Armored 7 Series

[Lalithster]

as a BMW owner of course Im proud of this, however Im surprised the tires are flat. Even the 3-series BMW come with run-flat tires. IF you're going to go to all the trouble of armor palting a car why not put on run flats? Pictures remind me of the 7-series from 007. I wonder if the timing had to do anything with the release of the new 007 movie... lol

[miniace]

ok, I just saw that the driver was hurt and the V*P had a gash in face, I assumed there was some penetration. Could just have been an interior panel comning lose. IMHO the armor did its job, I only wish the hoses/electricals in the bay had some protection (steel or kevlar brading) so the car could've been driven a lil longer (and ofcourse run-flats). Do you know what kinda engine it had?

I agree with you on testing the car, it seems like the terrorists were testing the limits of the armor, hope the govt. can remedy the situ fast.

I am looking at ur pics; is the location of the fire where the 3wheeler was? or did a nearby car catch fire?

No...Its the 300- corolla 110 fire.

Engine, if im not mistaken a 5.4litre V12 320+bhp.will varify this tomorow.

The protection of engine bay is mainly Aramide ,a unique, lightweight fiber that is highly resistant to penetration by bullets and other foreign objects along with carbon fibre and Kevler shells.

Although the tyres look flat( Run-flat tires) are designed to maintaini a speed of up to 80 kmph.This was tested locally manytimes.

[Hola]

It was my dad who had the car at the time, as I was in the states. He had gone to moratuwa for some thing, i think it was to buy fish. he didnt see the water going back so had no idea there was going to be a tsunami. When the water rose, people started running, and he got in the car to take off quickly. He couldnt move the car as there were people everywhere. Just then the first wave hit and the car sort of lifted up. First wave was kinda small, so my dad just got down and ran for it. I think after some time he looked back and he just saw the car being trashed by the second wave. The next day he returned back to see wat happened, and there was the car, washed away about 10km from its original place. It had gone through some parapet wall and ended up in someones garden. Leather was totally brown n murky. a couple of dents here n there, nothing major. other than mud stuck in everything including the grille and chrome. Well the car was condemned and tht was the last we saw of it. well a year later we see it on the road, in perfect condition.Turns out that the car was cleaned and the radio was changed.Thats it. They didnt touch anything from the engine. After that it was sold. I think this story would be good for a hyundai advertisement. But this is wat you call good build quality

and keeping in mind we must think twice when you advertise your car here

[The Don]

i dont think standard run on flat tyres are of any use though, cos the blast will destroy the rubber anyway, as miniace said i think it is a differnt form of run on flat tyre which probably existed long time before run on flat was introduced for consumer use.

I am pretty curious as to how the Armoured Hindustans that the indian V*P's ride arround on will stand up to this sort of an incident.

[tuk tuk]

No...Its the 300- corolla 110 fire.

Engine, if im not mistaken a 5.4litre V12 320+bhp.will varify this tomorow.

The protection of engine bay is mainly Aramide ,a unique, lightweight fiber that is highly resistant to penetration by bullets and other foreign objects along with carbon fibre and Kevler shells.

Although the tyres look flat( Run-flat tires) are designed to maintaini a speed of up to 80 kmph.This was tested locally manytimes.

Damn! Thanks for the scoop man; you seem to be well informed. Good stuff!

[dhp]

i dont think standard run on flat tyres are of any use though, cos the blast will destroy the rubber anyway, as miniace said i think it is a differnt form of run on flat tyre which probably existed long time before run on flat was introduced for consumer use.

I am reffering to the metal/hard plastic inner ringed run-flats that maintain some radius even when all air is gone. These can do upto 50mph for about 10miles or so (u just loose some cornering handling as the side walls lose their infation, but overall radius only goes down only about 1-1.5 inches)

Edited December 4, 2006 by dhp

[Gummybr]

I am reffering to the metal/hard plastic inner ringed run-flats that maintain some radius even when all air is gone. These can do upto 50mph for about 10miles or so (u just loose some cornering handling as the side walls lose their infation, but overall radius only goes down only about 1-1.5 inches)

BMW has the runflats with metal ring inserts, can tel you more but dont you think its not good to give in info on security??Specially the armouring, engine and stuff?? I think the impact would have been bigger if the bomber got closer to the vehicle, but luckily the ever alert security folks made a barrier between the car and the bomber thus minimising the damage.

Thats all I will say no more knowing that it will be bad for the government for info to go out thereby helping the terrorists.

[miniace]

BMW has the runflats with metal ring inserts, can tel you more but dont you think its not good to give in info on security??Specially the armouring, engine and stuff?? I think the impact would have been bigger if the bomber got closer to the vehicle, but luckily the ever alert security folks made a barrier between the car and the bomber thus minimising the damage.

Thats all I will say no more knowing that it will be bad for the government for info to go out thereby helping the terrorists.

Certainly! I do have lot of interesting info about the car about the incident some very sensitive info but as Gummybr mentioned ,that will do lot of damages to ongoing investigations and will give good info to terrorists too.

One clarification to Gummybr post.The LR Defender never came as a barrier.It was as i mentioned was positioned at "seven O clock".It is found that the three wheeler was only 3 meters from the BMW and well within the lethal range.Its none other than the custom BMW did the honors!

[dhp]

BMW has the runflats with metal ring inserts, can tel you more but dont you think its not good to give in info on security??Specially the armouring, engine and stuff?? I think the impact would have been bigger if the bomber got closer to the vehicle, but luckily the ever alert security folks made a barrier between the car and the bomber thus minimising the damage.

