Title: BMW Fire Extinguisher Review - By OEMExtinguishers

[F87source]

Credit: F87Source



Introduction:

In this product review I will be taking an indepth look at the OEM BMW fire extinguisher kit for the BMW E Series and F Series BMW’s, and I will be going over the basics of fire extinguishers and their application in motor vehicles. I must also state that this is an OEM BMW part utilizing all OEM BMW equipment (Fire extinguisher, bracket, etc), but it is sourced and resold by a company called OEMExtinguishers based out of the US. The reason why it is sourced and resold by a third part company (OEMExtinguishers) is because you cannot actually order this part through BMW in North America, and it is likely due to the fact that the customs in order to import these from Germany is incredibly tedious and difficult - meaning BMW never bothered to bring them to North America. In fact customs are so difficult, that there is really only 1 seller for these BMW fire extinguishers that can actually ship to an address within North America - and that is OEMExtinguishers. So for anyone in North America who wants this fire extinguisher kit, you must order it from OEMExtinguishers (or their resellers), because you likely can’t get it anywhere else reliably (more on this later).


Here’s a compatibility list off of OEMExtinguisher’s website:

DOES NOT FIT F83, NO CONFIRMATION OF E93 AS WELL!

All F8X M2, M3, and M4

All F3X 3 and 4 series

All E9X M3's and Non M3's

All 1 series BMW's M or Non M

All 2 series BMW's M or Non M

BMW i3 and i8

E84 X1

F25 X3

F26 X4



Here’s a purchase link if you’re interested: https://oemextinguishers.com/collect...tinguisher-kit



Disclaimer:

Damage/Injury Disclaimer: Any information, guidance, technical advice, coding advice, tuning advice, datalogging advice, installation instruction, calculation, experiment, safety information, or product installation demonstrated in my reviews is to be consumed/read/understood/followed and or done at your own risk. I will not be responsible/held liable for personal injuries, injuries to others or any living being, or any damage to your car, or any property damage.

Monetary disclaimer: I do not make commission, or profits or any kind of monetary gain from the sale of the OEMExtinguishers BMW Fire Extinguisher kit.

Sponsorship disclaimer: The way my reviews work is that I determine what product that I want to buy and actually use on my own car, and during this process the product that I end up choosing is what I believe is the best option on the market. I then reach out to the company offering the product and ask them if they would be willing to sponsor me in a review, if the answer is yes then I write a review, if the answer is no I would end up buying the product (sometimes at a later date) but I wouldn’t complete a detailed review about it (I might write something, but not to the same extent as my standard reviews). But the critical thing is that I reach out for a sponsorship and not the other way around, this means that the products I am reviewing are actually things I believe in and would use on my own car. This also means that I am not being paid to review something I do not care about. Would I do a review if a sponsor reached out to me? The answer would depend on if I believed in the product, and I would make it clear in my review if this were the case. But at the time of writing this review, such an interaction has not occurred yet.


Time of writing disclaimer: everything I am writing about in this review is described at the time of writing and may not be updated in the future, so there is a potential that things are no longer accurate in my comparisons as parts are changed and upgraded as time passes.


Bias and comparison disclaimer: Throughout this review I will attempt to be as unbiased as possible while drawing comparisons to other products.


Mistakes and Inaccuracies Disclaimer: Throughout my review I will try to be as factually accurate as possible, but there are always chances that I make mistakes and write things that are incorrect/false. If this is the case please point it out to me and if indeed it is true that I am incorrect, I will correct these mistakes and apologize for them. Afterall I am only human, so mistakes can and will inevitably happen.


Subjective Disclaimer: Please note, these reviews are also written in my own opinion, so when I am comparing different products to determine what I see as the best, there are many factors that I go through to form this opinion. Obviously there will be disagreements between people, so I will do my best to objectively determine what I deem to be the best, but at the end of the day it is still just my own opinion whether it be right or wrong. Take whatever I say in my reviews with a grain of salt.


