These are crazy times we live in when a BMW executive simply parks a camouflaged prototype in front of a museum and chaos ensues. That ‘s exactly what happened earlier today when Martin Birkman (Head of BMWNA Product Planning and Strategy/BMW Motorsport Manager) parked a prototype 2011 X3 outside of the NYC American Museum of Natural History.Here ‘s a quote from the NYC Daily News about the incident:

>But coming on the heels of last Saturday ‘s failed car bomb in Times Square, the plastic-shrouded SUV spooked a woman walking her dog – and she quickly called cops, a witness said.

> “She stopped to look at it, ” said Al Simmons, 58, who was working at his nearby hotdog stand. “We have to look out for each other. If you see something say something. ”

>Police responding to the 12:23 p.m. scare quickly closed off Central Park West for several blocks in both directions. A technician wearing a bomb-protection suit approached the SUV and investigated its interior.

>Cops confirmed there was nothing sinister inside the SUV, but the spectacle was enough to frighten tourists leaving the museum.