Blunt

Glad to hear your relatively OK..can't believe no-one helped..traffic must have been near stationary. I noticed you made an error with your speed I'm sure it was nearer 70mph...... must have been a typo with the shock etc etc.......

Greenberg

that is awful I hope you get your insurance money!!

neoe60

Yea that crash looks pretty gnarly. Keep us posted on what BMW says about the airbags not going off. My best friend is an airbag engineer at Autoliv, I'll have to show him this thread and see what he says. I can't believe noone stopped to help. Here in the US, people would have stopped to help for sure. And last thing, note to self: Don't drive 80mph in the pouring rain

It's hilarious watching news videos of when it's snowing an astounding (read: sarcasm) 1-2" in warm climate regions, and you see drivers slipping and sliding all over the road like a scene at a bumper car alley at the amusement park. It's called, "defensive driving" and even though my California friends complain that people here sometimes drive too slow or "don't know how to drive," I beg the contrary...it's called, "defensive driving." Everytime it pours hard, whether it be rain or snow, people here are used to that and go into defensive driving mode.

Now, my uncle's been to Germany and he says people were zipping by at insanely fast speeds on the Autobahn in the pouring rain, but I don't think we could pull that off here. Our roads just aren't engineered for that.

doug_999

First off, I'm glad you are ok
Second off, I hope you are not involving the lawyers because your air bags did not go off. It looks like the car sucked up the energy just fine and the passenger compartment was not compromised in any way. IF you were wearing your seatbelt (and I'm thinking you were), then the airbags should not go off unless you REALLY hit something. If you were not wearing your seatbelt then I would be surprised that the airbags did not go off.

Sagar

Bro! I'm glad to hear you're ok, metal can be replaced but life is alot more precious.

Such a shame to see any car in that state, but it does happen. As other have said, its a good job it wasnt the M!
Hope it all works out for you, when is the M coming back?

Im ashamed that no-one stopped on another date, that is disgusting

Sag

Phantom Mark

I think ploughing into the central reservation ( which is a steel barrier on our roads typically ) @ 80mph is hitting something quite hard lol, the car is more than a foot shorter up front, im not so surprised the side airbags have not deployed but mighty surprised the front drivers airbag didn't, I would be asking questions as well if it was me also.

One of the main reasons I bought my car was the safety for my family, I want to know those Airbags deploy properly when needed, I look forward to hearing updates on this from you Jon

Richard in NC

Although I don't know the exact scenario, I agree with this thought. I did read that BMW saves airbag deployment as long as the car is bouncing off objects. The airbags are saved just in case they are needed at a later point in the crash. IE. the accelerative forces are not as substantial as an impact that brings you to complete stop.

doug_999

He did not plow into something at 80 - he bounced off something. The bumper structure actually looks intact - with the bumper and hood taking most of the energy (former bumper). The fact that the doors all work and the car is actually untouched from an interior structural standpoint - bravo BMW.....

HAD the airbag gone off, and he was belted in, all that airbag would have done is hurt him possibly and added to the insurance company's tab.

Now if he was not belted in...well that's a different story....

Jon M5

Hi guys. Sorry for not getting back to you all sooner. I've been having one hell of a busy week or so!!

I was wearing my seat belt. I never drive without one.

As for why the aribags didnt deploy, BMW haven't really said anything as yet, other than the fact that they think it's due to the fact that the crumple zones worked very well, and therefore because the passenger area wasn't affected, the airbags weren't needed. I will get back to you with any further information.

I get my M5 back on Monday... Can't wait!!

Oh, and believe it or not, the 5 Series in the crash here, is being...... FIXED!!!! I won't be driving it anymore though!!

Phantom Mark

whoaaa, I pitty the poor new owner then

Make sure that cars details goes into the "Cars to avoid list"