Toronto, Ontario — BMW’s North American division announced in a bulletin Thursday that it has restricted more than 100 aluminum structural parts for its vehicles “due to complexity of repair and the requirement of highly specialized tools, training, and repair procedures.”
Going forward, parts on that list can only be ordered by facilities with technicians who have completed the required BMW paint and body training courses, including instruction on the OEM’s specific list of approved frame benches, belt sanders, glue cartridge gun, riveting tools, welders, oscillating tools and saw blades.
The automaker wrote in its bulletin that it “will be restricting certain aluminum structural parts to ensure the correct repair process is followed and crash performance is not compromised.”
The bulletin states that, in order to be considered eligible to order from the restricted parts list, the technician completing the repair must have completed the BMW Bonding and Riveting Techniques online course (OL5510) and the in-class Aluminum Structural Repair course (SB061), or the BMWi Body Repair Level 2 and 3 courses (SB026E), which are no longer offered but are still recognized.
An email obtained by Repairer Driven News from BMW states that more aluminum parts will be added to the list of restrictions in the near future.
Click here to view the bulletin, which includes the full list of restricted aluminum parts and approved repair tools.
