I was wondering if any of you guys had seen or heard of any other similar experiences as the one I had last night...
On my way home from the city last night with my girl I was cruisng along about 3-4 cars behind a 2002 M3 SMG in the left lane. All of the sudden huge plumes of smoke started to come up from under the BMW, so the driver pulled the car off the road, and jumped out with his wife. As I drove by and pulled over to call 911 I noticed flames coming from underneath the car where the transmission could be. Well, by the time that I stopped my truck, called 911 and got out to see if everyone was alright, the car was totally ingulfed in flames. The dude driving it, and his wife were fine, they got out in time. But anyways, as it turned out I ended up giving the guy and his wife a ride home, since they lived near me, and he said that while he was driving, his SMG locked up, which subsequently shut down the engine, and he said at the same time he had a brake failure. I asked him if he had any prior trouble with the SMG and he said no, except that it froze up on him after he had the car for only 2 weeks. He said that he kept it in excellent shape, and it was a year old with only 16,000 miles on it.

I remember hearing about M3 engines having problems when driven hard without warming up the oil properly, or at the track, but this sounded strictly like a transmission problem. A fireman at the scene said to us that he said that where the transmission would be was burning exceptionally hot, very much like magnesium. I don't know what the transmission is made of, so I was wondering if any of you guys have ever heard of anything like this before. I know that the owner of the car is definitely going to call BMW on it, to try and find out what happened.

The good thing is that they were both alright, and got out in time...

 

yipes......

 

Ya think ???

Shawn S

 

Put extinguishers in your cars people. It can help.

 

Holy-macaroni!

At times like these, i trully start to believe that ACURA > BMW

Let the flames begin (pun intended )

 

acura is anything but > bmw.

get serious.

 

Glad to hear they're both OK. I wonder how BMW is gonna handle their case?

 

BMW = Bavarian Marshmallow Warmer

 

personally, if any vehicle i had ever caught fire, i wouldnt want an extinguisher to put it out, id want the thing to burn to a crisp, or at least enough to total it out and get insurance money for a new vehicle, i wouldnt want any vehicle that had previously been on fire or burned in any way/shape or form. let the thing burn i say!! a car can and should be replaced if it burns.

 

 

BMW's are so over rated and pricey. not to say there aren't people out there who would care more about their image in society rather than getting what they payed for. My wife has a 3 series and it's been to the dealer more than any car I've ever owned.

 

here we go again

 

In a BIG fire I would agree, but if it was something small like a leaky oil or fuel line I would prefer to put it out and keep the car.

Shawn S

 

no more BMW it's a BMI (barley making it!)

darn shame

 

They are indeed pricey, but the upper range models are awesome cars. Just like Porsche, you have to pay lots of $ for the nice stuff (they aren't about value).

BMWs drive better than most if not all cars in their class.

I had a 95 M3 and a 00 Mcoupe, bother cars were utterly perfect. The Mcoupe spent some time at the dealer due to the shitty Dinan mods.

My oldman had a 94 540i and a 97 740i, painless ownership with both cars.

 

scary to say the least.

 

 

this is the first time i ever heard of somthing like this happening. Crazy.

I still rather drive an SMG m3 than any acura though

 

That's funny...

In all seriousness, that would really suck. I found some guy on the road one night who had a total fire after improperly wiring his amp. It burned his brand-new Denali to the tarmac...

 

this happen in jax?

 

i dont care if 100% of the m3's had this problem, i'd still rock it

 

I saw a porche boxter on side of 29 one night engulfed in flames too...silly germans

 

the M3 must be the most overrated car of all time

 

Another idiot, how many do we have here?

It appears to be a never ending supply.

 

sorry, but i think the price for a bmw, IS justified

if i didnt drive so much, and lived in a area that has less snow, i would have a bmw...prbably m3

they are amazing cars

 

LOL, so lemme get this straight...

1 SMG tranny has problems and BMW blows

Hundreds of Acura/Honda trannys fail (very frequently)....

and.......


Acura is still better than BMW

LMFAO

Do all of you have govt. jobs?

 

BMW = Junk

 

Umm that shows BMW being the top 5, and above the average.



LOL

 

Brett Mit Warzen:P

 

Beltfed, glad to here that you are taking the M3 plunge, it is a wonderful automobile and you will be pleased with it. You cannot truly appreciate the craftsmanship of BMW until you spend some time with one. Since my car is being painted I have been borrowing my moms M3 SMG convertible. Yes, some of the M3's have engine problems, but BMW bends over backwards to help you with it, which is more than I can say about Acura accusing me of driving aggressively when my tranny when out. Don't get me wrong, I love my CL but I think that some of the comments in this thread are total BS and if you don't agree with me go drive around an M3 for a week and then make those comments. The M3 is an awesome piece of machinery that is well worth the investment, oh did I mention it is a chick magnet?!?

 

Yeah, sure. Except for a premature transmission wear problem on the 740i, right? Doesn't sound any better than Acura.

I could've easily had a 330i instead of my TL-S. But why would I pay 10,000+ dollars more for nothing? The badge? Sure, it's nice, but Acura is also a known luxury brand. I don't know about the rest of you, but I couldn't justify paying so much more for not much more, especially when the car was just to get me through college.

 

thats gotta be true then

 

What does??

 

You said that the 330 isnt worth 10k more than the TLS.
The 330 has much more to offer than the TLS does. Well i guess the 330 doesnt offer more if you arent a car enthusiast, cuz there is more about a car than just standard lux options.

I wont even go into this since im sure you havent owned both and im tired of this topic. Anywho carry on with the bmw bashing

 

I have driven the 3-series. I wasn't that impressed. It's not like I drive like Schumacher everyday around corners. I do prefer RWD, however, and that was one sacrfice I had to make by going with the TL-S.

I like cars, and I do consider myself a car enthusiast, if not crazy. I wasn't bashing BMW. I was merely comparing, for MY situation and MY needs of a car. That is all. But thanks for the comment. I kind of took that personally, since I am a car guy, when you don't know anything about me. Sounds like you own a BMW, and I'm sure you are very familiar with it, if not most BMW's out there, along with other cars. But I also have extensive knowledge on cars. That's what pissed me off.

Carry on with the ignorant comments.

 

just curious, but why did you even bring up about your TLS and the fact that you could have owned a 330?

What does that have to do with anything in this thread?

Also I never heard of the premature transmission wear problem, got a link?

 

240597 DEC 97 A/T - Transmission Will Not Shift Out of 3rd Gear


Take a look at this link. http://www.alldata.com/TSB/06/97067334.html Quite a few problems, huh? The transmission problem is number 150 on that list.


I brought up that issue because some people have been calling BMW junk and whatnot. I was merely saying that it is a nice car, but for the money, I would go Acura. Again, I'm not saying that BMW is not good. I love their cars and who knows, maybe I might own one someday. But since I'm in college, and can't afford 45,000+ dollar cars, I think I've made the best decision by going with Acura. Just sharing my story, adding my .02 to the BMW vs. Acura talk in this thread.

It's not like I came into an Acura vs. Infiniti thread and said BMW is overrated.

What's your problem, anyway?

 

By the way, just for comparison with the '97 740i, here's the TSB/recall list for the same year RL and TL. I Know they are not direct competitors, but close enough because they are their own company's flagship vehicles.

RL
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/01/97011224.html

TL
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/01/97010926.html

 

I have a rash on my ass and i cant get rid of it

 

Why don't you get a BMW salesperson to kiss it for you?