Story By: Bartosz Staszewski, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: CEN
Video Credit: CEN/Kacper Wyrwa
This is the moment a burning BMW is destroyed by a blaze allegedly caused by a design fault right after the owner and his young son jumped out of the smoke-filled vehicle.
The incident took place in the city of Rzeszow in the south-eastern Polish region of Podkarpackie Voivodeship when car owner Kacper Wyrwa was driving home along a motorway.
According to Wyrwa, his plush BMW 520D xDrive had a defective EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) system and he was notified by the manufacturer to take the vehicle to a service centre to have it changed.
Pictures Credit: CEN & CEN/Kacper Wyrwa
He claimed that he took the car for a complete review and replacement of defective parts two weeks ago, but that they had failed to replace the EGR module.
As a result, while driving along a motorway with his young son next to him, Wyrwa felt the car becoming hot and smoke suddenly appeared.
Aware of what was happening, he immediately stopped the car and the two occupants escaped before the BMW erupted in flames.
He filmed the moment firefighters battled with the burning vehicle.
Wyrwa said: “My BMW 520d burnt out in Poland. The car was called in for a service to replace the EGR system several days before which was not fixed. The car caught fire like all those others in South Korea. Luckily we survived.”
According to reports, local authorities in South Korea have withdrawn around 20,000 BMW models with a suspected faulty EGR system after nearly 30 car fires occurred. In the end, the manufacturer recalled around 100,000 vehicles.
BMW Poland said in a statement: “We are very sorry that our customer has experienced this situation. We will do our best to check the causes and find a satisfactory solution.
“To this end, we asked the customer to contact us and provide the vehicle for expert evaluation. The technical action related to the EGR system is carried out on a scheduled basis.
“Owners of cars involved in the operation are actively informed by us and invited to the workshop, and if necessary we also provide them with a replacement car”.
