pennetta

I was reading the latest issue of Autoweek and in one of the editorials they discuss an 18 yr old that crashed his M5 with three of his friends in the car. The car was going triple digits at impact, all were killed. Horrible story but the part that got me was the courts were able to get the driver's posts on a BMW forum where he discussed how to shift the SMG faster and was asking questions about how to accelerate faster.
I am sure the families of the three deceased friends are going to use this "evidence" in their lawsuits for premeditated murder charges. I have a friend who's business is obtaining electronic documents for court cases, I previously assumed mostly emails, but we should all (especially me with some of my posts) be cognoscente of this potential liability when we post anything.

EuroCarFan

That was member AmericanM5 on M5board. He actually had 4 other passengers in the car, all of them between 18-20 years of age. He had posted on M5board asking how to make his car shift smoother and other members had warned him, especially due to his young age, about handling such a powerful car. It was a tragic accident which got a lot of media coverage. Quotes from that specific thread where he posted were detailed in news stories everywhere. The subsequent thread that discussed the incident on M5Board has over 250,000 views now.

poleposition

Here's the link

EuroCarFan

I still get chills reading that thread.

mhs525

How the k do 18 year olds get their hands on an M5. This story is as old as cars. Some moron gets their hands on something they in no way should be able to obtain/afford at such a young age.

I have been planning my sons first car for 5 years and telling him whenever we drive together what he can and cannot do in a car.

In the M3 forum I had a running argument with an 18 year old twit who was bragging about tripple digit speeds on public roads. Where are the parents!!!!

If you kill someone driving like an A$$ hole you deserve to get sued.

pennetta

I originally wasn't focusing on the accident but after reading the articles and seeing the videos, this was a horrible incident. I understand that his father got him the car! Remembering how I drove when I was 18, I would never have given him a car like that.

pennetta

You can't argue with an 18 yr old, I never listened either when I was 18. The M5 does have a valet mode where it decreases the HP by 100, maybe it should be decreased by 200 HP in that mode.

EuroCarFan

P400 is not a valet mode. It's the default setting until you push the power button and there's no way of disengaging it. And even in P400, the M5 is just as lethal. You can still reach max speed.

adentonmiller

You don't need to argue with an 18 yr old. How about just not buying him the M5 ( or letting him drive yours) - it's just crazy. I never listened either - but I also never had access to a 500HP car.

I have three boys, and none of them will get cars bought for them. They will need to buy their own - that way, they will initially have to buy cheap shitty cars and learn how they work. That's how I did it myself. If somebody had given me a Ferrari at age 18, I probably would not be here today.

Much of the responsibility has to lie with the parents. There is no good reason to give young kids such powerful cars. History alone shows that this is a bad idea.

Rudy

I'm thinking pennetta didn't see the original thread where we discussed this tragedy:
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=49937