6 August 2013

Federal Police explain their BMWs

| johnboy
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The AFP have felt moved to explain the BMW’s in Kevin Rudd’s entourage as he harrangues the rest of Government at all levels to buy Australian cars that aren’t good enough on their own merits:

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) would like to clarify media reporting in relation to the inclusion of BMW vehicles in the AFP’s dignitary protection fleet.

The AFP has a fleet of vehicles used for dignitary protection which includes both Ford Territory and BMW vehicles. The AFP requires a proportion of dignitary protection fleet to be armoured.

After an extensive selection and tender process, as part of the long term plan to upgrade the AFP dignitary Protection fleet, 5 BMW xDrive 50i armoured security vehicles were purchased in October 2010.

To convert an Australian manufactured vehicle to armoured requires significant customisation at a considerably greater cost than purchasing purpose built vehicles such as the BMW X5 xDrive 50i.

The AFP is confident the BMW armoured security vehicle is the most suited vehicle to fulfill the AFP’s operational responsibilities in protecting both Australian and foreign dignitaries.

Just as every other non-Australian built car in use elsewhere by Government was judged superior on price, features, or performance.

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Pork Hunt said :

PBO said :

dungfungus said :

Mark of Sydney said :

Wow, the specs on the BMW include ‘glass laminate approximately three centimetres thick to protect occupants against attack with automatic weapons such as the AK-47’.

I have no problem with the AFP buying these in preference to an expensively modified locally made vehicle but why is it that the plods get this level of protection while poor Kev (or Tony) has to ride in front in a tarted up Holden or whatever it is?

Silly police; AK-47s are banned so why go to the trouble? This is Australia and we don’t have all those type of problems that need cars to be armoured, do we?

Because you have never seen an AK-47 within our country therefore there are none here?

What a silly, silly, silly way of thinking.

You can still legally buy a .55 calibre Boys Anti Tank rifle (which makes an AK look flaccid) if you know where.

While automatic weapons have been illegal for private ownership in Australia since the 1920’s, it does not mean that there are none out there and to have that line of thought is ignorant.

PBO, please look up the word “sarcasm” in the dictionary and learn to recognize when it’s being used…

Touche’ and sorry, my bad for being unnecessarily rude. I had way too serious a day yesterday. I had to go sit next to a fat lady on a bus and start rolling my eyes and giggling profusly just to give the day a humorous twist.

Uh oh Clarkson won’t be happy. He’d say the gov’t should’ve bought armoured Range Rovers.

doesn’t the Prime Minister ride in a Statesman or Fairlane. I don’t think it’s bullet proof.
Why is only the The BMW’s bullet proof and not the Prime ministers car………….. Oh I see why

Diggety said :

Affirmative Action Man said :

That explanation is a load of crap. The Ford diesel Territory would do anything the X5 can do. In fact so would the Hyundai Santa Fe or Kia Sorrento.

Its simply a matter of status they would rather drive a Beemer than a Kia.

The Territory diesel wasn’t on the market at the time.

Oh the number of Territory’s I have seen with dropped lower ball joints resting against (or inside) the brake rotors. I love buying Australian made, but the Beemer is better suited to the task. My only question: did they really need 5 of them?

I was wondering when they were going to comment on this, the change seemed to happen shortly after Ford announced their plans to close. Curious whether Gillard at the time had nudged the CPP to swap vehicles so she wouldn’t have a constant reminder tailing her. Political or an operational decision?

PBO said :

dungfungus said :

Mark of Sydney said :

Wow, the specs on the BMW include ‘glass laminate approximately three centimetres thick to protect occupants against attack with automatic weapons such as the AK-47’.

I have no problem with the AFP buying these in preference to an expensively modified locally made vehicle but why is it that the plods get this level of protection while poor Kev (or Tony) has to ride in front in a tarted up Holden or whatever it is?

Silly police; AK-47s are banned so why go to the trouble? This is Australia and we don’t have all those type of problems that need cars to be armoured, do we?

Because you have never seen an AK-47 within our country therefore there are none here?

What a silly, silly, silly way of thinking.

You can still legally buy a .55 calibre Boys Anti Tank rifle (which makes an AK look flaccid) if you know where.

While automatic weapons have been illegal for private ownership in Australia since the 1920’s, it does not mean that there are none out there and to have that line of thought is ignorant.