Information Disclaimer: I read a lot of material over the years just out of sheer interest or to make these reviews. I also accumulated a lot of knowledge over my many years of education that are really relevant to cars (Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics). That being said, my reviews are mostly based on this accumulated knowledge and I cannot always cite these sources due to the original source material possibly being lost to time, or there being so much knowledge compiled to make a single point. So, when possible I will cite my source(s) (for example data on tensile strength of a metal, or peer reviewed research). There are cases when I get information from blog posts, youtube videos, or forum posts I may not cite it, because I go through a lot of these sources only to use the gained knowledge in a small section of my review and it is not feasible to list them all. So pretty much what I am trying to say is I am not citing “common knowledge” - I will cite peer reviewed research and photos though (if applicable or used), or really explicit user experiences (if applicable or used).



Image Credits:

Images and videos used in this review are all property of their rightful owners as credited below each image, I am just using them for the purpose of this review but if you (the owner of the image) would like them removed please let me know via pm. Otherwise thanks to the respective image owners (I made sure to credit your online name and link where I found the photo) of the photos, without you this review would be so much more bland.



Review Disclaimer:

First and foremost I would like to thank OEMExtinguishers for agreeing to sponsor me for this review. Despite this I will remain as unbiased as possible during the review. Please note, the dynamics of this relationship was that I reached out for a sponsorship review and not the other way around. This should demonstrate how I truly feel about the BMW fire extinguisher kit by OEMExtinguishers - in the sense that I truly believe it is the best overall fire extinguisher kit available for our vehicles, and that OEMExtinguishers is one of if not the only reliable source to obtain this fire extinguisher. In fact I actually have this extinguisher installed on my own m2 as of now, and I really like the OEM quality and fitment of this kit.



Fire Extinguishers:
So let's begin this review by discussing the basics of fire extinguishers, and to do that we must begin by discussing how fires occur and how to stop them, and we will do so mainly in the context of a motor vehicle.


Fire Tetrahedron:


Credit: FireRescue1 https://www.firerescue1.com/fire-pro...Y7X5xagWZR5KQ/


A fire tetrahedron represents the 4 elements that must be simultaneously present for a fire to take place, and these elements are:

1) Heat: The material that is burning must be raised to its ignition temperature for a fire to start, this initiates the combustion process. In a vehicle the heat can come from numerous places, such as: hot exhaust, exposed wires that are sparking (in the event of an accident), hot brakes, etc.
2) Oxygen: Required to sustain the combustion event.
3) Fuel/Combustible Material: This is the material that is burning - for vehicles this can be: gasoline, engine oil, methanol, nitrous, other flammable materials.
4) Chemical Reaction: The chemical reaction between the fuel and oxygen resulting in combustion.

This is the fire tetrahedron, and if you remove any of these 4 elements, a fire will not be able to start and burn - and this is what fire extinguishers attempt to do.



Classes of Fires and Fire Extinguishers:

Despite seeming like a simple concept, fires are actually not all the same and can vary dramatically depending on what their fuel source is. The same can be said of fire extinguishers, as not all fire extinguishers are the same and not all fire extinguishers are capable of handling different types of fires. As a result, fires and fire extinguishers are often grouped into different classes like so:



Credit: Canadian centre for Occupational Health and Safety https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/safe...nguishers.html


As you can see these are the 5 classes (labeled A to K) of fires that we typically deal with, based on their fuel source, and cause. We can also see that fire extinguishers are also rated for the classes of fires that they can deal with - for example Type A extinguishers can only be used on type A fires, and Type A-B-C can be used for class A, B and C fires, etc. So in summary we have 5 classes of fire extinguishers, and fire extinguishers are rated for these classes of fires and may hold multiple ratings simultaneously.

Now for automotive enthusiasts like us, we would typically only have to deal with class: A, B, and C fires. This is because our BMW typically contain: flammable paper or cloth - class A fires, flammable liquids (gasoline, methanol, oils, grease etc) - class B fires, and live electrical equipment (cars have plenty of wiring, batteries, fuses etc) - class C fires. We also don’t normally have to deal with class K fires (as most BMW’s that see the track or spiritedly driven BMW’s don’t carry cooking equipment on board - pretty much we would only see cooking equipment on RV’s), and we don’t really see combustible metals like sodium, or lithium in high enough amounts to pose a huge issue on BMW’s with and internal combustion engine (but either way if a lithium fire were to occur no extinguisher will stop it) meaning we don’t really deal with class D fires either. So we would typically be looking for a fire extinguisher rated to deal with class A, B and C fires - keep this in mind so you don’t buy the wrong type of fire extinguisher for the job.



