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BMW Driver Finds Out His Car Isn't Submersible, Ends Up Getting Towed

Summer’s still in full force, so driving your four-seater cabriolet made by BMW on a sunny day can’t be a bad idea. Well, it most likely depends on the road you’re about to go on. Unfortunately, this 1 Series owner found out pretty quickly that you shouldn’t drive fast through waters. He had to stop. Here’s what happened.
BMW 1 Series in the Rufford Ford 8 photos
Photo: Tom Sunderland on YouTube
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BMW made the 1 Series Cabriolet E88 starting from 2008, thinking people would like a small two-door four-seater vehicle for open-top fun and relaxed driving. Couples and families with small children surely knew how to take full advantage of what this German vehicle had to offer.

It was priced relatively well, and, at the time, it represented an attractive offer. After all, it had those seats seats in the back that could be used by kids or as an extra storage space, enough engine options, some clever additions like a smart A/C system, and that cool white-blue badge.

But some people trust their German-made cars way too much. This driver, for example, took his vehicle through the famous Rufford Ford that’s found on, as you might’ve guessed already, Rufford Lane in Nottinghamshire. The BMW 1 Series he drove is equipped with a two-liter diesel engine that sends power only to its back wheels. It develops enough torque (221 lb-ft/300 Nm) to make anyone confident in their abilities. Some fun in shallow water couldn’t hurt, right? Wrong.

The driver pressed the acceleration pedal too confidently as he entered the area. He reached the deepest point of the ford, and that’s when things started to become worrying. The water rose above the hood and into some of the car’s components.

He made it through but had to stop shortly after. A Ford Mach-E passes the BMW driver with haste, which shows why people in some areas like crossovers and SUVs so much. The man opened the hood and tried to start it again. This action rendered no result.

The 1 Series, eventually, had to be towed. The driver wasn’t able to do anything on the spot. Water may have caused some serious damage. Someone else looked under the hood and said, “there’s a fair bit of water in there.” That’s not what you want to hear, especially as hydro locking or water seizing your engine can be extremely expensive to fix.

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About the author: Florin Amariei
Florin Amariei profile photo

Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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