Motoring Discussion > End of Police BMWs?	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Bobby	Replies: 26

New Fri 13 Jan 23 21:39   End of Police BMWs? - Bobby

cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/bmw-halts-the-sale-of-all-police-cars-to-forces-in-the-uk-with-immediate-effect/277526 Another report I read says the engines are drained of oil and then ran until they go bang! Noticed a lot of new Police Volvos in this neck of the woods. Reply to this message | Report message

New Fri 13 Jan 23 22:39   End of Police BMWs? - Terry

Read the article. It seems Beemers are just not up to the stresses put upon them by the police, but fine for joe public. Premium car or a mobile fire hazard??? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 14 Jan 23 10:46   End of Police BMWs? - Bobby

It’s claimed that it is the unique way that the police use them and this particular 3.0 diesel engine. Some reports say it is the potential full speed/ stopping/ full speed that does it. Others suggest it is full speed/ idling (whilst they deal with the resultant incident - but you were always told to idle to let turbos cool down weren’t you) I know in Scotland at one point the instruction was simply that they had not to be used for pursuits at all. Strange that they are drilling holes in the engine before selling. Is this to stop legal comeback on them and how would that work? Sold as seen through an auction not count? But as per previous posts, it now creates a demand for 3.0 diesel BMW engines to replace these ones. Would imagine there will be a lot of stolen to order. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 15 Jan 23 07:15   End of Police BMWs? - Mr Moo

Wonder what then becomes the default police pursuit vehicle? Have any forces got a load of mothballed Vauxhall Senators or Rover SD1 3500 V8s hidden away??!! Although a lot of forces seem to be using EVs as panda cars, I guess they’ll still need high powered petrol or diesel vehicles for pursuit, to avoid the embarrassment of losing a vehicle they’re chasing due to a (insert your choice of high performance EV) running out of charge after a relatively short spell at speeds in excess of 70mph. Last edited by: Mr Moo on Sun 15 Jan 23 at 07:16 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 15 Jan 23 09:32   End of Police BMWs? - Bromptonaut

>> Wonder what then becomes the default police pursuit vehicle? Fairly sure one of the current police fly on the wall shows them using Skodas. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 15 Jan 23 09:57   End of Police BMWs? - Kevin

>Fairly sure one of the current police fly on the wall shows them using Skodas. Yup. A couple of plain clothes vRS Skodas regularly parked above the M3 at J7. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 15 Jan 23 10:06   End of Police BMWs? - tyrednemotional

..if they're using Volvos, as per Bobby's first post, I trust they've removed the 112mph limiter.. :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 15 Jan 23 10:07   End of Police BMWs? - R.P.

I know one of the current crop of Volvo Police drivers. He hates it with a passion Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 15 Jan 23 10:42   End of Police BMWs? - Runfer D'Hills

I thought Volvos could only be driven at a steady 40mph? Or is that just the beige ones? Maybe white ones have a bit more of a range? ;-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 15 Jan 23 12:45   End of Police BMWs? - tyrednemotional

...I'm surprised you don't really see any Mercedes Benz police cars; though I believe there have been some complaints about their turning circle....... Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 10:49   End of Police BMWs? - Fullchat

"I know one of the current crop of Volvo Police drivers. He hates it with a passion" Strange that. The T5 saloons and estates were extremely popular as replacements to Senators and subsequent Rover 827s. However never having driven the later BMWs its difficult to benchmark. They look the part and have a certain poise. Last edited by: Fullchat on Mon 16 Jan 23 at 10:50 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 23:20   End of Police BMWs? - MD

T5 had/has the turning circle of a barge. My old Merc e320 could turn on a sixpence (as the old saying goes) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 15 Jan 23 11:38   End of Police BMWs? - Zero

>> Read the article. It seems Beemers are just not up to the stresses put upon >> them by the police, but fine for joe public. Its a pretty disingenuous article, Its the N57 Unit they had issues with which hasn't been produced since 2020, it was superseded by the B57 which was first produced in 2015 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 09:43   End of Police BMWs? - smokie

Interesting that this story emerged yesterday www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-64283859 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 10:52   End of Police BMWs? - Fullchat

Youtube link. youtu.be/Q_6Gn1rKNjo Last edited by: Fullchat on Mon 16 Jan 23 at 10:53 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 12:45   End of Police BMWs? - John Boy

Interesting video, but why is there no engine braking with a 5cylinder engine? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 13:35   End of Police BMWs? - R.P.