Fire extinguisher Types:

Now that we know the different classes of fires and types of fire extinguishers that are used to deal with them, lets talk a bit more about these individual fire extinguisher types.


Credit: Canadian centre for Occupational Health and Safety https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/safe...nguishers.html


The above table summarizes the different types of fire extinguishers available on the market, and the type of extinguishing agent used. Let’s further elaborate on pros and cons of the 3 main types of fire extinguishers (water, CO2, and dry chemicals):

Water:

Pros: Non-toxic

Cons: Water can freeze in extremely cold temperatures so it may not be ideal for use in winter climates, cannot be used to extinguish electrical fires, may spread liquid based fire so it cannot be used to extinguish class B fires.


CO2:

Pros: Non-toxic, no residue

Cons: CO2 displaces oxygen so in confined spaces it can suffocate you, CO2 extinguishers may struggle in high wind environments where they cannot displace enough oxygen to extinguish flames, CO2 extinguishers tend to snuff out flames by displacing oxygen but when the oxygen returns the flames can reignite if the fuel is still hot enough (smoldering embers for instance).


Dry Chemical:

Pros: It is the most common type of fire extinguisher agent and can be designed to target class ABC fires, very efficient at extinguishing flames as the blanket of powder can separate the fuel from the oxygen, and they powder stops chemical reactions.

Cons: Leaves residue, chemicals may be toxic, powder may damage motors and electronics.


So based on the summary table and the brief pros/cons of each fire extinguisher type, I believe it is fair to say that water based extinguishers should be avoided for automotive use as they are only capable of stopping class A fires. CO2 extinguishers should also be avoided since they are incapable of stopping class A fires (as they tend to snuff the flames out, but once the oxygen is returned the flames can reignite due to the fuel still being extremely hot). So dry chemical extinguishers designed to combat class ABC fires would be optimal for automotive use.




Size of Fire that an Extinguisher can Handle:

Now I would like to quickly explain what the numbers on a fire extinguisher’s type rating means, often you will see something like: 8A 34B C, and we already know what type A B and C mean, but what about the numbers? Well let me quote an article that will clearly explain this for you:

Originally Posted by QRFS (Quick Response Fire Supply)

Source: https://blog.qrfs.com/207-what-does-...nguisher-mean/


“The letters on a fire extinguisher’s label indicate which classes of fire it can effectively fight. For example, an extinguisher marked “1A:1B:C” could extinguish Class A, Class B, and Class C fires—if it’s big enough to tackle the blaze.

That’s where numbers come in. The numbers preceding the letters on the label indicate just how much fire the extinguishing agent—the powder, gas, or other fire-fighting material–can put out. As part of a fire extinguisher’s classification, the numbers on the label can mean either:

- How much water would be required to match the agent’s power against Class A fires

- The square footage of Class B fires the agent can extinguish

For each A, the extinguisher contains the equivalent of 1.25 gallons of water. Thus, an “8A” extinguisher fights Class A fires as well as 10 gallons of water (8 x 1.25 = 10), and a 40A extinguisher offers 50 gallons’ worth of firefighting power. For each B, the extinguisher can stop one square foot of Class B fires. A 10B extinguisher can stop 10 square feet of Class B fire, a 20B extinguisher can stop 20 square feet, and so on.”

So this explains what the numbers on the extinguisher itself means.



Why have a fire extinguisher:

Now that we know a bit about fires and fire extinguishers, let's briefly go over some compelling points regarding why someone would even want a fire extinguisher to begin with.

1) Track use:


Credit: Auto evolution https://autoevolution.com/news/bmw-m...92.html#agal_0


If you track your car some tracks require participants to carry a fire extinguisher, or else they will not be permitted to join the track day. So obviously you will need to bring a fire extinguisher in this case. Otherwise it would still be a good idea to bring a fire extinguisher, because cars are pushed extremely hard on the track. So there is always a chance that something could go wrong - accident, mechanical failure, fluid leaks etc. That could result in a fire breaking out. In this case seconds make the difference between saving a life or saving your car from irreversible damage (this is critical for track guys attending events uninsured - which I personally advise against since you risk losing everything). So in my opinion if you track your car, a fire extinguisher is mandatory.


