Mechanic Bryce Lewis (@brycelew212) was left speechless after seeing the damage done to a customer’s BMW by a palm frond.
He posted the bizarre accident in a viral TikTok that’s accrued over 1.8 million views. Several commenters who replied to his video stated that BMW’s recent decision to install plastic components is to blame.
“Think you’re having a bad day dude?” The TikToker asks at the top of the video. Next, he shows off what appears to be a piece of foliage sticking out from the vehicle.
“BMW hit a palm frond. Up through the belly panel,” he says, shining his flashlight on the vehicle’s damage.
Following this, he looks up at the bottom of the car. Normally, one would think that a leaf wouldn’t do much damage to a car.
After all, these are massive machines worth tens of thousands of dollars. What’s the worst a palm frond could do?
As it turns out, quite a bit. The TikToker then shows where another part of the palm frond ended up. Inspecting further back into the vehicle, the frond’s stem ended up piercing a vital drivetrain component.
“And show it straight into the transmission oil pan. Toasted it,” he says. “Kinda stinking crap is that dude!”
Viewers were stunned
One person who replied to the video didn’t seem all that surprised about the damage done to the transmission oil pan. “Look up palm frond through tree from Hurricane Andrew,” they wrote.
While another stated that they believe the problem lies in the way in which modern cars are constructed: “Can’t have plastic straws but these cars are mostly plastic these days.”
Someone else echoed the aforementioned sentiment, writing, “Bro they gotta stop with the plastic pans.”
For another driver replying to the video, they felt that their trepidation around the trees was now justified. “And this is why I go around those palm fronds. good to know I’m not being paranoid,” they wrote.
But several couldn’t understand why the pan was made out of plastic. “I was like how could a palm [frond] do…. that….the pan is plastic. THE PAN IS PLASTIC?!?!?!” one said.
Plastic parts
A car enthusiast on Instagram posted a Reel about the Bavarian auto manufacturer’s move to plastic pans. The social media user recommended that folks upgrade the component to a “beefier” aluminum model.
“Recently, BMW has switched to plastic oil pans on a number of their 4-cylinder powered cars. Including the F30 328i,” they wrote.
The starting MSRP of a BMW 328i is $45,950. By comparison, an OEM 2025 Toyota Corolla Cross oil pan assembly subframe is made of steel. The Corolla Cross starts at $24,035.
Furthermore, a Bimmerfest poster was stunned to learn that the auto maker’s OEM transmission pan was made of plastic. One commenter said they didn’t see the “benefits” of upgrading to a metal pan. It’s unclear as to whether or not they live in an area with palm fronds.
In a separate post on the same website, one BMW driver expressed that leaf stems weren’t the only threat to its plastic pans. Upon entering their garage one day, they noticed a puddle of oil on the floor. After examining the source of the spill, they were stunned to see the plastic transmission pan on their BMW “hard warped.”
Consequently, the driver writes, it “no longer seals with the engine block.” Another user in the discussion stated that BMW wasn’t just installing plastic oil pans. But also, radiator tanks as well. Which led them to “replace two in the last three and a half years.”
@brycelew212 On the fly transmission oil drain 😂 #BMW #OilChange #TransmissionService ♬ original sound – Bryce Lewis
Planned obsolescence?
Additionally, other BMW owners in different forums expressed they believed this to be the automaker’s sales strategy. By intentionally crafting parts made to fail, customers must pony up a lot of money in repairs. Or, they’ll be compelled to just trade in their car and finance a new one.
As a result, folks who are dead set on driving a BMW may find themselves leasing vehicles instead. Once their term is up, they can then return the luxury vehicle back to the dealership and not have to worry about potential out-of-warranty repairs.
Or, they could upgrade a variety of their vehicle’s components with aluminum aftermarket parts.
Reuters reported in January 2025 that BMW’s sales dropped by 2.3% overall. Sales slumps in China have been primarily attributed to the auto maker’s dropped revenue. 2024 wasn’t that much better, either. Fortune writes that from July to September BMW’s “net profit dropped 84 percent from July to September.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to BMW via email and Lewis via TikTok comment for further information.
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