Speeding BMW Driver Must Sell His 440i, Says German Judge

A German Judge has ruled that a speeding driver must sell their BMW 440i as part of their punishment. It’s an unusual and very serious ruling that’s far from a light slap on the wrist, in a country that’s famed as one of the last petrolhead havens.

The ruling, by judge Anne Bollacher, comes after a 23-year-old man attempted to flee the police in Ludwigsburg, near Porsche’s birthplace Stuttgart. In a chase through city streets, the BMW driver is said to have gone through multiple red lights and driven over pavements to try and escape - although these were denied in court.

The police were called after the man and his friends were reportedly doing donuts in one of the city’s squares. The man tried to escape when police arrived, and even outran the following officer.

“I got the maximum out of our vehicle with its 192hp (189bhp) and could not follow him. I gave up because I could no longer be responsible for the 120kph (75mph) there”, the officer said, according to Stuttgart Nachrichten.

The driver admitted the speeding charges, and said that he’d panicked, blaming stress caused by the pandemic. He even attended a traffic psychologist between being arrested and his court appearance, although the sentence was far from lenient.

He has been banned from driving for a year, and has three months to sell the BMW 4 Series he tried to get away in. €7000 (£5,900) from the sale of the car has to go to the state treasury, and it’ll get confiscated if not sold.

The BMW 440i has 322bhp and is capable of 0-62mph in five seconds flat, on the way to a limited 155mph top speed. Its 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine is lauded for its smoothness, while the 440i, being one rung down from the full-fat M4, comes with pretty much the full options list. We just wonder how a 23-year-old can insure it.

So on the off chance that you’re looking to buy a 440i in Germany, be careful it’s not one that’s been involved in a high-speed pursuit.

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