---
title: "120 BMW SUVs Damaged in South Carolina Train Crash"
description: "The train was carrying a load of new Bimmers away from the carmaker’s Spartanburg plant."
date: "2016-12-05"
modified: "2016-12-05"
authors:
  - name: "Will Sabel Courtney"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/6351/120-bmw-suvs-damaged-in-south-carolina-train-crash"
categories:
  - "BMW News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
tags:
  - "Accident"
  - "BMW"
  - "Train"
  - "Trains"
  - "X3"
  - "X4"
  - "x5"
  - "X6"
---

# 120 BMW SUVs Damaged in South Carolina Train Crash

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/bmw-crash-train-hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Roughly [120 BMW X3, X4, X5, and X6 models were damaged yesterday afternoon when the freight train transporting them derailed](<https://www.autonews.com/article/20161205/OEM01/161209932/bmw-says-120-vehicles-damaged-in-s-c-train-derailment>) on the way from the carmaker’s Spartanburg, South Carolina factory to the port of Charleston, according to BMW.

The company said in a statement emailed to *Automotive News* that employees from BMW were en route to the scene as of Monday, and would be working with representatives of the Norfolk Southern railroad to get a better understanding of the damages. Two Norfolk Southern locomotives were involved in the derailment, along with a dozen automobile-carrying freight cars carrying 10 BMWs each.

Neither members of the Norfolk Southern crew were reportedly injured in the accident, according to Norfolk Southern. The train company said in a statement that it is investigating the cause of the crash.

The Spartanburg assembly facility is BMW’s sole plant in the United States. Currently, Spartanburg is exclusively tasked with building the X-series crossovers, but in the past, it also serves as the construction facility for the Z3 and first-generation Z4, as well as some E36-generation 3 Series models. And in spite of America’s insatiable appetite for sport-utility vehicles, around 70 percent of those X3, X4, X5, and X6 models wind up being exported off to other markets around the world.

## Author
Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/willsabelcourtney>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/willscourtney>)