Port of New Jersey on Friday with more than 470 damaged cars in one of its cargo holds. The cargo ship Courage, operated by Wallenius Lines, encountered rough seas in the Atlantic before arriving at port. Vehicles in one of the ship’s cargo holds were ripped from their lashings during the storm, hurtling cars into one another. In total, about 470 BMWs were damaged, roughly 120 of which are a total loss.
BMW North America spokesman Tom Plucinsky confirmed the incident, which was first reported on the eve of the start of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Plucinsky indicated that while there were BMWs in several holds of the ship, the damage appears to be limited to just the one. Nevertheless, BMW plans to inspect every one of their vehicles that was on the Courage, looking for damage at chassis tie-down locations and conducting a four-wheel alignment check on each one before releasing them to dealers.
The exact breakdown of the damaged vehicles is still being sorted out, but a significant number of the cars in the affected cargo hold were M3s intended for use as dealer demonstrator vehicles ahead of the full launch of the M3. A fair number of new 1 Series coupes, also intended for dealer use, were damaged as well. The remaining cars consist of customer orders and European delivery vehicles.
BMW says customers concerned about ending up with a damaged car can rest assured that any and all damage will fully disclosed before being sold to dealers. Following its long-standing policy, the damaged vehicles will be handled appropriately based on the degree of damage incurred. For instance, any vehicle whose repair costs approach or exceed its inventory value will be crushed in whole at the port.
Vehicles with damage greater than three percent of their value will be repaired and used as employee vehicles for a period of time before being sold at dealer auctions with full disclosure of the damage and repairs. After being sold at auction, the cars will carry the balance of the original factory warranty.
Cars with less than three percent damage will be repaired, after which the dealer, or the customer in the case of a special order vehicle, will be notified of the damage and repair and then given the option of accepting or refusing the car. Any repaired car that is rejected by either a dealer or a customer will be sent to a dealer auction and the vehicle will be replaced with an identical one at the earliest possible time. All repaired vehicles will carry the full factory warranty.
Those customers who were waiting for their European Delivery vehicle to arrive will have the same options and everyone else. Essentially, they can take a similar vehicle from dealer stock, or they can order an identical replacement new from the factory.
The damaged inventory is an unfortunate setback given the timing. New M3s, 128i and 135i coupes are scheduled to go on sale in just a few weeks, and the loss of at least 120 cars will certainly cause problems with their launch. The remaining 350 or so damaged cars will take weeks to repair, further hampering the introduction of these popular models. Even the process of inspecting and aligning the remainder of the shipment will hold up the delivery of several hundred cars at a time when supply is already low.
This is from http://www.mwerks.com/artman/publish...cle_1296.shtml
They need to crush them for liability purposes... they do not want any salvage parts being sold on the internet, etc. and then if something is defective or something goes wrong, for the purchaser to try and go back at BMWNA for damages (this is America, after all, where you can sue anybody about anything and have a good chance of winning 
)
On a serious note, though, they know that if they sell the cars for salvage, someone will try to fix them (and might do a really shitty job) and some people will try to sell the parts, and they don't want their products out there being rebuilt (ex. "brand new" '08 M3s that have been rebuilt by hack shops and then back on the market), and they do not want the liability associated with selling the cars for repair/parts if anything were to go wrong.
Sure there are shops that could potentially perform an excellent repair job on these cars. But how will BMW know which ones are the good ones and which ones are the bad ones? It's way too much work for them to try and identify "the good ones" to sell them the cars. It is so much easier (and it makes their lawyers much happier) for them to just scrap all of them and be done with it.
)On a serious note, though, they know that if they sell the cars for salvage, someone will try to fix them (and might do a really shitty job) and some people will try to sell the parts, and they don't want their products out there being rebuilt (ex. "brand new" '08 M3s that have been rebuilt by hack shops and then back on the market), and they do not want the liability associated with selling the cars for repair/parts if anything were to go wrong.
Sure there are shops that could potentially perform an excellent repair job on these cars. But how will BMW know which ones are the good ones and which ones are the bad ones? It's way too much work for them to try and identify "the good ones" to sell them the cars. It is so much easier (and it makes their lawyers much happier) for them to just scrap all of them and be done with it.
Last edited by sarafil; Jan 17, 2008 at 07:06 AM.
4th Gear
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 586
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From: United States of America, Ohio, Stark County, Uniontown
This is incredible. I know what it feels like to have a damaged car. Last year my X3 experienced some minor body work. It's strange, but I don't feel the same about this car. It's as though it's been violated. Right now I'm ready to move on to something else.
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