BMW Owner to Get $1.9M Compensation for Thumb Injury from Soft Close Door Malfunction

The court has ordered BMW to pay $1.9 million (Rs 15.86 crores) in compensation to software engineer Godwin Boateng after he lost his thumb due to a malfunctioning soft-close door on his BMW X5. The incident occurred in July 2016 when Boateng's right hand was resting on the edge of the driver-side door. The door closed quickly despite the obstruction, severing the tip of his thumb. Despite immediate medical attention, the thumb could not be reattached.

• The soft-close doors on BMWs are designed to close slowly to prevent injuries. However, unlike soft-close windows that use sensors to stop upon detecting an obstruction, the door continued to close.
• Boateng argued that the injury severely impacted his work as a software engineer, potentially causing him losses of up to $250,000 (Rs 2.08 crores) annually.
• After an eight-year legal battle, the jury found BMW liable for damages, despite no specific defect being identified in the door mechanism.

BMW’s defense emphasized that the owner’s manual explicitly warns against placing any body part between the door and frame. Nonetheless, the jury ruled in favor of Boateng. It remains uncertain whether BMW will appeal the verdict. 

Boateng's lawyer pointed out that this is not an isolated incident, with at least 44 similar injuries reported worldwide due to BMW’s soft-close doors. A comparable case involved Mercedes-Benz, which faced a lawsuit in 2022 after a user lost part of their thumb in a GLE SUV's soft-close door.

Source: Carscoops