BMW was out testing its prototype for the new 2011 X3 in New York with Head of Production Planning Martin Birkmann being the fellow doing the testing (which would be an awesome job by the way). Birkmann made a pretty big error in judgment by deciding to leave the X3 prototype by Central Park with the engine running.
In case you haven’t heard (and if you haven’t you really need to read or watch the news more often) New York is very much on high alert after a bombing attempt last week in Times Square where a bomb was left in an SUV with the engine running. So naturally, the people of New York are a bit jittery and will definitely take notice of suspicious vehicles.
Since the X3 is still in prototype phase and since BMW annoyingly loves to put camouflage over all its new upcoming products so bloggers like myself don’t out the product before an official reveal, the X3 had said camouflage and naturally stood out like a Hummer at a climate change convention. New Yorkers aren’t generally used to test mules around their parts as well, so it may not have been immediately apparent that this situation was just BMW innocently testing its new product. A woman walking her dog did indeed pick up on the peculiar looking SUV and so she called the cops who promptly arrived, cleared the area and cautiously investigated the X3.
Obviously they did not find anything but the X3 had its rear window smashed in the bomb finding process.
Lesson learned for Birkmann!
[Photo Credit: New York Daily News]
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently investigating the 2005 and 2006 Mercedes-Benz E-Class for a wiring harness issue that could prevent the airbags from deploying in a collision. There are about 100,000 vehicles that could be affected if a recall notice is issued, and NHTSA says that it’s received four complains of failures of the wiring harness, though there have been no reported injuries as a result of the issue.