PBO, please look up the word “sarcasm” in the dictionary and learn to recognize when it’s being used…

thebrownstreak692:01 pm 06 Aug 13

johnboy said :

The only problem with the bushmasters was they were so robust the support arrangements weren’t suitable for the extra roles they’ve taken on.

I’m all for buying Australia, but I’m even more for the australian product being world class.

Like this, for example…

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/39168F0C392E32EBCA257A52001F45C2

dungfungus said :

Mark of Sydney said :

Wow, the specs on the BMW include ‘glass laminate approximately three centimetres thick to protect occupants against attack with automatic weapons such as the AK-47’.

I have no problem with the AFP buying these in preference to an expensively modified locally made vehicle but why is it that the plods get this level of protection while poor Kev (or Tony) has to ride in front in a tarted up Holden or whatever it is?

Silly police; AK-47s are banned so why go to the trouble? This is Australia and we don’t have all those type of problems that need cars to be armoured, do we?

Because you have never seen an AK-47 within our country therefore there are none here? What a silly, silly, silly way of thinking.

You can still legally buy a .55 calibre Boys Anti Tank rifle (which makes an AK look flaccid) if you know where.

While automatic weapons have been illegal for private ownership in Australia since the 1920’s, it does not mean that there are none out there and to have that line of thought is ignorant.

HiddenDragon said :

Mark of Sydney said :

Wow, the specs on the BMW include ‘glass laminate approximately three centimetres thick to protect occupants against attack with automatic weapons such as the AK-47’.

I have no problem with the AFP buying these in preference to an expensively modified locally made vehicle but why is it that the plods get this level of protection while poor Kev (or Tony) has to ride in front in a tarted up Holden or whatever it is?

I’d say the tarted up Holden has had some serious modifications, too – whenever there is news footage of C1 rolling in to Parliament House, it sounds like a very heavy vehicle (although not quite in the same league as The Beast, of course).

Rudd has had the bulls*** detector removed because it kept defaulting “to limp home mode”.

HiddenDragon12:59 pm 06 Aug 13

Mark of Sydney said :

Wow, the specs on the BMW include ‘glass laminate approximately three centimetres thick to protect occupants against attack with automatic weapons such as the AK-47’.

I have no problem with the AFP buying these in preference to an expensively modified locally made vehicle but why is it that the plods get this level of protection while poor Kev (or Tony) has to ride in front in a tarted up Holden or whatever it is?

I’d say the tarted up Holden has had some serious modifications, too – whenever there is news footage of C1 rolling in to Parliament House, it sounds like a very heavy vehicle (although not quite in the same league as The Beast, of course).

Mark of Sydney said :

Wow, the specs on the BMW include ‘glass laminate approximately three centimetres thick to protect occupants against attack with automatic weapons such as the AK-47’.

I have no problem with the AFP buying these in preference to an expensively modified locally made vehicle but why is it that the plods get this level of protection while poor Kev (or Tony) has to ride in front in a tarted up Holden or whatever it is?

Silly police; AK-47s are banned so why go to the trouble? This is Australia and we don’t have all those type of problems that need cars to be armoured, do we?

HiddenDragon12:16 pm 06 Aug 13

Mmmm (that’s a Homer Simpson mmmm) – they had the Beemer wagons on Spooks, too – although in the somewhat sexier black.

“I guarantee that modifying Ford Territory, which is already slow and under powered, plus adding an extra 300kg of armour plating would render it virtually useless.”

Well, we are talking about October 2010 so the Territory Turbo would have been available. I don’t think it could be described as underpowered. Probably not the current V6 either. The diesel isn’t quick to 100km/h, but has a good top speed and diesels often accelerate much better within the gears, and cope better with heavy weight. Range also has to be taken into account – not much point in having a powerful armoured vehicle for powering away from trouble if it has to stop for fuel soon after.

Buying Australia can be more expensive and can come with compromises, e.g. submarines and Bushmasters. If the ADF can do it, why not the AFP in cooperation with every other Australian government agency that needs a similar vehicle?

IP

The only problem with the bushmasters was they were so robust the support arrangements weren’t suitable for the extra roles they’ve taken on.

I’m all for buying Australia, but I’m even more for the australian product being world class.

