Seems to be something that is an outcome of a very litigious American society. Find something to pin the blame on (besides what was already characterized as a ,,lady`` driver). If a bloke had been driving, would the OP have stated the gender?

 

Exactly Jonathan,

We [USA Colleges] continue to produce more attorneys than engineers and they need the work !

 

+100... I wish that some of our trip and fall lawyers would get run over by some of their own clients.

 

+1. the car did its job.

 

Wow, yeah safety first. I would feel bad too if my e60 was hurt, but as long as your ok. Thats the most important thing of course.

 

In support of the OP, I believe he is only trying to understand the parameters that caused the airbags to deploy. BECAUSE of a litigious world, BMW and all other manufactures have been pushed to develop smarter airbags. You can be thankful that they exist, because early airbags killed and caused more damage to occupants than they do now. Current airbags have multiple sensors and accelerometers to make a split second decision to deploy the airbags and how quickly they inflate. Mine did not deploy in a front end slow speed collision and I?m thankful that they airbags didn?t unnecessarily deploy. It greatly reduces the value of the car if its reported on services such as Carfax, and the repair costs skyrocket.

Please refrain from the typical attorney bashing, if there wasn?t such a demand for them in this society, they wouldn?t exist. You may be complaining about attorneys now, but youll be damn happy you can find a good one when you really need it.

 

My comment, for the record, was not directed specifically against the OP but rather against the type of person who questions when something works correctly (with complaints about resultant damage etc.) and looks to assign blame.

 

Thanks! Airbag didn't even touched my face. But it did put a huge bruise on my arm and scratched my wrist. Oh yeah, that smell is awful!
I have a question for you though - why would they change the steering wheel itself? It seems that the airbag module is separate from the wheel. It would be logical just to change the module itself.

Look, it was really more of a curiosity rather than anything else. I'm glad we are ok, and whether airbags saved us from more severe injuries or not - I really can't say. I don't really care about the cost since I'm not going to pay for it.

Man, you are fast to put labels on everything yourself huh? I'm not an American, and live in TX because of my line of work, so my post has nothing to do with "litigious American society". And yes, the driver of the vehicle that caused this accident was a woman, but if it was a guy, I would have said it was a guy. You seem to be the only one to have a problem with this.

Thanks for all your input and good wishes. I really appreciate it!

 

My mistake on the headlight cost, I was thinking taillight, doh. Good luck on the diminished value claim, its a huge uphill battle in most states.

You are righ on the steering wheel, id imagine the hex airbag will only need to be changed.

 

From the pics it looks like your rim was damaged too? Sorry to see results like these, but like everyone else has said...glad to know there were no serious injuries, aside from those sustained from the airbags. Oh, the irony.....