Their cruisers are powered by the faulty N57 diesel engine.
There are fears that under harsh acceleration, the engine may burst into flames.
One officer was killed in 2020 when his BMW burst into flames.
As a police officer, it can be difficult to abide by an order that states that a cruiser cannot be driven hard and fast. And this, even when responding to an emergency. This is what’s currently happening in the UK where a portion of BMW cruisers equipped with the faulty N57 diesel engine cannot be driven to their full potential.
The upside to this is that the restrictions and concerns only apply to Police vehicles because of the way they can be driven. The issue is that, under heavy and constant loads, the engine can experience catastrophic failure and either cause an accident or burst into flames.
This is what happened to an officer in 2020 when, as reported by the Daily Mail, his BMW caught fire while responding to a 999 (911) emergency call, and he died.
BMW has been aware of the situation for a long while and has specified that “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,”
