Off Topic ForumThis is the place for mature discussions not necessarily related to cars. This is however also moderated and only registered members are allowed to post. No religion and no vicious attacks.
Perhaps some perspective is in order. The car meets all federal motor vehicle safety standards. It did not fail the IHS test. It was graded "marginal," which certainly is not exemplary performance, but not exactly a reason to think the sky is falling (or for the predictable cameo appearances by the e39 "I'll-take-any-chance-to-piss-on-the-e60" crowd). If you make your purchase decisions based on isolated tests, you will drive yourself insane and not make a better decision. You likely can find other crash tests on which the 5 series scores higher than the Acura or the Kia or the Mercedes. So when you see that, will it be time to sell that car? I suggest you look at the car in its totality.
Having survived a crash that could easily have been fatal (to me) in my E39 M5, I do not take car safety lightly these days. Fact is there are too many inattentive drivers out on the road these days. The only protection we have is the strength of the car around us, so I would not blindly stay loyal to a brand. BMW has to earn our loyalty. Doing so poorly in an industry-standard side impact crash test is going the wrong direction as far as earning loyalty goes.
I don't know what your driving requirements are, so I cannot advise on what to consider. Myself, I'm into Porsche. I understand that their lessons learned from racing makes for a very strong cocoon for the passengers.
Marginal test results are marginal test results, whether you drive an e39 or an e60.
BMW knows the game. Its all about perception. They understand the impact test and what it means. They blew it on this one. Period.
Dave
+1..this is not about saying I told ya so.....with that said however....I challenge the validity of any of these ratings when compared to real life...by that I mean if you got T-Boned by someone traveling at 40mph or over...a clean T-Bone...I doubt your seeing tomorrow in most any car...short of a BIG MONSTER TRUCK....the sides of any vehicle are the most vulnerable....quite frankly as long as I have side impact bags and curtain bags...I have no problem with the E60.....question for you....have you ever been involved in a side impact accident in your years of driving????...something to think about Regards Good Luck S
PS....Dave's El Diablo E39 can kick the everlovin **** out of your E60....so there
Then again, many in this world have no qualms about wasting other peoples time...hence this helpful post.
This guy definately isn't wasting anyones time, he has been on the board much longer than you have, and is a well respected member.
He has been buying every single model year m5 since I've been on the board, and always shares information with everyone. It's a shame that you as a moderator would make a comment like that.
the predictable cameo appearances by the e39 "I'll-take-any-chance-to-piss-on-the-e60" crowd).
I read this forum extensively but rarely post here. My mom always tell me: if you have nothing good to say....
I followed the numerous threads here from the early days to now, about: Vanos oil line failures, Red COG of death, transmission total shut-down, SMG's 4-second hunt for first gears, etc. etc. None of these threads were started by the e39 "I'll-take-any-chance-to-piss-on-the-e60" crowd, I believe. Most of the responses were: hey, BMW fixes it for free. It's a great car, and it's all worth it. Even with Ashok's incredible 3 strikes, members still encourage him to hang in there and await better days.
If my car's tranny (or the software) died on me while running in gear on the highway, or in a tunnel, and I might get run over by up-coming traffic, I don't care if it performs like a Veyron+Enzo+CGT for the price of a Vespa, it ain't worth it.
This is a true story. My boss drives the prior generation SL500. One week after learning about my accident in my M5, he bought a CL55. The reason: he wanted the best accident protection he can get amongst the MB line. Getting killed by irresponsible drivers out on the road is a real risk (I almost did), and I would not knowingly advise anyone to buy a car with known inferior crash test results, no matter how 'great' I think the car is.
MJ has a very legitimite personal concern. He probably has a great family and a great life that he does not want to part with. And he stated that it is a serious matter to him. To trivalize that any comment to consider other cars (other than the E60 M5) as the e39 "I'll-take-any-chance-to-piss-on-the-e60" crowd input seems irresponsible to me (flame suit full on).
This guy definately isn't wasting anyones time, he has been on the board much longer than you have, and is a well respected member.
He has been buying every single model year m5 since I've been on the board, and always shares information with everyone. It's a shame that you as a moderator would make a comment like that.
I understand your concerns and empathize with your dilemma, even though Fester doesn't... Just kidding! After years of driving these wonderful machines this is indeed a blow to the reputation and the expectation of what I believe to be some of the best made cars in the world. I have a friend that keeps trying to get to buy an Acura. That may be something that you want to consider, I know for me though, whenever I drive another car other than my BMW, there is always something that's missing. The feel, the handling, the horses under the hood, whatever. My humble advise is maybe you ought to wait a couple of months, and see if this test rattles some other cages and BMW does something about their design and fixes this issue. I would say give it some time. I think from the comment of Mr. Plucinsky, “This was one test on one day on one car.” that the magnitude of this has not been realized yet. I just hope that all those factors don't add up with any of our families in the car.
![Buh Bye BMW? 2008 M5 Order Canceled. [Safety concerns after IIHS test results]](http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/iconimages/off-topic-forum/buh-bye-bmw-2008-m5-order-canceled-safety-concerns-after-iihs-test-results_ltr.gif)
Just kidding! After years of driving these wonderful machines this is indeed a blow to the reputation and the expectation of what I believe to be some of the best made cars in the world. I have a friend that keeps trying to get to buy an Acura. That may be something that you want to consider, I know for me though, whenever I drive another car other than my BMW, there is always something that's missing. The feel, the handling, the horses under the hood, whatever. My humble advise is maybe you ought to wait a couple of months, and see if this test rattles some other cages and BMW does something about their design and fixes this issue. I would say give it some time. I think from the comment of Mr. Plucinsky, “This was one test on one day on one car.” that the magnitude of this has not been realized yet. I just hope that all those factors don't add up with any of our families in the car.
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