In the next Batman movie– do you have any doubt it’ll happen?—-you just might hear Robin say: “Holy hot wheels, Batman! We don’t need the bulky, heavily armored Batmobile for this caper. Let’s take the light-armored BMW 540i Protection instead. Besides, it’s more fun to drive.”
That interchange is a possibility because, starting in June, the Caped Crusader and his faithful companion, and anyone else in the U.S. with $88,900, will be able to buy a 540i Protection, making BMW the first automaker to sell a factory-built light-armored vehicle here, and the first to build such a vehicle on the production line alongside its regular models.
The 540i Protection signals a trend in the vehicle-armoring business, which once primarily provided a heavy-duty security blanket to royalty and heads of state, but is moving “downscale,” so to speak, offering less-expensive protection to heads of corporations more worried about carjackers and random violence than assassins or terrorist groups.
It is a trend noted by the highly respected aftermarket provider O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Co. of Cincinnati, a subsidiary of the Kroll-O’Gara Company.
In the 1970s, most of its customers were governments that wanted heavy-armor vehicles to protect against terrorists, says Bill O’Gara, president of Kroll-O’Gara. But in the 1990s, a growing number of its customers are corporate heads or wealthy entrepreneurs interested in light-armor personal vehicles that can protect them against crime and random street violence.
In 1997 alone, the company saw a 150 percent increase in sales of light-armor packages for popular luxury sedans and sport-utility vehicles, O’Gara says.
“We are also starting to see a pick-up in activity and interest in the U.S.,” says O’Gara. “The numbers in aggregate are not what I would call compelling, but by comparison to what we used to see, it’s quite a dramatic change.”
In the early ’90s, the company would sell one or two cars a year to a corporate customer for domestic use, he says. In 1997, that number was 20 to 25 vehicles.
In another nod to this trend, Mercedes-Benz has introduced light-armor models, the E320 and E430, but they are manufactured differently and will not be available in the U.S.
BMW’s production-line approach at its Dingolfing plant in Germany marks a significant change in the way light-armor vehicles are built. Previously, armoring was done by aftermarket firms such as O’Gara. Production vehicles were built, then taken to an armoring company that literally tore them apart and put them together again in a more macho and protective version of their former selves.
The 540i Protection will have the same 4.4-liter, V-8 engine as the 540 standard production sedan and comes with the five-speed automatic transmission. The light-armor 540i looks almost identical to the standard-production model. And it comes with the same features, such as BMW’s dynamic stability control, electronic damper control, automatic air conditioning and sun blinds.
And, thanks to a relatively small increase in curb weight ( less than 300 pounds), BMW says only minor suspension modifications have been made, giving the car almost the same handling and performance as the standard-production model.
The primary difference is the protection it offers–protection that goes beyond seat belts, air bags and belt pretensioners to guard against another kind of threat: crime. BMW is using bullet-resistant security glass and specially integrated, contoured aramide fiber to armor all doors, as well as the rear luggage compartment bulkhead, passenger foot wells, wheel housings, roof and pillars. This technology is designed to resist a bullet from a .44 Magnum.
An optional intercom system is available so drivers can communicate with people outside the car without having to open the front side windows. An additional option are special run-flat tires that allow the driver to keep going for miles at speeds of up to 50 m.p.h. even when a bullet has been fired through the tires and all the air has escaped.
“We see our target customers being successful entrepreneurs, high-worth investors or customers who need that added security–because of their profession or status–but who want to drive themselves and don’t want to give up any driving fun or driving capability that the 5-Series is noted for,” said Ed Hightower, 5-Series manager.
BMW executives thinks the company can get some of the market for light-armored vehicles with better results than the traditional aftermarket provides.
The most important advantage of armoring on the production line is quality, Hightower says. The car does not have to be taken to a specialist coachbuilder after leaving the factory, taken to pieces again, re-welded, fitted with new body-protection components, and equipped with security glass, protective mats and other special security features.
“You’re never going to get the same quality,” he contends.
Second, buyers can walk into any BMW dealership to order the vehicle. And, since it is outfitted on the production line, it saves the extra time involved in aftermarket armoring. “Then they have the warranty and service support of a major manufacturer. That is something they cannot get today,” Hightower says.
Hightower declined to give sales projections, but says BMW sees the less expensive, light-armor vehicle market as somewhat larger than the market for heavy-armor vehicles because of the lower cost. Worldwide, BMW estimates the light-armor market at about 6,000 to 8,000 units with about 25 percent of that market in the U.S.
At least one industry analyst sees social significance in the trend toward light-armor cars.
“I find a certain sense of humor in this. I’ve been waiting for this to happen,” said Jay Houghton, manager of marketing for automotive industry consultants A.T. Kearney Inc., in Southfield, Mich.
“I tend to look at it from the cultural side,” he adds. “Cars are made for the people who buy them. If the auto industry is changing, that must mean the people who are buying cars are changing. The whole industry is headed strongly toward making cars an extension of the household fortress. And the reason for people feeling like they want to live in a fortress has to do with (worldwide) political instability and the fragmenting of the social fabric.
” . . . All you’ve got to do is see that film clip of that guy in the Los Angeles riots hit with a brick and you begin to think `Gee, wouldn’t I like to have an armor-plated vehicle.’ “
Houghton compares it to the peace of mind people get from buying flight insurance.
“The chance of getting hit by lightning is higher than dying in a plane crash,” he says. “But why do people buy insurance? Because it makes them feel better.”
What does the future hold for the light-armor business?
Perhaps steady growth. O’Gara, for example, is investigating development of an even more lightly armored vehicle for the U.S. and Latin American markets that deters bricks and rocks . This package may have window protection, added door-lock security, protected tires and global-positioning systems.
HOW THE 540I’S MEASURE UP
Here’s how the four-passenger BMW 540i sedan with armoring measures up to the regular 540i that will carry five people. %%
541i Armored 540i
Base price $50,500 $88,900
Wheelbase 111.4 inches 111.4 inches
Length 188 inches 188 inches
Width 70.9 inches 70.9 inches
Height 56.5 inches 56.5 inches
Weight 3,803 pounds 4,056 pounds
Engine 4.4-liter V-8 4.4-liter V-8
Transmission 5-speed automatic 5-speed automatic
Horsepower 282 unds
Fuel economy 18 m.p.g. city/ 18 m.p.g. city/
24 highway 24 highway
Maximum pass-
engers,luggage 1,014 pounds 794 pounds %%
