The fire was preceded by a warning on the car’s dashboard screen: “Can’t continue journey, contact the dealership immediately”
harm_less,
May 4, 12:00am
Already being discussed in the 'Head on crashes Electric cars' thread, including whether it was a straight EV BMWi3 or one of the range extender hybrids and the ICE was potentially the source of the fire.
bigfatmat1,
May 4, 7:42am
Apparently a common fault.
toenail,
May 4, 7:49am
Few years back, I walked past a house around our suburb, half of it was burnt to crisp. And the fire started with the BMW X5 in the garage.
It was the same time that BMW recalled more than a million cars just in the US alone due to fire risk.
tamarillo,
May 4, 6:29pm
Was a hybrid which means it had engine and small gas tank in the back where fire started. could be electrics but.
intrade,
May 4, 7:39pm
its corner cutting R&D when stuff is made to last 6 years. the odd one wont make it out the showroom. The warhouse in 1990 had broken tool from The C place hanging on there dispay walls And that cancer has now growen globally in to all products.
gazzat22,
May 4, 7:44pm
But what? Spontaneous Combustion with all the plastics.More likely electrical.!
onl_148,
May 4, 10:27pm
"once the fire was out the fire department were able to clean up the scene quickly by sweeping up the parts left, with a little hand brush into an small paper bag"! Now watch the insurance company try and wiggle their way out of this blaming the problem on the car manufacturer / a known problem so why was the owner still using it prior to getting BMW to fix. gross negligence on the owner behalf !
gazzat22,
May 4, 11:05pm
apparently the fire started at the back of the vehicle where both the engine and battery are located so it could have been either !
s_nz,
May 4, 11:19pm
Main battery in the i3 REX is under the floor, between axles. The petrol engine & generator, along with the traction motor is under the boot floor. (boot gets pritty warm with the REX running)
gazzat22,
May 5, 2:29am
So youve got an ignition source and fuel all in close proximity.Not a great design! Maybe on the autobahn but not on metal roads like in NZ. Obviously!
"UPDATED: A BMW Group New Zealand spokesperson has confirmed that the car was a private import. It notes that the car was over seven years old, was privately imported, and recently had servicing conducted by an independent repairer.
“BMW confirms that a fire incident occurred over the weekend involving a BMW i3. The vehicle, which is over seven years of age, was privately imported into New Zealand by the owner and was not purchased through an authorised BMW dealer in New Zealand,” said the spokesperson.
“We are not aware of the vehicle ever having been serviced by any member of our authorised BMW dealer network in this country; however, we understand that the owner chose to recently have the vehicle’s servicing carried out by an independent repairer.”"
Forgot to mention above, the (tiny) 12v battery in the i3 is under the hood.
9 liter Fuel tank is also somewhere up front.
All petrol & diesel cars have an ignition source (the combustion engine) which is fed fuel via pipes, so it is clear that proximity isn't necessarily.
Apparently there has been an i3 REX recall in the USA relating to fire risk relating to a fuel vapor risk, possible this incident is related to that issue.
Its a real pity that automakers are reluctant to support their vehicles globally.
tony9,
May 5, 3:03am
Well some do, for example Toyota.
BMW may do as well, there is no indication that they don't.
gazzat22,
May 5, 7:52pm
Most cars seem to have the petrol/fuel tank in the rear and the motor/engine in the front.Even the VW beatles had a fuel tank in the front and were rear engined but i,m sure some have both located in the same place. And not connected by a long pipe and pumped by an electrical pump . which cuts off. so what do you blame ? a leaking petrol tank and/or a spark from a battery as the initiator then fueled by all the plastic in this "Drivers Car"
ICE cars catch fire and unless it is a new exotic supercar like the McLaren, then won't make the news.
An EV (actually a PHEV given the i3 has an ICE engine as well) catches fire and it makes the news, people rush to post it on here.
So many more ICE cars on the road, almost certainly more petrol fires occur but peoples perception is based on what is reported, not the actual stats. My guess is that vehicle fires are pretty rare so EVs and ICE vehicles the rate is insignificant either way
franc123,
May 7, 4:59am
BMW the ultimate frying machine.
hosky65,
May 7, 4:52pm
Why does it matter where the fuel tank is? How many millions of motorcycles are there world wide and they don’t catch fire and their fuel tanks sit on top of the engine 🤷♂️
apollo11,
May 7, 6:26pm
I had a motorcycle that opened a seam on the tank due to rust, while I was riding on the motorway. One side of my body was entirely saturated with petrol, but thankfully didn't burst into flame. Unfortunately you are limited in where you can put the stuff on a bike.
gazzat22,
May 10, 10:11pm
AKA The Bavarian Money Waster!
gazzat22,
May 10, 10:17pm
According to one poster both the Battery and small engine are in the front and another report says the fire started in the back of the vehicle so ?
franc123,
May 10, 10:29pm
It was self evident from the video footage that it either started in the middle or the rear, not in the front compartment. The front was the last part to catch fire.
Ps - Not had a closer look yet, but think line across sump is just silicon or something, rather than a split. Garage thought its coming out of front timing cover. Will be parked up now, until sorted out.
intrade,
May 10, 10:51pm
#24 the problem is not what you think. I rebuilt the 2003 astra and sold it for cost to a mate. The rocker cover gasket was new So i reused it and did keep the other new gasket . 8 month later the thing did leak oil and the gasket had shrunk= The materials used with all the greenies laws is now shrinking and falling apart This wont just affect this brand car. So What i did i fitted the new seal and put RTV on both side of this new seal basically now dual sealed the cover. as i guarantee the seal would shrink again in 1 year time as the other new one did. and yes unfortunately it looks like a cowboy job. But you have to do what you have to do,.
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