2) Heavily modified cars:


Credit: Xchrisxxxx https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...67&postcount=1




Credit: Ok-Candle4672 https://www.reddit.com/r/BmwTech/com...p_ekpm_module/


Some of you guys/girls on this forum have very heavily modified cars pushing for huge power numbers - with heavily modified fuel systems, methanol injection, and potentially even nitrous. Well when you modify a car past factory specifications, you always run the risk of introducing reliability issues - and potentially introduce fire hazards. For instance methanol injection users who run extremely high concentrations of methanol risk cabin fires if the methanol leaks from the lines or the tank (crappy fittings - this is a huge concern for the really garbage meth kits that I see a lot of people using to save money, or roll over). Or those aftermarket fuel systems can run into issues if they draw so much power from the EKP and cause the wires and LPFP top hat to melt and potentially burn (F series N55 guys know exactly what I am talking about, and you can see examples of this in the images above) - but this is a risk for electrical fires. So it is nice to have a fire extinguisher on hand just in case, and you can stop any fires before they get to the point of damaging your car beyond repair - and no one that modifies their car would want this to happen, especially anyone that put significant money into their car.


3) Reliability issues:


Credit: 94boosted https://www.e90post.com/forums/showp...61&postcount=1

Sometimes BMW isn’t perfect and the car can have fire hazards - for instance on the early E series BMW’s the PCV heater would cause engine bay fires that destroy cars.



BMW Fire extinguisher:

Next let’s discuss the BMW OEM fire extinguisher.


Credit: F87Source



The OEM BMW fire extinguisher kit (fire extinguisher and bracket) has part number: 52100441113

It consists of a high quality 1L (~1kg of extinguishing agent) Jockel Mini Line Explorer PSF 1 JM8 ABC type fire extinguisher that weighs approximately 2.1 kg (spec sheet here: https://www.jockel.de/downloads/Auto...erloescher.pdf) that was made in Germany, and an under seat bracket. So what you are getting here is a reliable fire extinguisher made in Germany (so it’s not a low quality made in China part) trusted by a large billion dollar OEM in BMW, meaning you can be confident this extinguisher will work when it needs to be used. The fire extinguisher is also certified to combat type ABC flames as well, so you can rest assured it will be able to stop essentially any car fires that may occur (minus combustible metal fires or cooking fires etc).

But IMO the most critical part of this kit that greatly differentiates it from anything else on the market is the under seat bracket. This is because it was designed pretty well by BMW to not only fit in an area that is unobtrusive to the passenger and not affect seat operation, but it was also designed to secure the fire extinguisher in such a way that will allow quick easy releasing but still safely secure the extinguisher in the event of a massive accident without turning into a large deadly projectile. This mounting bracket by BMW also locates the extinguisher in such a region of the car that it is well protected from being damaged and contaminated by debris - this mitigates the chances of issues occurring meaning it will always be ready for use. This is why I really like OEM parts, the fitment is obviously going to be perfect, and it is actually designed and engineered to be safely installed and not fail during an accident. I cannot say the same thing about a lot of the alternatives on the market (more on this later) which in my opinion don’t look very well engineered aside from being designed to fit a spot and hold an extinguisher.


Import Difficulties:

Like I alluded to in the introduction, these OEM BMW fire extinguishers are very difficult to import here in North America - as customs are extremely tricky and that means BMW doesn’t bother to import them here for resale.This means OEMExtinguishers is really the only reliable source for getting these fire extinguishers in North America. Now you may be thinking there are other ways to get this that seem cheaper - say Ebay or Schmiedmann. But according to my discussions with OEMExtinguishers (who has independently messaged a vast amount of Ebay sellers and Schmiedmann) neither Schmiedmann nor 99% of the ebay sellers will ship to North America. And if they try to ship to North America and fail to declare the customs correctly, then your fire extinguisher will be seized.



Alternate Options:

Next I want to quickly discuss some alternate seat mount fire extinguisher brackets and fire extinguisher options on the market, and why I personally don’t think they are very good and opted out of them. I won’t be going over roll cage or chassis mounted fire extinguishers because they aren’t the same category of bolt in pnp and unobtrusive like this BMW OEM kit. This is because the roll cage kits obviously require a roll cage which not everyone has, and the chassis mounted ones require you to drill holes in the car - which isn’t ideal for everyone imo. Plus the seated mounted ones are the most convenient and easily accessible styles of fire extinguishers and the one that most people like to use.