Shame resally. They seem to have cornered the market. North Wales Police on passed me earlier, NWP have Volvos (nothing like the much loved T5s of yore) Seen a couple of Audi A6s - who knows what the future holds.. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 13:51   End of Police BMWs? - Dog

>>who knows what the future holds.. Trabant? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 14:27   End of Police BMWs? - Zero

Favourite police wagon round here is the M340i. An S3 or golf GTi wont lose them, and an S5 or S6 might gain some distance on a straight, it will soon be caught up on the twisty stuff. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 14:51   End of Police BMWs? - VxFan

After the Honda factory in Swindon stopped production in July 2021, less and less Honda police cars can now be seen in the South West of the Country. Newspaper reports previously mentioned they were buying at least 40 Honda vehicles yearly. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 15:07   End of Police BMWs? - bathtub tom

>> Interesting video, but why is there no engine braking with a 5cylinder engine? I wondered that, but he also said they were autos at one point. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 15:22   End of Police BMWs? - R.P.

My old V40 T5 CC (old school 5 cylinder 256 bhp) had a dreadful auto box, it didn't have any engine braking to speak of. Pretty good usable performance handling was bad. My 2019 V60 T5 CC (4 cyl 190 BHP) had a slightly better gearbox, and a little better after its Polestar chipping. Handling was dreadful compared to my 335xdrive. XC40 was a T5 mild hybrid whilst its hadling was very SUV it was better than the V60 and V40 - the gear-box was close to BMWs. I wouldn't buy a Volvo again for a number of reasons (not least the mumerous problems they have) Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 15:31   End of Police BMWs? - Zero

The ZF8 fitted to my G31 is an excellent performer when used in manual mode with good engine braking, I often use it to slow/balance speed through twisties. I use it to maintain a slower pace on steep downhill as well. Its also very intelligent in auto mode, usually if you flick a paddle shift in auto it will go auto again in about 30 seconds, unless you are going down hill where it will hold the gear you pulled till you hit the flat. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 15:33   End of Police BMWs? - R.P.

My wife's Mini has an excellent ZF gearbox. Totally seamless. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 16 Jan 23 16:02   End of Police BMWs? - smokie

When on highest setting, my KERS braking is adequately powerful that it will light up the brake lights when you lift off the Go pedal. I've got no gears to talk about though. :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 17 Jan 23 13:25   End of Police BMWs? - Slightlyfatdirector

The V90 petrol hybrid I have has two options with the auto box in Drive mode. D which is normal or B which significantly increases engine braking - that helps to top-up the battery. The auto gearboxes Volvo have been using for the last few years (I had a 2014 V70 previously) are very sluggish. If you really want to get going, you need to plan well ahead and wait whilst the car has a good think about whether it wants to reply to a firmly prodded right foot... Hey, it's not marketed as a sports car I guess.... The 9 speed auto gearbox on the Merc E class (2018/19 model) was exceptional. Always in the right gear with super-fast changes. I would not wish the Merc's on the Police though if the seating was anything like I experienced. So nice to back in the warm embrace of a proper Volvo seat... :) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 21 Jan 23 16:32   End of Police BMWs? - Boxsterboy

I saw a Surrey Police Merc E-class saloon - didn’t know Surrey Police used these, but maybe it’s a replacement for a knackered 5-series? Reply to this message | Report message