GARDAÍ HAVE BEEN forced to immediately remove almost 70 cars from service, including those used by the Armed Support Unit (ASU), due to fears over a potential defect in the cars’ engines.
Sources have said that the issue has links to a fatal crash involving a police vehicle in the UK.
The BMW cars that have been grounded are various different models, but all use the same N57 diesel engine.
The decision was made to remove them from service after senior gardaí were contacted by the manufacturer.
Less than 70 cars – out of a total garda fleet of over 3,500 – are affected.
The difficulty for the organisation is that some of those vehicles are used by specialist armed gardaí who respond to the most serious of incidents.
Sources said efforts were made urgently this week to find replacement vehicles for the ASU and stressed that they will be able to respond to callouts as normal when required.
The BMWs replaced Audi and Volvo cars some years ago and are fully kitted-out specialist police vehicles. They have special storage built in to house an armoury of weaponry, technology and other equipment used by the specialist units.
It’s understood the issue came to light after a crash involving a vehicle in the UK attached to Cumbria Constabulary. According to a BBC report a “catastrophic” engine failure saw a police vehicle catch fire and spin out of control as it responded to an emergency call, killing an officer.
The BBC reported that Cumbria Constabulary had known for years there were problems with the model of engine in his car which is the N57.
The N57 was used in civilian three series, four series, five series, six series, seven series, X3, X4, X5 and the X6. BMW told the BBC that the issue was only concerning police vehicles because the nature of how they are driven.
BMW in the UK told the BBC that they had made the issue known to police forces and advised about the mitigations to prevent the incident happening.
The issue causing the problems for the police vehicles was centred around the “run lock” system, where the car could be parked with the engine running – Garda cars have this feature too.
The run lock permits the car while parked to run with the doors locked – the engine is used to keep the emergency lights on for long periods as the car battery would run flat if it was used to power the beacons without the motor running.
The issue arises, according to BMW, because lengthy periods of idle running degrade lubricating oils which then cause issues in the engines that lead to catastrophic failure. BMW said members of the public did not suffer the issue.
The BBC reported that Cumbria Police had told them in a statement that it had taken “all reasonable and proportionate steps given the information available at the time”.
A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána said they have taken immediate action when they were contacted on Thursday about the issue by BMW.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
BMW Ireland has said in a statement: “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.”
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