So an alternative bracket I would like to discuss is the seat rail fire extinguisher brackets - and man do I personally dislike these options, and the reason why is I haven’t really seen one engineered properly before or not hold significant compromises.



Credit: Vudumonkey25 https://g87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&postcount=553


In this example I would like to talk about the kies seat rail style of bracket (as this is a very popular design) - and there are plenty of them out there that are like this. So what’s wrong with this bracket, well there are a multitude of issues with this style of bracket that I would like to examine.

1) Seat rail bolts: despite this bracket being very thin, it still acts as a spacer that prevents the original seat rail bolts from threading all the way down like they were intended and engineered by BMW. What this means is that a few threads on the factory bolt are no longer threaded into the floor, and you are losing some strength in the bolt and the overall clamping mechanism. Now whether or not this is an issue in the event of an accident, I have no clue, but personally I don’t want to risk my safety to use what I believe is a poorly engineered fire extinguisher bracket that doesn’t let the factory bolts thread all the way in (or provide longer bolts). This is further exacerbated when you realize that these style of brackets often protrude out over the floor mat - which themselves are not flat (it is even worse with rubber winter mats that have a very tall lip). This means if you have a very thick rubber floor mat (for example weather techs like what I personally have), it will force the bracket upwards and thereby “lever” against the seat rail creating even more space and prevent the seat rail bolt from threading even more than before. This poses even more a safety issue imo, and is not an ideal design choice and is the primary reason why I dislike these seat rail brackets so much.


Here are some images illustrating exactly what I mean:


Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



As you can see in the images above, the weather tech floor mats on my car stick up quite a bit, and if there were a bracket extending from the seat rails to above the floor mats, they would not be able to sit flush and it would try and wedge the seat upwards. So this is why I personally think these seat rail brackets are a bad design, and personally wouldn’t run them on my own car.


2) Obstruction: These style of seat rail brackets hold the fire extinguisher right by the passenger’s (or driver’s - depending on which seat you mount this to) feet, and as a result it can end up obstructing your feet which is uncomfortable. Also if you run a really large extinguisher and have the bracket set to the closest position to the seat, it can potentially prevent the seat from moving all the way forward again causing another issue with obstruction.


3) Corrosion, Contamination, and Damage: Since these brackets locate the fire extinguisher right on the floor, you risk corroding your fire extinguisher if you live in a country that sees a lot of snow and salts their roads. This is because you can track salty slush and gravel into your cabin, and this can get all over the fire extinguisher because it literally sits right next to your feet over the floor mats. Then if the paint on the fire extinguisher gets chipped because you accidentally kicked it on the way into the car, then you now have a corrosion problem. You can also risk contaminating the fire exintguisher’s nozzle, discharging handle, and safety pin with road debris (gravel, salt, dirt, etc) that you tract into your car after walking outside. This poses a problem where you can jam the handle or jam the extinguisher and prevent it from properly functioning if you need it to. Then the last issue is damage to the extinguisher from kicking it or dropping stuff onto it, or just getting debris onto it as described before. So this is another reason why I personally dislike the seat rail brackets.


Overall I really don’t think these styles of seat rail brackets are very well designed, or thought out. To me it just seems like a means to an end, where someone wanted to have a place to mount a fire extinguisher and this was the most convenient way to do it - regardless if it was a good idea or not. But your opinion may vary, this is only what I think and I could be absolutely wrong since I am basing my judgment on videos and images of these brackets and how they mount to the car. So don’t get me wrong I actually think I have seen some seat rail brackets that are designed differently to eliminate the issue of the floor mat wedging the bracket and seat rail upwards and I think even supply longer bolts - however the issue of passenger leg room obstruction and putting the fire extinguisher right on the floor (it’s in the open environment and susceptible to damage and getting dirty) is still an issue. So when it comes to the seat style mounting I prefer the under seat approach that BMW uses which steers clear from the seat rail itself.



Next I would like to discuss some alternative fire extinguishers, and really the only other commonly used option is the Element extinguisher (everything else is pretty much the same chemical style ABC type extinguisher that BMW uses).



Credit: ECS Tuning https://www.ecstuning.com/b-element-.../ele-e100~elm/


So in my opinion these element style extinguishers are very ingenious, they are small, very compact, are non-toxic, leave no mess behind, and even rated to combat class A B C K fires - which is even more than the type ABC extinguisher that BMW uses.

