No more BMW police cars

[Robotstar5]

Last time I spoke to them they had just been testing Volvos. Sent the lot back after they couldn't get 90miles out of a tank in Pursuit.

Some performance cars do drink it when pushed, I was watching one of the police pursuit type programs and they were transporting a police negotiator across the county in a marked Subaru Imprezza, they had to stop part way to refuel, they also noted the satnav of the era couldn't keep up due to the speeds they were going at

 

[Shox Dr]

Some performance cars do drink it when pushed, I was watching one of the police pursuit type programs and they were transporting a police negotiator across the county in a marked Subaru Imprezza, they had to stop part way to refuel, they also noted the satnav of the era couldn't keep up due to the speeds they were going at

Yup less than 6MPG

 

[bricol]

My neighbour bought an Audi recently and it broke down on the motorway and had to be lifted. Less than 2000 miles on the clock and it needs a complete new engine.but there aren’t any available because they have a fault in them.
So his car will sit at the dealership until such time as a “fault free” engine can be obtained. Gathering dust, getting scratched and depreciating.
Meantime he’s having to pay for it.
I think it would come under the not fit for purpose Lemon umbrella and he should be able to get all his money back.
Anyway, don’t buy an Audi.
All my other neighbours with new cars have had big problems. Tesla, BMW, Audi,Volvo,Toyota, Nissan. Mostly the cars just refuse to go anywhere without notice.
My old tatty 55 plate Corsa that has been scorned by them, is suddenly not so shabby when they urgently need a lift. It starts first time, every time, has a heater and a radio. That’s more than I need. I do smile.

A friend of the other half had to trade in her Corsa at a loss on a day it was working, as no-one could get to the bottom of the issues why the engine would randomly stop or refuse to go at all

 

[Stupoty]

Does anybody know what is actually failing?

The decision not to withdraw the vehicles was probably a perfectly good decision at the time.
Any high performance vehicle driven hard regularly, will be prone to catastrophic failure. Look at how often race engines need rebuilt to maintain performance and reliability.

A few years ago we maintained some police cars, and the rapid response ones would typically need new engines around 80k, after failing in some form or another.

I suspect the reason they say it doesn't concern civilian vehicles, is it's only a problem when driven for prolonged periods at high speed, which off course, civilian vehicles should never legally do..

A pal of mine does police car maintenance (in house police garage) been told they replace all parts much earlier than the standard maintenance times. Which makes sense with the potential aggressive driving they might have to do.

Stu

 

[Greeves246]

When the ACPO warned all Forces that the Honda ST1300 was an accident waiting to happen most if not all of them decommissioned the bikes and sold them off. Some were bought (and resold) by Force Motorcycles down in Derbyshire; a lot went to auction but some forces decided that if they couldn't ride them, nobody else could either, so they took an angle grinder to the frame and cut a large V-shaped piece out in order to render them unable to be returned to the road.
The MOD, RAC and AA have never had an issue with the ST13, allegedly

Last place I worked at the boss man bought a load of police Pans from Honda who had taken them back to stop any bad publicity. They were all stripped and repainted red to disguise their origins.
Back in the 60s when I had my shop a couple of police motorcyclists used to call in occasionally and they said they preferred to be on bikes as there were no night shifts for them.

 

[James1979]

There's two Police men come up on bikes to the Simmer Dim Rally on Shetland. he was saying the Police dont like bikes as it kills too many riders. They tend to only use them for VIP escorts.

depends on the force.

They are a good bit of kit but have their place. A lot of the decisions are taken off the riders and made people who are removed from operations but more concerned about litigation. The lot I was with banned bikes after sunset due to a risk assessment

They are good on enforcement. A bike can see a lot more than a car. They can filter traffic and screen stuff more efficiently and pull in what they don’t like the look of. They’re also experts at sitting just behind your B pillar so they can catch you doing what you’re not supposed to

Not good in a lot of situation like pursuits etc. a lot of the use of them comes down to staff levels. If you’ve one guy, do you put him in a car or on a bike for the shift? Car can use tactical contact, carry stuff etc etc.

They need both but often can only afford one for lots of reasons.

 

[Mick Annick]

depends on the force.

They are a good bit of kit but have their place. A lot of the decisions are taken off the riders and made people who are removed from operations but more concerned about litigation. The lot I was with banned bikes after sunset due to a risk assessment

They are good on enforcement. A bike can see a lot more than a car. They can filter traffic and screen stuff more efficiently and pull in what they don’t like the look of. They’re also experts at sitting just behind your B pillar so they can catch you doing what you’re not supposed to

Not good in a lot of situation like pursuits etc. a lot of the use of them comes down to staff levels. If you’ve one guy, do you put him in a car or on a bike for the shift? Car can use tactical contact, carry stuff etc etc.

They need both but often can only afford one for lots of reasons.

A few years ago I was in the Morgan stuck behind a slow moving car through a village and along a twisty road near here, eventually the road straightens out, I’ve already got two wheels on the white line to stop any of the queue behind me going first (in a RHD car the French seem to assume you won’t overtake) so as soon as it’s clear I floored it. a few seconds later a do a mirror check to find a Gendarme bike on my tail, goodness knows where he came from. As I’m now doing about 80mph uphill I backed off a bit sharpish but he wouldn’t pass, just sat there for miles; when I turned off I got a stern look but luckily no stop.

