By Kim Jae-heun
Police searched the local office of BMW, Thursday, sending some 30 investigators to find out whether the company concealed defects in their vehicle which led to dozens of engine fires.
The search took place 21 days after 21 BMW car owners filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against the local unit of the German carmaker, Aug. 9.
Police so far have looked into BMW-related documents through cooperation with the relevant authorities, including the transport ministry, but this was the first time they used forcible measures to secure material.
"We are securing evidence related to the case in an effort to find the facts behind the consecutive fires," a police official said.
Police are particularly looking for records of internal meeting and documents related to defects in the vehicles' exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) valves and coolers, which are suspected of being the cause of the fires.
Prior to the probe, BMW explained to the authorities that they recently found a defect in the EGR system through experiments they conducted with car engines that had caused similar accidents in Europe in 2016.
However, BMW declined to provide further data requested by the police, raising suspicions that it was concealing important documents related to the fires.
According to the National Fire Agency, nearly 60 BMW cars have caught fire this year.
BMW Korea Chairman Kim Hyo-joon was summoned to a National Assembly's session, Tuesday, for questioning but he failed to answer most of the inquiries from lawmakers, saying he did not know much about the defects as he was not a technician.
Police searched the local office of BMW, Thursday, sending some 30 investigators to find out whether the company concealed defects in their vehicle which led to dozens of engine fires.
The search took place 21 days after 21 BMW car owners filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against the local unit of the German carmaker, Aug. 9.
Police so far have looked into BMW-related documents through cooperation with the relevant authorities, including the transport ministry, but this was the first time they used forcible measures to secure material.
"We are securing evidence related to the case in an effort to find the facts behind the consecutive fires," a police official said.
Police are particularly looking for records of internal meeting and documents related to defects in the vehicles' exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) valves and coolers, which are suspected of being the cause of the fires.
Prior to the probe, BMW explained to the authorities that they recently found a defect in the EGR system through experiments they conducted with car engines that had caused similar accidents in Europe in 2016.
However, BMW declined to provide further data requested by the police, raising suspicions that it was concealing important documents related to the fires.
According to the National Fire Agency, nearly 60 BMW cars have caught fire this year.
BMW Korea Chairman Kim Hyo-joon was summoned to a National Assembly's session, Tuesday, for questioning but he failed to answer most of the inquiries from lawmakers, saying he did not know much about the defects as he was not a technician.
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