Thats all I will say no more knowing that it will be bad for the government for info to go out thereby helping the terrorists.

I agree, you shouldn't give out any compromising info...

I am a lil ticked that a country like SL is or planning on purchasing armored bimmers and rovers when they use Chevy’s and Fords in the US. I understand that the latter are LHDs but the price difference in MSRP itself is more than enough for the RHD conversion + the maintenance and repair costs.

IMHO, an SUV is easier to armor than a sedan, flatter contours are easier to follow with armor! the hood sits high enough to be above a 3wheeler bomb's blast zone. also, SUVs can have entire armored cabins built into them and there's ample space and choices for an engine upgrade if necessary to handle any extra weight. Also an SUV is easier to enter and exit and can carry more security personnel. Also an armored SUV provides more cover (DOH!).

I am very loyal to the particular Bavarian bloodline but I still don’t think that its the most practical or effective choice for a public official in country such as SL.

on the soap box : I think that there's enough expertise and ingenuity within our borders to solve our security (technical) needs, instead we always have to resort to some covert (often foreign) business dealing. Maybe because the people who broker these dealings would have more transparency if they were dealing with any local or even a more practical method.

there...I am done venting...

[sharkster]

no offense to you boys and i respect your non-disclosure policy but i'm sure the terrorists would have done their own research on armour... armoured BMWs are common in europe and with their people in high places it isn't hard to study such an example... don't you think?

[dhp]

no offense to you boys and i respect your non-disclosure policy but i'm sure the terrorists would have done their own research on armour... armoured BMWs are common in europe and with their people in high places it isn't hard to study such an example... don't you think?

I would suspect that terrorist group that’s been in operation for so long and conducted more suicide attacks than anyone else in the world would have developed an intelligence network that extends beyond a few forums. However, we should not talk specifics about any certain car or it's limitations....why make things easier for these barbarians?

Having said that, I feel like this was almost a half-baked attempt (Thankfully!), after all the V*P did have to exit his bubble and was vulnerable for a few seconds. Thankfully there was no second wave [plan B]

Maybe they were on a fishing expedition as someone suggested. Only, a suicide bomber has to only succeed once to obtain his/her goal while the military has to be successful 100% - the inherent odds of fighting suicide bombers, esp. when the LTTEs willing to expend so many of their own..

at least its not Brazil

Edited December 5, 2006 by dhp

[sharkster]

at least its not Brazil

LOLLL i need to send that thread around

[dhp]

LOLLL i need to send that thread around

if it was that bad in Brazil, u would think that ppl would drive inconspicuous cars...they must be related to Sri Lankans

[miniace]

no offense to you boys and i respect your non-disclosure policy but i'm sure the terrorists would have done their own research on armour... armoured BMWs are common in europe and with their people in high places it isn't hard to study such an example... don't you think?

Sharky,our examples are lot different than the models available in open market.These are custom BMW 750iLxs and S500is.Few of the same are sold to a latin American country.

Some options an features are unique to sri Lanka.Terrorists know this as they are good with their homework,Thats the reason why they wanted to test the example.Some say Terrorists missed the target and lot belive they did not.They battle tested the machine for their future reference.All the cars are made to specs given by an ex- Sri Lanka Airforce officer.Acoording to him, this is a minor attack compareing to the international NIJ (national institute of justice) standards issued on these cars.Both examples promise a lot.

[The Don]

Well DHP that country is also full of Fernando's De Silva's and Perera's too you know

[dhp]

Well DHP that country is also full of Fernando's De Silva's and Perera's too you know

LOL ur correct! its a shame cos I've wanted to party in RIO..I might need to pack some kevlar shorts too

[EXMAC]

ok, I just saw that the driver was hurt and the V*P had a gash in face, I assumed there was some penetration. Could just have been an interior panel comning lose. IMHO the armor did its job, I only wish the hoses/electricals in the bay had some protection (steel or kevlar brading) so the car could've been driven a lil longer (and ofcourse run-flats). Do you know what kinda engine it had?

I agree with you on testing the car, it seems like the terrorists were testing the limits of the armor, hope the govt. can remedy the situ fast.

I am looking at ur pics; is the location of the fire where the 3wheeler was? or did a nearby car catch fire?

a long time back i saw this programm on discovery... well come 2 think of it..... the programm was "extream machines" (EXMAC) where they had this episode on armour & stuff & they showed this guy who was (@ that time may be...) the most threatened president... and they showed an attempt on this guy, his armoured car was hit by a 1 or 2 RPG rounds 1 had gone straight through the engine, and even the inside of the car was messed up pretty bad (burnt & stuff), but the guy had escaped whithout any serious injuries..... guess wat they put in those really work..... if it can withstand a RPG hit.

but in a armoured car even if the tires r shot at they r able 2 go a certain distance whithout any probs....& the 1st areas they think of protecting when armouring the car is the most vulnerable areas like da tires, fuel tank, important valves, etc. thats pretty standard..... guess our guy's ordered our ones without those options..

[Blazin]

no offense to you boys and i respect your non-disclosure policy but i'm sure the terrorists would have done their own research on armour... armoured BMWs are common in europe and with their people in high places it isn't hard to study such an example... don't you think?

I know armoured cars are quite popular with celebrities in Europe, but I guess there are different levels of armouring. And i don't think the full bomb proof armouring is widely available in Europe. So I reckon the details of the full armored cars used by politicians is very sensitive information, and not many people will be able to find that sort of stuff out.

[Lalithster]

www.centigon.com

You can get anything armored from a Maybach to a landrover defender