However, I was always concerned with how effective these things are - since I believe the way it works is to generate some sort of inert gas that displaces oxygen and thereby puts out the fire. This means it heavily relies on putting out a significant volume of inert gas to snuff out the flames, and for something like the element that generates this inert gas via what I think is a chemical reaction and not by storing the gas in a pressurized form, putting out a large volume of inert gas might be a challenge. This is because the chemical reaction might not generate sufficient volumes of this gas, and it might not have the necessary force to push this inert gas out a far enough distance to where you can safely operate the element extinguisher - meaning you have to get really close to the fire. I was also worried about how well this element performs in high wind situations, and if reignition would be an issue when oxygen is reintroduced - since there is no chemical to blanket the fuel source and prevent it from getting in contact with oxygen.


So let’s take a look at some tests on youtube from 3rd party independent reviewers not affiliated with Element - since any affiliation can introduce bias because I doubt they will show videos of their extinguisher struggling or failing to put out flames.



This one is a video showing: wood fires, gasoline and motor oil fires in a high wind situation:

So what you notice in this video is that the user had to get extremely close to the fires with the element extinguisher - which imo is not ideal because flames are extremely hot and you risk getting burnt. This is likely because the gas being generated by the element extinguisher isn’t being forced out hard enough. You also see on the gasoline and motor oil fires that the element was unable to put them out, likely due to the high wind affecting the element extinguisher’s ability to displace the oxygen. It even struggled against the wood fire and required the user to stomp on it to expose the internal embers. So overall this test really doesn’t look good for the element extinguisher and pretty much showed all of my concerns to be valid.

This video shows a firefighter testing the element extinguisher against grease fires and comparing it to a traditional fire extinguisher. So what you notice is in this situation the element is able to put the flames out, albeit it takes A LOT longer than a traditional fire extinguisher and you have to get significantly closer.



So overall I have mixed opinions on the element extinguisher, does it work? Sure it does, but does it work well? IMO it doesn’t work well enough that I would personally trust it to save my car if I ever needed an extinguisher. As you can see in the videos above the element extinguisher is slow, and extremely ineffective in high wind situations, and you need to get really close to the fire for it to be effective so not ideal if you want to stay safe or if the fire is really large. So IMO I personally wouldn’t waste my money on these element extinguishers because they do seem kind of ineffective, they would make nice extinguishers for interior use only as it doesn’t leave a mess - but since I think they are kind of slow it might not be worth it vs. a traditional extinguisher since every second counts when dealing with a fire.



In summary what I personally feel is that I don’t particularly like seat rail mounted brackets, and I prefer chemical ABC type extinguishers. So my personal preference is to get the OEM BMW extinguisher if I wanted an unobtrusive seat mounted kit, and if you were willing to mount it to a cage or the chassis you have more options.



Unboxing and Images:

Now let’s move onto the unboxing and images of the extinguisher itself:



Credit: OEMExtinguishers https://oemextinguishers.com/


This first image is of my own personal extinguisher as it was being packaged to be sent to me. Essentially what happens is OEMExtinguishers will take a photo of the extinguisher, bracket and all of its accessories before it is packaged up and sent. Then they will send you the photo so you know what you will be getting. I must also note that the extinguisher itself is also wrapped in A SIGNIFICANT amount of bubble wrap (like it was insane how much bubble wrap was used), to the point where you can throw the package from the 2nd floor onto concrete and nothing would happen to the extinguisher. So rest assured, the extinguisher will likely never be damaged in transport - regardless how rough the shipping company treats your package.




Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



So when you unbox the extinguisher itself here is what you will typically get with it (as shown in the images above):

1) Some candy - I received a few lollipops and a packet of skittles (they’re not in the photos because I ate them all while struggling to cut the extinguisher out of the bubble wrap, and while taking these photos haha. But thanks to OEMExtinguishers for the candy!)

2) An order sheet outlining what you purchased

3) 4 Self-tapping screws

4) The underseat genuine BMW bracket

5) The Jockel Fire extinguisher

6) Some stickers

7) Installation Guide

8) Booklet for track data

9) Printouts outlining the technical specifications of the BMW fire extinguisher


So overall the unboxing experience was very nice, everything was packaged extremely well and nothing was damaged.