Mark of Sydney11:48 am 06 Aug 13

Wow, the specs on the BMW include ‘glass laminate approximately three centimetres thick to protect occupants against attack with automatic weapons such as the AK-47’.

I have no problem with the AFP buying these in preference to an expensively modified locally made vehicle but why is it that the plods get this level of protection while poor Kev (or Tony) has to ride in front in a tarted up Holden or whatever it is?

Affirmative Action Man said :

That explanation is a load of crap. The Ford diesel Territory would do anything the X5 can do. In fact so would the Hyundai Santa Fe or Kia Sorrento.

Its simply a matter of status they would rather drive a Beemer than a Kia.

The Territory diesel wasn’t on the market at the time.

One of these vehicles would have been handy for a certain AFP Assistant Commissioner about 20 years ago.

Affirmative Action Man said :

That explanation is a load of crap. The Ford diesel Territory would do anything the X5 can do. In fact so would the Hyundai Santa Fe or Kia Sorrento.

Its simply a matter of status they would rather drive a Beemer than a Kia.

It’s not a load of crap, as you can see http://www.bmw-security-vehicles.com/security_vehicles/en/newvehicles/X5Plus/X5Plus.html

BMW make purpose made vehicles, which have the correct suspension, engine management, brakes etc to work with the extremely heavy armoured panelling and windows.

This site states that the vehicle costs an extra $73,000 over the regular price of the vehicle – http://wardsauto.com/ar/bmw_x5_armored_080827, it is built from factory to handle everything that is thrown at it.

I guarantee that modifying Ford Territory, which is already slow and under powered, plus adding an extra 300kg of armour plating would render it virtually useless.

THEN on top of that resale value – you can get a lot more of the price back when selling the vehicle if it is a BMW then if it is a Kia. You might be spending $140,000 on it, but when you get back $70,000 or $80,000 you still have a lot more left in the bank then if you buy a Kia, $30,000, spend $70,000 on upgrading it, then being able to sell it for $10,000….

How does that look – BMW X5 – total cost $140,00 sell for $70,000 = a loss of $70,000
Santa Fe – Total cost $100,000 sell for $10,000 = a loss of $90,000.

But I like your idea, false economies are always a good thing!

Really mate….

Do you not understand the concept that they also need armoured vehicles and that the cost of such would deem the Territory, Kia Sorrento or the Hyundai unsuitable???? i mean really, understand the term value for money and then spout crap. it really annoys me that people are always looking for the cheapest option, but then complain when it doesn’t do what you want it to do, yet for a fraction more, the direct answer to your problem was available.. at a higher cost, but fulfilled your needs to the letter.
People always complain when the ACT Gov goes the cheapest option for fixing roads and there’s shite left over because the contractor isn’t obliged to remove, or there’s pot holes after rain… you get ..what you pay for.

Affirmative Action Man said :

That explanation is a load of crap. The Ford diesel Territory would do anything the X5 can do. In fact so would the Hyundai Santa Fe or Kia Sorrento.

Its simply a matter of status they would rather drive a Beemer than a Kia.

Well the Germans know a thing or two about protecting arsehole heads-of-State, so I guess it makes sense.

Affirmative Action Man10:41 am 06 Aug 13

That explanation is a load of crap. The Ford diesel Territory would do anything the X5 can do. In fact so would the Hyundai Santa Fe or Kia Sorrento.

Its simply a matter of status they would rather drive a Beemer than a Kia.

Umm. BMWs are simply a better vehicle for this purpose?

Wild guess I know….

Spot on.

The AFP bought 5 vehicles that were fit for purpose. And value for money. Slow news day for the media. Nothing to see here, move along.

If be more than happy for them to spend a little extra to support our “failing Australian car industry”. But instead they support an overseas vehicle but maintain that throwing money at car manufacturers left right and center is a viable option. Next time the government asks me to support Australian made products I’ll use the old “the overseas product is better suited to my needs” line like they have. Fairs fair!

Where’s Arnie’s Hummer when we need it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSz_lnPaX38

Just as every other non-Australian built car in use elsewhere by Government was judged superior on price, features, or performance.

The sentence sums it up pretty bloody well. If “We can’t use an Australian vehicle because it would cost more” is a valid reason to avoid the new directive, I guess it won’t be helping the Australian Car Industry all that much after all.

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