BMW 5 and 6 series

BMW making disposable cars?

A reader sent us a link to an LA Times article letting us in on a very interesting predicament. BMW's rules for front-end body repair are so stringent that insurers don't quite know what to do with the poor cars when they incur damage to the front ends — and insurers subsequently junk the cars.

Evidently, the front-end construction of the BMW 5 and 6 series are so advanced that the building methods have more in common with those of airplanes than with other cars. This makes the vehicle very difficult and costly to repair. Additionally, only collision repair specialists who work at BMW dealerships are certified to repair the damage. These facts lead some critics to accuse automakers of building "throwaway cars," or vehicles that hit the junkyard at a much younger age than past models, prompting folks to revisit their dealerships more often than ever before.