Now let’s take a closer look of the extinguisher and bracket:




Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



So as you can see above, these are some images of the extinguisher, the bracket, and how the extinguisher fits into the bracket. The overall fit and finish of the bracket is excellent - as is typical with OEM parts, and it holds the fire extinguisher extremely securely (there is little to no play once clipped in). The bracket also has a little nub that slots into the extinguisher’s nozzle, this helps align/secure the extinguisher in the bracket and ensures the nozzle stays clean - so a nice touch. The bracket also has a small set of folded instructions taped to it, and I will show that in the section to follow.



Technical Information:

Next let’s move onto the technical information regarding these extinguishers, and to start I would like to show the instruction manuals (the large stack of printouts that come with this extinguisher), a translated version of the label on the extinguisher, and the instructions attached to the bracket.


Credit: OEMExtinguishers https://oemextinguishers.com/



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source

View post on imgur.com

Credit: F87Source




So what do we notice from these instructions:

1) The extinguisher is type ABC - meaning it is capable of handling the common types of fires we might see in automotive vehicles (A = Ordinary combustibles eg. wood, paper, cloth, B = Flammable liquids eg. gasoline, paint, oils, grease, C = Live Electrical Equipment eg. Electrical wiring, fuses).

2) 8A, 34B, C ratings: This means the extinguisher is capable of fighting Class A fires as well as 10 gallons of water (8A = 8 X 1.25 = 10 gallons of water), and the extinguisher is capable of stopping 34 square feet of class B fires (34B = 34 X 1 = 34 square feet). Read my section above called: “Size of Fire that an Extinguisher can Handle” to learn more about these calculations and ratings.

3) 2 year Inspections: Inspections of this extinguisher should be done every 2 years, where the pressure gauge should be checked to ensure the pressure is within the satisfiable range, etc.

4) Temperature range: The extinguisher is suitable for use and storage in temperature ranges from -30C to +60C. This means the extinguisher should be able to live in your vehicle year round without issue, and it should be able to work flawlessly at any time of the year.

5) ABC Nova extinguishing agent: I tried to search for information about this type of extinguishing agent but found nothing, the good news is if you want to learn more about the extinguishing agent including toxicity, corrosiveness etc. You can scroll through the documentation BMW provided above and I hope it will answer these questions, as I don’t know where else to find information about this.

6) Rechargeable: These extinguishers are rechargeable after they are used - meaning they are not one time use, and so long as they are within their service life and in good shape you can recharge them and reuse them as many times as you want. Now to do so you would need to send it back to OEMExtinguishers for their recharging service, since not many fire extinguisher recharging stations in North America have the correct fittings to recharge these extinguishers. For more information you can visit this link: https://oemextinguishers.com/product...illing-service

7) 25 year service life: Jockel specifies that these extinguishers have a 25 year service life that should not be exceeded. So as long as your extinguisher is in good shape, it can technically last 25 years. This makes it an investment that can last the life of your car(s).



Installation:

Now I would like to go over installation, first let me discuss some tips and then I will go over some images:


1) The first thing you should do is tilt the seat bottom as high as you can to expose the underside of the seat, you should also collapse the thigh support if your seat has one. You will then have access to the bottom of your seat. Optional - put newspaper under the seat so any metal shavings don’t end up all over the carpet.

Note: Personally I don’t recommend loosening the seat bolts, because I prefer not to mess around with and potentially damage those bolts because they are safety critical. But if you cannot access the bottom of the seat just by tilting them up, then do what you must - but be careful and acknowledge the risks and that you must torque everything back to spec. You should also check if the bolts require loctite and if they are single use or not.


2) The instructions say to use a deep socket to install the bolts, however I find it is easier to use a normal size ¼” drive 10mm socket to install these bolts, the reason why is it helps with clearance on some parts of the bracket (where the nub slots into the nozzle, and where the bracket arm blocks the screw holes).

3) Use a mirror or your phone’s selfie camera to see if the holes on your bracket aligns with the holes under the seat. This helps out alot.

4) These are self tapping screws going into a really thin sheet of metal. So be very careful when threading these screws in because you can strip the female threads very easily. So after you align the brackets, use your fingers to twist the socket (use a 3” extension only for this step, remove it when you are using the socket) whilst applying upwards pressure to begin tapping the metal. After it bites you can thread it until your fingers can’t twist the bolt in anymore. Now switch to the socket and keep threading the bolt in until you have a few threads cut, stop here and do the same for the remaining 3 bolts.