 

[armalites]

Brightwells have dozens of these things go through with the description "Block holed" I thought that was engine damage but I believe it done deliberately to stop people reusing them.

 

[armalites]

Bring back the Sierra Cosworths

View attachment 381110

I remember seeing a police force up north who had an issue with joy riders back in the 90s who had Escort Cosworths prepped with suspension/wheels that could drive over kerbs at speed to the joy riders had less chance of getting away.

 

[armalites]

I cant think of a replacement for the 530 touring that they can use and still be able to carry all the stuff they need like cones etc

I suspect they will buying Volvo V90

 

[roofman]

Wonder if the next generation of police vehicles will be something like the electric Jaguar I-Pace ?

What ever they get lets hope they spend our money wisely

 

[colnerov]

What ever they get lets hope they spend our money wisely

Not much evidence of it so far.

 

[knighty]

I was in an accident years ago and air-lifted to hospital, cops wanted to breathalyse me but wouldn't do it without the ok-from a doctor so a cop followed the helicopter to the hospital

talking to him while we waited for a doc, he used to be a motorbike cop but had to change to cars because he'd had so many broken wrists when people were ramming him off the bike :-(


(p.s. I hadn't had a drop to drink, it was just standard practice because it was a serious accident - not my fault either)

 

[knighty]

you'd think BMW would have made some upgraded oil pumps?

 

[James1979]

I was in an accident years ago and air-lifted to hospital, cops wanted to breathalyse me but wouldn't do it without the ok-from a doctor so a cop followed the helicopter to the hospital

talking to him while we waited for a doc, he used to be a motorbike cop but had to change to cars because he'd had so many broken wrists when people were ramming him off the bike :-(


(p.s. I hadn't had a drop to drink, it was just standard practice because it was a serious accident - not my fault either)

FIL was medically retired because he got rammed by a stolen car while on his bike.

Pal of mine also got rammed by a stolen car and lost a leg.

Some people are scum.

 

[Bornfree]

If you ever visit a Police HQ and get round the back... well the amount of cars The Plod (allegedly highly-trained pursuit drivers) smash up at Taxpayers expense.... well let's just say its a LOT.

Given that from what I've seen/witnessed (plus I know a pursuit trained and licensed plod driver, and at best he's "adequate" and certainly not good or above average), then I'd imagine the same drivers smashing them to bits are unnecessarily hard on the mechanicals as well.

All that said - I can't say I'd trust any current car to be robust and reliable for hard use. Vauxhall Senator 3-Litre's were so solid even the ham-fisted and booted Police Drivers struggled to kill them (great car) - but the modern flimsy, techy-gadget trinkets the Mfrs flog now? No chance.

One of the poultry farms I work on is at a WW2 airbase it's one of the very few that still has all it's 3 runways intact it was an American bomber base so the runways are huge 2200 meters long by 100 wide. The police occasionally bring some confiscated/ impounded cars and rag them around the runways. They call it training. When they are finished a car transporter collects them takes them to the scrapyard.

 

[Mick Annick]

One of the poultry farms I work on is at a WW2 airbase it's one of the very few that still has all it's 3 runways intact it was an American bomber base so the runways are huge 2200 meters long by 100 wide. The police occasionally bring some confiscated/ impounded cars and rag them around the runways. They call it training. When they are finished a car transporter collects them takes them to the scrapyard.

We used to let a police force use our used car compound for sniffer dog training, they always found something

 

[GRW]

One of the poultry farms I work on is at a WW2 airbase it's one of the very few that still has all it's 3 runways intact it was an American bomber base so the runways are huge 2200 meters long by 100 wide. The police occasionally bring some confiscated/ impounded cars and rag them around the runways. They call it training. When they are finished a car transporter collects them takes them to the scrapyard.

Or - I know that the Fire Service also use such vehicles for training. They chop them up with the Jaws of life etc - learning how to deal with the myriad difficulties of modern cars (airbags all over the place, battery bombs, high voltages, capacitor discharges & so forth)

 

[Bobupndown]

Game changer when they acquired the SD1

An iconic car

If you ever visit a Police HQ and get round the back... well the amount of cars The Plod (allegedly highly-trained pursuit drivers) smash up at Taxpayers expense.... well let's just say its a LOT.

Given that from what I've seen/witnessed (plus I know a pursuit trained and licensed plod driver, and at best he's "adequate" and certainly not good or above average), then I'd imagine the same drivers smashing them to bits are unnecessarily hard on the mechanicals as well.

Bear in mind that a lot of Police collisions, the majority perhaps? are the result of deliberate actions by criminals attempting to evade arrest and that others are deliberate tactics, employed to end dangerous incidents and prevent more serious incidents occurring. Its not unusual for 3 or more police cars to be wrecked in order to safely bring a dangerous situation to an end.
I'd also suggest that the majority of police drivers are very capable and well trained. Having said that, I've sat beside a few that I'd happily never share a car during a shift with again.

 

[Kayos]

Some performance cars do drink it when pushed, I was watching one of the police pursuit type programs and they were transporting a police negotiator across the county in a marked Subaru Imprezza, they had to stop part way to refuel, they also noted the satnav of the era couldn't keep up due to the speeds they were going at

If I booted my (somewhat) modified Cavalier turbo up a hill, I could see the petrol gauge go down