[phillym5]

Just trying to drive, man!!
I was taking the Blue M5 out for a spin. Its had a couple bugs that got worked out. Its been running pretty good. Anyway, I decide to feel some power in second gear. Not a couple seconds after i push down the Pedal

BOOM!!!


WTF!!!
smacked in the face by an airbag. Car comes to a real fast stop...stopped itself, ABS and all. Look around for a split second, All airbags except driver door and head are out. I see smoke. I jump out of the car. Look around.... don't see any damage....didn't hit anything....WTF??? The smoked was just smoke from the airbags. Look under the car....no fluids anywhere. Pop the hood...Everything looks to be intact.

Next I look on the road. There was a little cup thing on the ground... then i came across some little silver cylinders. Hmmm. UV joint???
My friend arrives to give me a tow. We go to push the car... all you here is CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH. Must be the drive shaft.
So there you go. Im not sure excactly what it is... I haven't looked under the car yet. But i will tell you I need.... New windshield, 6 airbags...something under the car...Maybe a new headliner, and who knows what else. I'm so f-in pissed its insane.

People might tend to think I beat on my cars... I really appreciate what I have. I don't go blowing motors and bangin gears to break. I shifted mellow, Let the revs roll up to 3-3.5k and I hit it. Should the drive shaft break? Why the hell did the airbags go off? I honestly don't know what to do. I will say that I'm very disapointed. I don't have the time or money or heart for this sh!t. This was supposed to be my dream car.

 

[KevinM]

Man...I'm sorry, not sure what else to say.

 

[BKH]

Unreal, all this crap recently. What was it like to get hit by an airbag? Is the car still under warranty?

 

[phillym5]

I'm positive there is no warranty on this one.

Also, I will say that I have been extremely careful with this car. I've been taking it real easy and driving step by step to gain trust in the car. You know... learn all about how it feels,drives,sounds... the whole 9 yards. I just don't know. :crying2:

 

[shadowman]

Un-fricken-believable

I am truly sorry for what have been a crummy chain of events for you.

As for what happened??? Soon…….if not already you will know…… the Guibo joint failed ?? No matter what happened it appeared to have jolted the car is just a manner similar to the motion sensed in an altercation and best efforts were made to protect you. As with the time lapse in a real accident that is measured in milliseconds, often so much faster than one can comprehend much less respond to. This appears to be the case here.

I suspect that your insurance carrier would the party worthy of contacting at this time.

Regardless, at this very moment I would be extremely frustrated too……...

I am glad that you are alright, the mere fact that the air bags went off could have caused an even greater accident.

Take care

Shadowman

 

[Gustav]

Come on. This is just too much bad luck for you now.

One M5 will be on warranty, this iwill probably be worked out. Huopefully it is just some connecting pieces and not something critical. Might just me some bracket or thing holding it together that you can change.

 

[Ocean's M5]

That's totally wierd to have happened. I don't know what it could be but hope you find out soon for your peace of mind. :3: :grrrrr:

It will be something inexspensive I hope and even if it is expensive, we will try to figure out a cheaper way for you... :2:

 

[Gibo993]

Even without a warranty I would expect BMW to pick up the bill for that!
Must of scared the crap out of you!!!

 

[Ashok Arora]

Blimey! Hope the car gets fixed for good. Please keep us posted.

All the best :M5thumbs:

 

[BmwNut]

Even with the power your LMB beast has, that is re-god-****-diculious. It blew the bags? I wouldnt think guibo, I would think the computer took a ****e.
Best wishes getting it all fixed quickly. I know you dont beat on your cars, rather you have fun with them. Hopefully the LMB beast can have some fun without a really rare airbag pop in the near future. Take care and I hope all turns out well.
:cheers:

 

[Gibo993]

Just as a point of interest my car was recalled last year becuase of the airbag trigger thing. They said the Airbags could suddenly go off just after starting the car.

I also realize you where driving at the time but it's worth checking it out with a dealer for the recall

See this thread for more details and someone else who's car exploded http://www.bm3w.co.uk/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB8&Number=200240&Searchpage=1&Main=200240&Words=Airbags&topic=&Search=true#Post200240
Might be worth a punt

All the best
Grant

 

[DavidS]

PhillyM5,

What an ordeal!

If you haven´t done it yet, get to a pharmacy and buy a big bottle of eye-cleaning fluid, and rinse your eyes toroughly. That smoke from the airbags is rather corrosive on human tissue, and the eyes are sensitive.

Tear-fluid alone is not sufficent to wash all the smoke particles out.

Also take it easy for a day. You took a blow to the head and chest from the airbag, and should rest just for good measure.

Best Regs,

David

 

[willm5ad]

Just trying to drive, man!!
I was taking the Blue M5 out for a spin. Its had a couple bugs that got worked out. Its been running pretty good. Anyway, I decide to feel some power in second gear. Not a couple seconds after i push down the Pedal

BOOM!!!


