BMW police cars in Australia get the all-clear amid fire risk in the UK

About 800 BMW police cars in Australia – widely used as highway patrol vehicles in NSW and Victoria – have been given the all-clear by the German automaker in the wake of a number of BMW police cars catching fire in the UK. 

More than two dozen BMW police cars in the UK have been put on restricted duties due to a potential fire risk when driven at high speeds while responding to an emergency.

The fault was highlighted after a UK police officer died in 2020 after his car caught fire when responding to an urgent call, the Northern Echo newspaper reported.

However, BMW Australia says police cars in Australia are not affected because the highway patrol in NSW and Victoria use newer BMW models with different engines.

The BMW police cars in the UK affected by a potential fire risk are equipped with an ‘N57’ 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel engine.

However, BMW police cars in Australia are fitted with the newer ‘B57’ 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel engine, or the ‘B58’ 3.0-litre six-cylinder petrol engine.

A statement from BMW Australia said: “BMW vehicles supplied to the police in Australia are unaffected, as the models delivered locally are the G30 and G31 5 Series fitted with the B57 engine, and G05 X5 petrol model fitted with the B58 engine.”

In Australia, the newer diesel engine is fitted to the BMW 530d sedan and wagon police cars, while the newer petrol engine is fitted to BMW X5 xDrive40i police cars.

The Victoria Police fleet has a mix of BMW 5 Series sedans and wagons, and BMW X5 SUVs among its highway patrol vehicles – which also includes a number of high-performance Volkswagen Passat and Mercedes-Benz wagons.

The NSW Police fleet has a mix of BMW 5 Series and Chrysler 300 SRT V8 sedans for highway patrol duties.

However, the BMW X5 may soon be added to the NSW highway patrol ranks as the Chrysler 300 SRT V8 reaches the end of the line.

As for the safety concerns over BMW police cars in the UK, the company issued the following statements to the Northern Echo newspaper:

“We have been working with the police for some time on a technical matter linked to a small number of special high-performance vehicles.

“This issue is associated with the particular way in which the police operate these high-performance vehicles.

“This unique usage profile puts extra strain on some components and therefore BMW has specified a special servicing program for these vehicles.”

A statement from BMW UK said civilian cars are not at risk of catching fire because they are not driven at the extremely high speeds that trigger the fault.