Gardai ground dozens of high-end BMWs over engine issues
The Irish Mirror has confirmed that Garda bosses grounded almost 70 BMW cars on Thursday – after they received a notification from the car company
Gardai have grounded dozens of high end BMWs over an engine problem – including vehicles used to ferry ministers, it has emerged.
The Irish Mirror has confirmed that Garda bosses grounded almost 70 BMW cars on Thursday – after they received a notification from the car company.
Sources have confirmed that some of the cars that have been grounded include the fleet of top end BMWs that are used to drive ministers and other VIPs around.
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The Taoiseach’s office did not respond to us when we asked if the BMWs gardaí use for him have been grounded.
But gardaí did confirm that just under 70 of the estimated 175 BMW vehicles in the fleet had been grounded over an issue with the N57 engines that are fitted to them.
A spokesman said: "Yesterday, 3rd October 2024, An Garda Síochána received a notification from the BMW Group Ireland in relation to a number of BMW vehicles attached to the Garda fleet.
"An Garda Síochána has taken the decision to remove these vehicles out of service on the advice of BMW Group Ireland.
"From resilience within the current Garda fleet, An Garda Síochána has put contingency plans in place to ensure that Garda service is maintained.
"Any queries on the technical issue should be addressed directly to the manufacturer."
There are currently some 3,500 vehicles in the Garda fleet – and around 176 are BMWs. It's understood the BMWs affected are several years old.
President Michael D Higgins recently got a new BMW - but that is not affected.
But sources say cars used by several elite Garda units - including the squad that drives ministers and VIPs, have been taken off the roads.
Several cars in the Road Policing Unit have also been affected. We contacted BMW for a statement and it confirmed there was a technical issue around the use of the N57 engine in certain cars that have been configured to Garda cars, and police vehicles in the United Kingdom.
A spokeswoman said: "BMW has been working for some time on a technical matter linked to the particular way in which certain high-performance Police vehicles have been used and maintained.
"This unique use profile puts extra strain on some components in a way which differs considerably from civilian vehicles.
"As a precautionary measure, BMW has recommended to An Garda Síochána that high performance police vehicles with the N57 engine are taken out of active service until further notice.
"BMW is committed to actively supporting An Garda Síochána while they review their fleet operations."
In 2020, an English police officer died when a BMW with the N57 engine fitted to it crashed in northern England. PC Nicholas Dumphreys, of Cumbria Police, suffered a fatal head injury when his BMW 330 failed "catastrophically" while he was on his way to a reported knife attack on January 26, 2020.
A faulty crankshaft bearing had broken loose and punctured the oil sump causing the N57 engine to set on fire. It saw the 47-year-old crash on the verge of the M6 in Cumbria.
An inquest late last year heard that BMW had first known about the fault with the N57 engine in 2016. The inquest heard that since 2014, five to seven crankshaft bearing failures had been reported each month which Assistant Coroner Robert Cohen described as a "startlingly high failure rate".
The inquest had heard that the fault was most likely to result in a fire in certain circumstances which are typical for officers driving police vehicles. These include high mileage and engine idling often followed by sharp acceleration such as when involved in a police chase.
In 2016, after BMW UK noted a pattern of incidents and engine fires involving the N57 in police vehicles, they reported their concerns to parent company BMW AG in Germany.
Engineers at BMW's factory in Steyr, Austria, carried out tests on seven engines and found that the cause of the fault was poor lubrication as a result of ageing and degrading engine oil.
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