WTF!!!
smacked in the face by an airbag. Car comes to a real fast stop...stopped itself, ABS and all. Look around for a split second, All airbags except driver door and head are out. I see smoke. I jump out of the car. Look around.... don't see any damage....didn't hit anything....WTF??? The smoked was just smoke from the airbags. Look under the car....no fluids anywhere. Pop the hood...Everything looks to be intact.

Next I look on the road. There was a little cup thing on the ground... then i came across some little silver cylinders. Hmmm. UV joint???
My friend arrives to give me a tow. We go to push the car... all you here is CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH. Must be the drive shaft.
So there you go. Im not sure excactly what it is... I haven't looked under the car yet. But i will tell you I need.... New windshield, 6 airbags...something under the car...Maybe a new headliner, and who knows what else. I'm so f-in pissed its insane.

People might tend to think I beat on my cars... I really appreciate what I have. I don't go blowing motors and bangin gears to break. I shifted mellow, Let the revs roll up to 3-3.5k and I hit it. Should the drive shaft break? Why the hell did the airbags go off? I honestly don't know what to do. I will say that I'm very disapointed. I don't have the time or money or heart for this sh!t. This was supposed to be my dream car.

Wow feel for you man what a SOAB thing to happen, somebody should pay for that, hope you have success. Best regards
WillM5AD

 

[rogbacon]

Really sorry to hear this Josh, this is terrible luck. Hope you get it sorted out quickly.


Roger

 

[SeanMD]

My goodness I can't believe the recent strain of events for you. That's insane that would happen to a car like this!! Even though there's no reason a car of this caliber should have a mysterious funk like this, we're all glad that you at least walked away with your health from the incident. Please keep us posted on how you're doing in the following weeks. Things like this tend to have more "after the fact" effects than immediate ones. Hopefully all is well and the car can get "de-funked" and working correctly for at least a month straight for you.

Sean

 

[stuart]

Dude, that *really* sucks, and sucks hard. I can't imagine how you feel.

-When we picked up a fiesta 8 years ago, we drove it for 3 days and were MASSIVELY rear ended. We thought no chance, must have been a write-off, but they decided to do a whole chassis replacement. They literally transferred the front seats and the engine pretty much - crazy.

-About 1 year later the car skidded off the road on a oil slick, going very slow, 20 mph odd around a sharp bend, and she just went straight - whole new front end.

-About 6 months after that a motocyclist whilst trying to overtake ran out of talent and slammed against the side of the car to stop himself hitting the oncoming lorry - 2 new doors.

-About 6 months after that she was involved in another accident.

At this point we were;

a) testing our eyesight. We'd never been involved in accidents before, and this thing was causing them left. right. centre. high and low.
b) Contemplating getting an exorcist.

You can convince yourself that a lump of metal can somehow attract bad luck - don't. Ever since then we have had the same car for the last 5 years, and the battery has failed once - thats the only time she let us down. I'm sure she will be your dream car again soon dude, shes just being the highly strung female you know she is, making you work for your pleasure.

Stu

 

[gsfent]

First and foremost, glad you are OK. That is what counts. Any car, even a dream car, is a bunch of metal and can be replaced. You can't.

I would talk to Shadowman (I know he posted). You want to be able to identify the bad component and attempt to show no relationship to either the component failure (problem 1) or that the airbags triggered prematurely (problem 2). If the airbags triggered properly because of sudden high decel rate due to component failure, I think any dealer is going to blame this on the enhanced motor and that the defective part ( presently suspected guibo) couldn't stand up to the engineering it was not designed for. If the airbag trigger was defective, then you are good, guibo/driveshaft should not be a big deal, and everything else would be covered.

Keep us posted and best of luck getting this squared away.
Regards,
Jerry

 

[ard]

First and foremost, glad you are OK. That is what counts. Any car, even a dream car, is a bunch of metal and can be replaced. You can't.

I would talk to Shadowman (I know he posted). You want to be able to identify the bad component and attempt to show no relationship to either the component failure (problem 1) or that the airbags triggered prematurely (problem 2). If the airbags triggered properly because of sudden high decel rate due to component failure, I think any dealer is going to blame this on the enhanced motor and that the defective part ( presently suspected guibo) couldn't stand up to the engineering it was not designed for. If the airbag trigger was defective, then you are good, guibo/driveshaft should not be a big deal, and everything else would be covered.

Keep us posted and best of luck getting this squared away.
Regards,
Jerry

maybe replace the quibo, THEN contact the dealer...

 

[Black M5]

Really sorry to hear that. it really sucks when things go wrong especially in the car you love. Tell me about, it just sucks..

Hope BMW picks up the bill to have your car back on the road asap

 

[BKH]

Josh - Not exactly an analogous situation, but I loaned my almost-brand-new M3 to an instructor during a track day at PIR. He promptly blew a shift, overreved it and bent some exhaust valves. To make a long story short, my insurance company stepped in and paid for the labor and BMWNA paid for the parts. The point is, methodically, patiently and courteously presenting a case might do wonders...nothing is writ in stone yet. Replacing all the airbags will cost many $$ so it'll be worth speaking to all parties in a reasonable, considered fashion and collecting all necessary information before determining a firm position. Good luck!

Stuart - love your sig!