Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data in Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 1,695.2	$ 1,791.8	$ 5,464.1	$ 5,341.0
Cost of sales	1,351.5	1,441.0	4,341.4	4,290.3
Gross profit	343.7	350.8	1,122.7	1,050.7
Selling, general and administrative expense	151.0	151.4	473.1	474.2
Other (income) expense	29.7	0.6	67.4	(29.9)
Operating income	163.0	198.8	582.2	606.4
Equity in affiliates’ earnings, net of tax	(11.1)	(11.5)	(32.8)	(28.0)
Interest income	(1.0)	(1.3)	(3.7)	(3.5)
Interest expense and finance charges	5.0	18.5	32.7	57.4
Earnings before income taxes and noncontrolling interest	170.1	193.1	586.0	580.5
Provision for income taxes	64.2	46.4	190.2	137.1
Net earnings	105.9	146.7	395.8	443.4
Net earnings attributable to the noncontrolling interest, net of tax	4.8	5.1	16.1	15.3
Net earnings attributable to BorgWarner Inc.	$ 101.1	$ 141.6	$ 379.7	$ 428.1
Earnings per share - basic	$ 0.88	$ 1.30	$ 3.40	$ 3.91
Earnings per share - diluted	$ 0.85	$ 1.15	$ 3.15	$ 3.45
Weighted average shares outstanding (thousands):
Basic	114,299	108,779	111,619	109,391
Diluted	118,499	127,940	122,571	128,769