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You see someone struggling to start their car in a rainy parking lot. Do you:

  1. Pretend you don’t see them and drive away?
  2. Offer to help, even if you have no idea what you’re doing?
  3. Accidentally turn a BMW into a high-voltage science experiment?

One good Samaritan chose option 2… and somehow ended up with option 3.

A simple favor gone wrong

It all started in a miserable January downpour. A UK driver and his girlfriend had just finished shopping at the grocery store when he spotted a guy struggling to start his Toyota. He explained on Reddit that a young teen was already pushing the car, while the old man driving it was trying to pop it in gear and roll start it. “The car was barely moving so I go across and offer to help push,” he wrote. Together, they gave it their all. But no dice. “At this point we’re at the other end of a huge car park and I’m sweating.”

Then, a man in a BMW pulled up. He spoke broken English but had one word of advice: “Cables.” Neither driver had jump leads, but the Redditor did. “I had no idea how to jump a car at the time (I have since learnt),” he admitted. But instead of looking up the right method, he went for it.

Sparks, panic, and a BMW nearly fried by jumper cables

The rain poured. The parking lot was dark. The BMW’s engine bay looked completely different from the Redditor’s tiny Fiat’s. Still, he hooked up the leads. “I see the battery but can’t see the terminals,” he recalled. Then, the BMW driver pointed. “Plus,” he said.

So, he connected the cables. Negative first. Then positive.

“SPARKS EVERYWHERE, genuinely blinding sparks,” he wrote. “It felt like I’d been flashbanged.” All three men jumped back.

Realizing his mistake, he ripped the cables off. The BMW driver took over and connected them properly. The Toyota roared to life. Success! Or so he thought.

The jumper cable aftermath: a BMW that won’t start

The Toyota driver took off, grateful. But across the lot, the BMW sat lifeless. “My heart sunk,” the Redditor admitted. Did he just fry the guy’s ECU? Was this about to get really expensive?

He rushed back to help, this time using his little Fiat to jump-start the BMW. Miraculously, it worked. The BMW driver refused compensation and went on his way.

A lesson for the rest of us

Let’s be real—you want to be the helpful person in a situation like this. But sometimes, good intentions aren’t enough.

This driver walked away with a valuable lesson (and somehow without an angry BMW owner chasing him down). Next time, he’ll know how to use jumper cables properly. And when the next problem arises that he doesn’t know how to solve, maybe he’ll take five seconds to Google the proper procedure first.

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Staff Writer

Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari joined MotorBiscuit in 2021 and brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. Henry is also an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts.

Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont. He has since incorporated his love of the written word with his admiration of classic cars. While Henry is interested in vintage cars, he believes the golden age of cars is yet to come. He is confident journalists will play an important role in this revolution by exposing the industry as it is now and envisioning its possible future.