<wob> 7 Series Berlin Wall Chunk Follow-up

[SMILLER@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

A couple of months ago I reported hearing of an amusing BMW incident
on NPR's Car Talk radio show.  A German engineering student was going
off to school in France, and had loaded his prized personal possession,
a chunk of the Berlin Wall, into the trunk of his father's 7 series BMW. 
Said loading was aided by a fork lift.  (This chunk of concrete was
estimated to be approximately 1 foot by 1 foot by 3 feet, which is a lot of
concrete!)  Once in France, he couldn't figure out how to get it out (some
engineering student!), and he was running out of excuses to tell his
father about why he could not return the 7er.  Click and Clack, the Tappet
Brothers (Tom and Ray Magliozzi) first suggested floating it out with
mercury (this was a joke, no flames, please), then suggested drilling
holes in it, installing rebar, and lifting it out with a hoist.

An occasional feature of this radio show is Stump the Chumps, where
they call people to whom they've given advice to see if it worked.  They
called the engineering student's girl friend, who is the one who originally
called the show.  She reported that drilling/rebar was rejected because,
of course, the former WEST side of the wall was facing UP in the trunk,
and this is, of course, the side with all of the valuable graffiti.  Wouldn't
want to deface that!

Here's how they got it out.  First they jacked the back of the car way up
and pushed the concrete chunk as far forward as possible.  Then they
inserted some kind of wedges with the tips under the chunk, and the
thick ends out of the trunk, resting on the sill.  Then they lowered the
back of the car and jacked the front of the car way up, and then
pushed/pulled the chunk rearward on the wedges until it came out of the
trunk.  The rear of the car did suffer some damage.  Well, duh.  But they
got it out and the engineering student could return his dad's car.

I won't even get started on the woman who had a load of compost in the
trunk of her Mustang!

Scott Miller
Golden Gate Chapter
BMW CCA #44977

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