5) After the first few threads are cut for all 4 bolts you will now tighten the bolts down. So it is incredibly difficult to know how tight to go, since these are self tapping screws and it always feels tight and you don’t know when you’ve gone too far and are about to strip the threads. So my advice here is to tighten a tiny bit at a time while wiggling the bracket and looking in your mirror or phone at the bolt head and the bracket. If you are wiggling the bracket and you see the bracket moving freely around the head of the bolt, you know the bolt isn’t touching the bracket and pinching it down yet. So you will keep tightening the bolt until the bracket doesn’t wiggle at this bolt hole, then stop immediately. Make sure you go slowly or else you will over shoot and strip the threads. Do this for one bolt at a time.

6) After this is done, mount the fire extinguisher and that is it! It was that simple.


Now onto the installation images:


Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source

In this image above you can see the holes are now tapped and threads are cut.



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Installed Images:

Finally lets take a look at what this extinguisher looks like: fully installed, clearance between the floor and the extinguisher when the seat is fully lowered, how much the extinguisher fully sticks out, leg clearance with the extinguisher mounted, thigh support clearance, and if you can see the pressure gauge while the extinguisher is still mounted.


These first few images show the seat fully raised.


Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Seat is fully lowered from this image (below) and onwards.


Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



So as you can see by these images, the under seat clearance between the extinguisher and the floor is perfectly fine and there is always a fair bit of space present. This prevents the extinguisher from ever getting damaged.




Credit: F87Source

This image shows you can see the pressure gauge even while the extinguisher is still installed, so you can inspect it without having to remove it. In real life you can get a better angle on it so you can more clearly tell the needle is in the green zone, compared to in this photo. You can also stick a mirror in there too as there is sufficient space.




Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source


In these two images above you can see a top down shot of what the extinguisher looks like when it is installed in the car, and with the thigh extension fully extended or retracted. With the thigh extension fully retracted you can just see the bottom of the extinguisher and the handle from a top down position. With the thigh extension fully extended you can’t see any part of the extinguisher. So this shows you that the extinguisher barely sticks out from under the seat, and will not be obstructive to the passenger.




Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source


From these 3 images above you can see me sitting in the seat with the thigh extension fully retracted. As you can see, the extinguisher is nowhere near touching my legs, and will never get in the way of the passenger climbing in and out of the seat. The handle for extending the thigh support is also clear of the extinguisher so you won’t accidentally bump your hand against it while adjusting the thigh extension. The release latch is also easily reachable while sitting in the seat.




Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source



Credit: F87Source


Finally, these last 3 images show the extinguisher fully installed from the outside of the car in decent lighting. (Please ignore my dirty looking seats, those white streaks/marks are from my absorbed leather conditioner that I don’t wipe off when I apply it before winter storage, this keeps the seat fully moisturized and protected while sitting in storage).



Demonstration:

Now I’d like to show a demonstration on how to use these BMW fire extinguishers, and their pinless locking system:


https://youtube.com/shorts/onk4NsYNj...zFR7ZmURpdDkLq


As you can see in the video it is a fairly simple system to use, you depress the yellow button labeled 1 and then you are free to depress the red button labeled 2 to release the extinguisher chemicals. It also has a fairly decent range, and contains a decent amount of fire suppressant chemicals resulting in a decent overall discharge time for its size - which should give you ample time to suppress any kind of fire that may arise on your car.



Conclusion:

So my final conclusion is that the OEM BMW fire extinguisher kit - by OEMExtinguishers is absolutely fantastic, and IMO the best seat mounted fire extinguisher you can buy. This is because it doesn’t obstruct the passenger from getting into and out of the car, is very simple to install being fully PNP, doesn’t interfere with the floor mat or get exposed to the environment by sitting too close to the floor, is fully rated to combat class ABC fires, and has OEM level build quality since it was made by BMW (this also means it is designed to fit perfectly, and not become a projectile during a car crash - since an OEM actually designed it so you know it is safe and high quality, otherwise BMW would be liable for damages). OEMExtinguishers was also fantastic to deal with and the support they provided was absolutely stellar and I highly recommend purchasing it from them.


If you are interested in purchasing this extinguisher here’s a link: https://oemextinguishers.com/collect...tinguisher-kit

[F87source]

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