5 minutes ago while traveling on a major street around 50mph, the car in front of me abruptly stopped to make a right turn. My car stopped on a dime, but three cars behind I heard that awful noise that sends cringes up and down everyone's spine. You know the noise I'm tallking about... Screeching tires followed by the quick crunching sound of metal to metal as an older pickup truck rear ended the car in front of it. I hate to think what are the chances of the person in the truck having insurance? Anyway I drove away with my car untouched, and I wanted to share how well the brakes work.

 

i've been there before and hopefully never again. i know exactly what you mean by the chills cause the yare still there. glad you are ok and thanks for sharing this event. drive safe. rollee

 

Haven?t seen any discussion on the list regarding the fact that the whiplash protection mechanism is only available on the comfort seats. It was the final deciding factor that I choose them but BMW has also been criticized over here for not having it as a standard feature on all seat models.

best
objetti

 

redondoman, glad to hear you and your car survived unscathed.

As much as I praise the brakes on a BMW, they sometimes scare me because they actually increase the likelihood of being rear-ended. I can't say since I wasn't there, but I wonder if your superior brakes had anything to do with the accident behind you! Imagine if there wasn't a car between you and the pickup truck!!

I remember in the early days of ABS brakes, my insurance company offered me a discount since my BMW had them. A couple years later, no discount was offered since they determined that rear-end collisions were more common on cars equipped with ABS.

Again, great news that everything worked out for you.

 

Before I had my 545 I had a 330i and what you said did happen to me. Some cars stopped short in front of me because of a red-light camera. I slammed on my brakes and didn't hit the car in front of me. The lady behind me who was driving an early 90s Honda Accord (she was farther behind me than I was from the car in front of me) couldn't stop in time and she hit me. I only had minor damage, the bumper was knocked a little loose and scratched up ($895 of damage). Her car was smashed pretty bad in the front, enough that she couldn't close the hood. It looked like to me that she might've had a few thousand dollars worth of damage.

 

objetti, I understand the protection that comfort seats offer on backlash. No doubt it is superior to the sport seats. OTOH, I believe the sport seats and older models of BMW also offer excellent whiplash protection, if adjusted to contact the crown of the back of the head in a whiplash situation. I don't fear the rear end collision because of the threat of whiplash. I fear for other reasons, but not bodily injury.

While I'm at it, neither do I mind it not being as convenient to rest my head on the head protection. I drive long distances on occasions, and use a number of techniques and remedies to combat drowsiness. In my 540, I could rest my head, but rarely did except for a few seconds of stretching. I find that I can still do a little of that in these sport seats.

redondoman, glad you made it OK. You were probably unconsciously driving with your rear view mirror, too. Sometimes that will cause us to back off a little from the car in front when we see the jeep, SUV, PU, or whatever following too closely. We may have to allow braking distance for both vehicles.

 

I agree with Rudy. Stopping fast is great if you have a queue of nice German cars nehind you. Number of times I've slammed in my 325 Touring and my new E60 with cars behind me stopping inches away gives me the shivvers. Somehow you either get a crap driver or a crap car behind you. God forbid the day you have both.

I remember the day I changed from an old V8 Audi to my first 5 series. Whereas in the old Audi I had to stand on the brakes to bring the 1.8 ton vehicle to a standstill, the BM would stop on a penny. Almost went over the handlebars !

 

BMWRules, I had the exact same experience as you did, my bumper was a $750 replacement job while the lady that ran into me had to have a tow truck (by the way this was the 3rd day after picking up my car from the dealer). I also agree with just about everyone else. I find that even though i can stop on the dime, not everyone else behind can do the same. Its always reassuring to see a bimmer in my rear view when I am in heavy traffic. Anyone who lives in Westchester or Connecticut and takes the Hutchinson Parkway knows how narrow and winding it is with everyone hauling ass. Since it seems like everyone in Westchester and Connecticut owns a bimmer its always nice and comforting to have 3 or 4 BMWs in a row on the Hutch incase there is a need to brake suddenly. Scary, but its a thing of beauty to see them all stop on the dime (happened to me)

 

Brakes saved me/the bumper the other day as I was overtaking a trailer on an Italian highway, and a metal wheel cap flew off it. Annoying that those things sometimes aren't properly attached! Would hate seeing it hit the windshield at 150km/h.



-paasan