BMW Car Fires

[Anchor Lead]

Another BMW vehicle has caught fire. This time the model that went up in flames was not subject to the German carmaker's recall. The government has banned the operation of affected BMWs. But as engine fires continue on vehicle models that have not been recalled, the question is whether the measures will have an effect.

[Pkg]

In the early hours of Wednesday, a BMW on the road in Imsil, Jeollabuk-do Province caught on fire. The driver said he or she pulled over after being startled by a rattle, and found smoke coming from the engine area. The testimony is similar to other BMW fire incidents to date. However, this vehicle was not subject to the German carmaker's recall. This is the 10th BMW fire from a model excluded from the recall. Thus, one out of four BMW fires has so far involved an unrecalled vehicle. In some cases, drivers visited the service center out of fear of driving, but they were not given safety inspections because their cars had not been recalled.

[Soundbite] Yoo Jun-ho (BMW Owner) : "They said they can't take my application for a safety check. If I insisted on filing a request, I was told to wait for 3 months because other prior recalled BMWs had to be inspected first."

The government has banned the operation of recalled BWMs that have not yet received safety checks. But no particular measures are in place for BMW cars that are not subject to the recall but are still catching on fire. Critics say the government has limited the recall range by simply accepting the carmaker's claim that the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system is the cause of the fires. In addition, safety inspections have still not been completed for all the recalled BMWs. Inspections continued Wednesday but an estimated over ten-thousand units still remain uninspected out of the total 106-thousand that have been recalled.