[Jason]

Via CNN:

August 14, 2018

South Korea is banning thousands of BMWs after engine fires.

The South Korean government says thousands of BMWs will be banned from the country's roads after some vehicles caught fire.

The German automaker is facing a public relations crisis in South Korea over the fires, which it has blamed on a problem with the cars' exhaust systems.

BMW recalled more than 100,000 vehicles in South Korea last month and has been carrying out emergency inspections. It expanded the checks to Europe last week.

As of late Monday, more than 27,000 of the affected BMWs in South Korea still hadn't been checked, according to the South Korean government.

"Our citizens are deeply concerned," Transportation Minister Kim Hyun-mee said Tuesday. She ordered local authorities to ban people from driving any of the potentially fire-prone BMWs that haven't been brought in for checks.

BMW owners who receive the notices ordering them to take their cars in for inspection will only be allowed to drive the vehicles for the purpose of the safety check.

"We are taking to heart our citizens' criticism that the basic duty of government is to guard its citizens' safety," Kim said. If a fire breaks out in a car defying the ban, the person responsible will be reported to police, according to the ministry.

As many as 39 BMW vehicles have caught fire so far this year, according to South Korean media. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

BMW has linked the problem to defects with the vehicles' exhaust gas recirculation module, part of a system that channels some fumes back into the engine to reduce pollution.

The South Korean government has launched its own investigation into the cause of the fires.

BMW was the second most popular brand of imported cars in South Korea last year, selling nearly 60,000 vehicles, according to the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association. The German company sold more than 2 million vehicles worldwide last year.

The head of BMW in South Korea held a news conference last week in which he bowed deeply before the cameras and offered the company's "sincere apology" for the problems.

Following the government's announcement of the ban Tuesday, BMW said in a statement that it would "actively cooperate with the government, take responsibility and carry out inspections until the last customer."

[CRtoE92]

Huge damage to bmw's rep in Korea they even designated separate parking area for BMW owners to park their cars because noone wants to even park near any BMWs thats how bad it is in Korea now

[tkbj1201]

Nothing more than a political stunt. She's not qualified for that position.

[KGB_123_99]

39 vehicles catching on fire during one year seems like a lot!

[Costello1991]

These bmws are built in Korea ?

[///mawana]

As of late Monday, more than 27,000 of the affected BMWs in South Korea still hadn't been checked, according to the South Korean government.

Sounds familiar with our own airbag recall.

[deemo319]

I had my recall repaired last week that also had "potential" fire risk even while it was parked.

[vladberca]

Some people are not rational at all. Beside the lack of technical knowledge.
On the other hand it's interesting to know how close the "fire events" were one to the other. Based on the timing we can understand if the BMW customer responsibles reacted properly or not.
They should have understood faster the root cause and apply the corrective actions.

[Flying Ace]

someone owes me a bow for this!

[upsidedownfunnel]

Originally Posted by Costello1991

These bmws are built in Korea ?

5 series cars are only built in Germany and Austria.

[mrkmtchll]

South Korea is worried about a few BMWs when their own hospitals don't have fire suppression systems. I lived there for 3 years, Korea has no right to talk about anything safety wise.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by tkbj1201

Nothing more than a political stunt. She's not qualified for that position.

Few Korean politicians are.

:: ducking ::

[Mrgunfun]

Koreans always overreact. No news here.

[CRtoE92]

Originally Posted by mrkmtchll

South Korea is worried about a few BMWs when their own hospitals don't have fire suppression systems. I lived there for 3 years, Korea has no right to talk about anything safety wise.

Did you live in the country? At least they do have significantly advanced medical resources to be provided at much cheaper price than us when they get burnt

[mrkmtchll]

Originally Posted by CRtoE92

Did you live in country? At least they do have significant advanced medical resources to be provided at much cheaper price than us

Yea. I lived there for three years. Yes, medical care is cheap but they have zero in safety regulations and building codes.

I feel as if the whole thing is a ploy to ban BMW and help line the pockets of Kia and Samsung. I find it really strange that this only happened in Korea.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/w...uth-korea.html

[///mawana]

Originally Posted by Mrgunfun

Koreans always overreact. No news here.

Care to throw in examples they have overreacted upon? I'm not familiar with this stereotype.

[R3dliner]

Originally Posted by mrkmtchll

Yea. I lived there for three years. Yes, medical care is cheap but they have zero in safety regulations and building codes.

I feel as if the whole thing is a ploy to ban BMW and help line the pockets of Kia and Samsung. I find it really strange that this only happened in Korea.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/w...uth-korea.html

Someone that lived in Korea but now lives in Germany and is so salty and butt hurt. Did them Korean girls burn you?

[mrkmtchll]

Originally Posted by R3dliner

Someone that lived in Korea but now lives in Germany and is so salty and butt hurt. Did them Korean girls burn you?

Lol not at all. I was then and am still married. No ones butt hurt. I just think there's more to the story and it has nothing to do with public safety. Hell they don't even enforce traffic laws.

[SickFinga]

Originally Posted by ///mawana

Care to throw in examples they have overreacted upon? I'm not familiar with this stereotype.

Probably a payback for the whole Samsung Note battery debacle.

But when I hear South Korea and overreaction I immediately think of this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

[M3 Number 86]

Who's actually Korean in here?

Fuck these haters lol

[kyleb350]

What is this exhaust gas recirculation module anyway, and is it specific to Korean market cars?

[bimmer_335]

Originally Posted by CRtoE92

Huge damage to bmw's rep in Korea they even designated separate parking area for BMW owners to park their cars because noone wants to even park near any BMWs thats how bad it is in Korea now

oh good... no more door dings!!!

kidding aside, I applaud south korean government for taking this action