What The Heck Is Going On With BMW And Mercedes Brakes In China?

Both companies have had SUVs stopped at the port.

Trade tensions with China have been heating up in the past several months, causing issues for imported cars entering China. We have already seen Ford experience holdups at the Chinese port and now both BMW and Mercedes have experienced issues, according to Automotive News. All of the SUVs that were held at port were built in the US either at Mercedes' plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama or BMW's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, which may partially explain the holdup.

Reports indicate that Mercedes GLS and GLE models built in the US between May 4 and June 12, 2018, may have a "safety risk," according to a Chinese customs document. Authorities in Shanghai claimed that the rear brakes on the cars were "insufficient." BMW similarly had to hold cars at the Chinese port, though this issue was in regards to a recall of approximately 19,000 X3 and X4 vehicles. The recall affects vehicles built between mid-April to the end of June and was triggered by faulty brakes from a supplier.

Both BMW and Mercedes are working to rectify the respective issues so the SUVs can be sold in China. These may be minor issues, but with the current trade tension between the US and China, little issues like these may be more highly scrutinized when the cars in question were built in the US.

What The Heck Is Going On With BMW And Mercedes Brakes In China?

Both companies have had SUVs stopped at the port.

Trade tensions with China have been heating up in the past several months, causing issues for imported cars entering China. We have already seen Ford experience holdups at the Chinese port and now both BMW and Mercedes have experienced issues, according to Automotive News. All of the SUVs that were held at port were built in the US either at Mercedes' plant in Tuscaloosa, Alabama or BMW's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, which may partially explain the holdup.

Reports indicate that Mercedes GLS and GLE models built in the US between May 4 and June 12, 2018, may have a "safety risk," according to a Chinese customs document. Authorities in Shanghai claimed that the rear brakes on the cars were "insufficient." BMW similarly had to hold cars at the Chinese port, though this issue was in regards to a recall of approximately 19,000 X3 and X4 vehicles. The recall affects vehicles built between mid-April to the end of June and was triggered by faulty brakes from a supplier.

Both BMW and Mercedes are working to rectify the respective issues so the SUVs can be sold in China. These may be minor issues, but with the current trade tension between the US and China, little issues like these may be more highly scrutinized when the cars in question were built in the US.

The New Bentley Bentayga V8 Features The World’s Biggest Brakes

The smaller engine will make the V8 Bentayga cheaper than the flagship W12 model, but still by no means “affordable”.

When the Bentley Bentayga was first revealed in 2016, it set a new benchmark for performance and luxury in SUVs. At the time, it was the fastest SUV in the world before the Lamborghini Urus arrived on the scene last year. Bentley has now expanded the Bentayga range with a new V8 gasoline model, and while it isn’t a rival to the Urus in terms of performance, it should at least be cheaper than the extortionate W12 model - but still by no means what we would consider “affordable.”

No price has been revealed, but if you have to ask you clearly won't be able to afford it. Featuring a 4.0-liter displacement and a pair of turbochargers, the latest addition to the Bentayga family develops 542 hp and 568 lb-ft of torque. That may pale in comparison to the 6.0-liter W12 you get in the flagship model, but it’s still more powerful than the V8 in the previous Continental GT and has the same output as the Porsche Panamera Turbo. No prizes for guessing where the engine was sourced from, then. All that power is sent to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission from ZF, sending 60 percent of the torque to the rear axle.

The new V8-powered Bentayga can hit 0-62 mph in 4.4 seconds and tops out at 180 mph, compared to the four second sprint time and 187 mph top speed of its twelve-cylinder counterpart. In terms of design, the new V8 version of the Bentayga looks practically identical to its W12 and TDI siblings. It inherits the quad exhaust from the TDI, and can be specified with optional carbon ceramic brakes for the first time. According to the automaker, these are the largest brake discs to ever be installed in a Bentley and the largest front brake system available on any production car, measuring 440 mm with ten-piston calipers at the front and 370 mm at the back.

Red brake calipers for the regular iron brakes emphasise the Bentayga V8’s performance. 11 wheel designs are available, including an all-new 22-inch five-spoke design with black painted and polished finish. Inside, the V8 Bentayga’s swanky hand-crafted cabin has been updated with a new high-gloss carbon fiber trim replacing traditional veneer surfaces, along with an optional wood and hide trimmed steering wheel. There’s also a new “Cricket Ball” color option for the leather seats “inspired by the traditional and instantly appealing deep chestnut hue of a new cricket ball”, as well as a choice of 15 interior colours and five two-tone themes.

Manual Parking Brakes Will Soon Come To A Complete Stop

That means no more handbrake turns, not that we condone such behavior.

We've known for some time that the manual parking brake is being pushed aside in favor of electronic systems. And a recent study by CarGurus has put this into perspective.

While the slow disappearance of the manual gearbox has been followed with much interest, the manual parking brake has received far less attention. Now it appears that while we weren’t looking, a mere 37 percent of new cars sold in the UK are now fitted with one.

In truth, the benefits of going electronic are rather overwhelming, aside from the childish fun of performing handbrake turns in abandoned car parks, the electronic parking brake frees up valuable cabin space, doesn’t need adjusting, will engage every time you leave the car and cannot be accidentally engaged while on the move.

There is no parking brake cable to worry about either although the additional complexity of electronic systems may cause issues as the cars get older. There also isn’t consensus yet on how they should operate, some engage by pulling up on the lever while others don’t.

In the US, the situation is much the same, aside from a few diehards like the aging Nissan 370Z and some newer models like the BMW M2 Competition, Ford Mustang and Mazda Miata, we are staring down the barrel of a future without handbrake turns.

All may not be lost though, these are all enthusiasts cars and another thing they have in common is that they can also still be had with a manual transmission option. Perhaps the future of the manual parking brake is in the niche sports car market where it and the manual gearbox can live on for a while longer.