[size=+1]From Top Gear.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/report...20050322.shtml[/size]
[size=+1][/size]
[size=+1]BMW Mini Cooper[/size]
22 March 2005

Ian Palmer decided to buy his daughter, Roxanne, a second hand 2002 BMW Mini Cooper for her 17th birthday. He bought it from a flagship BMW dealer in Surrey. The car had just 22,000 miles on the clock and Ian was assured it was fully tested and every bit as good as a brand new vehicle. It ran well for three months, but then the gearbox failed. BMW took the car away and carried out repairs.

Six months later, Roxanne was driving home from a party with her friend Leone. They arrived home, parked the Mini on the drive and went inside. Just two minutes later there was an enormous bang. The mini, without any warning, had caught fire. When the Fire Brigade arrived, it took them two hours to put the blaze out.

"My daughter could have died", says Sue Palmer, Roxanne's mum. "I'm so relieved that nobody was hurt. But when we actually got on to BMW, they just didn't want to know." It took BMW four days to return Ian's calls. When they finally got in touch, they refused to provide a replacement vehicle. "All they wanted to do was take the car away from our premises." says Ian, "And I refused."

Ian's insurers arranged to have the car forensically examined, in conjunction with BMW. The fire was so severe, they could not be 100 per cent sure what caused it. But it pointed to an electrical fault, possibly dating back to the gearbox work BMW carried out three months before. The only thing that was certain was that it had not been caused by human error. The Palmers were blameless.

Despite this, BMW refused to do anything, saying that because the report was inconclusive, there was nothing they could do. The Palmers were insensed. Ian told us, "I could not believe a major car manufacturer would not only try and wash their hands of it and admit no liability whatsoever, but there was no note of regret, nothing. But the implications of what happened to that vehicle are mind bogglingly frightening."

BMW have now agreed to re-examine the Palmer's Mini. They say they take such incidents seriously and asks any Mini owner with a similar
experience to contact their dealer or Mini UK on 0870 50 50 125.

 

Hey man this is really old news, like March. Look for D&M's post about their car, I think it was cross posted into that thread twice.

Did you want to discuss it or just post it for us to look at again?

 

Give the guy a break, Smokey! He wasn't around when Scooter (RIP )went up in flames, and he could be wading through Donna&Mike posts for a loooooong time before finds that story!

So Zman, here it is:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=38051

 

I just read through most of that thread... So was a bad fuse determined to be the culprit? Anyone ever figure this one out?

 

You're right, and sorry if this came off as a flame. It wasn't meant as such, but while we're one the subject of thread format.....................

Does it only bother me when a post is a "cut and paste" with no commentary from the author??

 

Yes

 

No. It's always good to understand the context of a post. Is it a question? A concern? A 'hey check this out'? A tourette's induced spasm resulting in random characters?

 

Troll?

 

Let's put it this way. It was determined that a fuse in the ABS system was the culprit. It was a 30 amp. Starting with the 05' models, the fuse was changed to a 20 amp.

Here is another link to wade through about what caused it:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...highlight=fire

And.....the fuse was actually recalled in Canada and the UK....but not the US...go figure eh?

At this time, our case is still open through our insurance company with BMW/MINIUSA.....

Donna

 

 

So, would it be advaisable to change the ABS fuse from 30 down to 20 AMPS?

 

I really can't answer that for you...sorry....and if you called your dealership to ask, they wouldn't have a clue....

Donna

 

I want to know why it takes 2 hours to put out a car fire?

Do they still use the bucket brigade?

 

I didn't take 2 hours to put the fire out. We were GONE for 2 hours and it happened while we were out with my parents. By the time the fire department got there, it was already in flames - only took a matter of minutes at that point to put out - sadly - it was already too late for poor Scooter...

Donna