August 15, 2008
Information Times, a Guangzou-based newspaper, reported that a BMW car burst into flames and exploded on the road yesterday in Baiyun district, Guangzhou. A family of four who were in the car escaped from the fire without injury. Firefighters later arrived and put out the fire. A note under the article said a Mr Huang was rewarded 50 yuan for providing the news tip.
Googling 宝马自燃 brings up 57,500 results. Judging by the search results, there have been quite a few similar incidences reported in different cities in China.
In recent years, the brand BMW has become associated with the rich and privileged who can do whatever they want and get away with it. One of the most famous examples involved a woman driving a BMW that had a small collision with a tractor in Harbin in 2004. The BMW driver then ran over one of the peasants on the tractor, killing her. The BMW driver in initially got away with no legal punishment (see this Guardian story: Killing for scratch on BMW reveals China’s wealth gap
).
The bad reputation of BMW drivers continues; see for example this short news item from July 2008: Locals in Shenyang capture and deliver hit-and-run BMW driver.
More recently, BMW has been seen in the media involving in a series of disputes over the quality of its products and services (see this Danwei post about a dissatisfied customer towing his BMW with water buffalo).