[aaaaaaaaaz]

Currently it is rainy season in China (unfortunately in some region there is some flooding) and there were a lot of video went viral criticizing BMW (and sometimes MB)'s ability wade thru water, comparing to Audi, Range rover and other luxury car. Some jokingly say after the rain all the cars broken on the roads are BMWs.

a few examples.

https://v.douyin.com/iJYqYwDy/

https://v.douyin.com/iJYqAjM1/

https://haokan.baidu.com/v?pd=wisena...95733629338526

https://v.douyin.com/iJYqkExm/


Is it nonsense or is it true that BMW has less capability for its cars and SUVs comparing to similar luxury car in each segment?

[G30M]

BMW have their air intake very low to the ground in the engine bay

it then sucks in water into the air intake

water gets into combustion chamber

piston tries to compress air but then meets water instead

water does not compress

rods pistons cranks valves all get bent

also water gets into the oil lubrication system and everything is lubricated with water instead of oil

new engine

[G30M]

in fact just last month i was driving my toyota van through a flood and had to go around 2 dead BMWs

one of them was a X1 - i went home and googled the wading depth for the X1 - 25cm

in fact most BMWs have a listed wading depth of 25cm and the bigger SUVs are listed as 50cm

[GuidoK]

Look for rufford ford clips on youtube. They're famous.
BMW's do seem to score not so good when imitating a submarine....
Lots of clips of people totalling their car (waterlocked), and BMW's seem to suffer maybe more...

Then again, when confronted with such high standing water...maybe look for a different route.
All those peoples in those clips (and in those dodgy chinese links) are TOTAL IDIOTS....

Like already said, the air inlet on bmw's is usually pretty low, behind the kidney's, about in the middle hightwise.
The air inlet is pretty low because the front of the car is pretty low on bmw's platforms. The i6 (and i4 too) is slanted, so placed under an angle. Therefore the engine sits lower (lower gravity).
Lots of other cars have a platform that accomodates an upright inline engine, and have an air inlet almost at the top of their grille.

[gunsmoker]

Ùh, positioning the engine as low as possible for a low center of gravity and good aerodynamics is not something that helps navigate flooded areas. Is there any stats on corvettes, porsches, lotuses, lambos and other performance cars for that matter?

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by gunsmoker

Ùh, positioning the engine as low as possible for a low center of gravity and good aerodynamics is not something that helps navigate flooded areas. Is there any stats on corvettes, porsches, lotuses, lambos and other performance cars for that matter?

Porsches and lambo's do pretty well in that regard. Any car with a mid or rear engine does.
Not because the engine is that low, or even the air intake is that low, but the air intake is situated in the back, which means its located behind the bow wave and thus in much lower water.
It's the bow wave that sends all that water in the air intake in front engined cars. So if you want to wade through deep water with your front engined car, driving in reverse is the best thing to do.

Like I said, look up the rufford ford on youtube. hundreds of clips from different youtubers with all kinds of fails and you can make a whole study about how the water flows around cars going through too deep water. Some cars do unexpectedly well and some.....not so much

Rufford ford is now closed as it grew more and more a place where the local 4x4 club started to race through the water, which attracted huge crowds (lots of kids), but also started to cause dangerous situations, so the police acted on that.
The clips with ridiculously high water where people still think it's perfectly possible to cross were my favorite. So many cars totaled....

A BMW edition

[///MPhatic]

This isn't a BMW problem, it's an idiot driver problem. I hate to say it that way, but it is what it is. Yes, you can drive your 1989 Countach down your 15 mile pothole-riddled driveway most days, but there are undoubtedly better tools for that job.

I think maybe this Hilux with a few tweaks. It'd certainly get you noticed .

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

this Hilux with a few tweaks.

First and most common tweak to go through water: a snorkel.
And preferably a diesel. (no spark). Like the one in your picture I believe

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

First and most common tweak to go through water: a snorkel.
And preferably a diesel. (no spark). Like the one in your picture I believe

Yup, diesel, snorkel, lots of ground clearance, and quality/reliability on a scale BMW can only dream of.

Toyota + oil change every 6 months or 5,000 miles (whichever comes first) = vehicle forever.

[PhaceN52]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

Porsches and lambo's do pretty well in that regard. Any car with a mid or rear engine does.
Not because the engine is that low, or even the air intake is that low, but the air intake is situated in the back, which means its located behind the bow wave and thus in much lower water.
It's the bow wave that sends all that water in the air intake in front engined cars. So if you want to wade through deep water with your front engined car, driving in reverse is the best thing to do.

Like I said, look up the rufford ford on youtube. hundreds of clips from different youtubers with all kinds of fails and you can make a whole study about how the water flows around cars going through too deep water. Some cars do unexpectedly well and some.....not so much

Rufford ford is now closed as it grew more and more a place where the local 4x4 club started to race through the water, which attracted huge crowds (lots of kids), but also started to cause dangerous situations, so the police acted on that.
The clips with ridiculously high water where people still think it's perfectly possible to cross were my favorite. So many cars totaled....

A BMW edition

Hydrolock kicked in yo!






edit: aaaah the rods solo at 23:20 in the first video...

[DrFerry]

The Rufford Mill Ford (U.K.) BMW Edition video is very telling. Besides these BMW owners being absolutely crazy stupid by driving through 3+ feet of water, they must think their own cars are some sort of mobile boat. Hydro-Locking the engine occurs on BMWs because the air inlet is low down in the front spoiler - mere inches from the ground. If you're driving a BMW - or for that matter most any "car" - don't drive through deep water. Water can also be sucked up in the exhaust pipe. Enough said. PS: Yes, even the X series BMW "SUVs" are sucking induction air in from the front spoiler inlet.
.

[Anderson11]

For UK drivers BMW should add "submarine mode" to the Executive Package.

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by Anderson11

For UK drivers BMW should add "submarine mode" to the Executive Package. Stu

Perhaps.. it's one solution, but if they did then these types of crazy U.K. BMW owners would think they could drive underneath the polar ice caps like Red October. As Forest Gump once said, "stupid is as stupid does". Painful to watch those vids above.

[Marcoose]

Weird. There's a small creek before the ranch. Now and then it's a bit high. With the old E85 Z4, wifey and I crossed it dozens and dozens of times, water easily to the wheel hub. Never ever had not even a single sputter.