crashed M5 - feel sorry for the guy and the car

[turbolag]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

LOL

It's also quite mesmerizing to see the steel torn like paper isn't it?

I've always thought that cars were solid, that the metal was impermeable. Somehow I've always been deluded. Every time I see a wrecked car, it seems so unreal that the metal is simply torn up...

[avlnch]

Originally Posted by turbolag

I've always thought that cars were solid, that the metal was impermeable. Somehow I've always been deluded. Every time I see a wrecked car, it seems so unreal that the metal is simply torn up...

Everything on the car is designed to absorb impact, and as much of it as possible.

[mstmng]

Originally Posted by avlnch

Everything on the car is designed to absorb impact, and as much of it as possible.

and headlights have clips behind them, which break in case of front collision and lights stay "alive", so bmw minimises your costs from 1000+ per each headlight to 5-10-20$ to replace clips

[turbolag]

Originally Posted by avlnch

Everything on the car is designed to absorb impact, and as much of it as possible.

I know.

It;s just that the cars I've envisioned as solid can be ripped apart is amazing.

[avlnch]

Originally Posted by turbolag

I know.

It;s just that the cars I've envisioned as solid can be ripped apart is amazing.

I was in a bad accident in my E60 M5. It was M5 vs tractor trailer.

The car saved my life. I was able to make a hard right before going under the trailer which was horizontally across the road.

Anyways, the door handles flew off, mirrors fell off, and the front windshield rolled up like as if you rolled a piece of computer paper. The A pillar as basically cut in half.

So these are very strong cars. It might not look like it after an accident, but everything you see that's destroyed, was built to be destroyed like that. It's energy spent wrecking the car parts rather than energy going to the driver and or occupants.

[Dionysus]

Originally Posted by avlnch

I was in a bad accident in my E60 M5. It was M5 vs tractor trailer.

The car saved my life. I was able to make a hard right before going under the trailer which was horizontally across the road.

Anyways, the door handles flew off, mirrors fell off, and the front windshield rolled up like as if you rolled a piece of computer paper. The A pillar as basically cut in half.

So these are very strong cars. It might not look like it after an accident, but everything you see that's destroyed, was built to be destroyed like that. It's energy spent wrecking the car parts rather than energy going to the driver and or occupants.

Wow, that's not good. The A pillar forms part of the passenger cell which is designed to remain intact around the deformable/energy absorbing sections. Yes our cars perform well in crash tests, however, with impact forces high enough to cut the A pillar in half, it was more than the car that saved you.

I worked a couple of years as a road accident analyst a fair few years ago and dealt with cases of those not so fortunate. It's easy for all of us to feel somewhat invincible when driving, the reality being somewhat different.

Anyway, most important thing is that you survived.

[Dionysus]

Originally Posted by mstmng

and headlights have clips behind them, which break in case of front collision and lights stay "alive", so bmw minimises your costs from 1000+ per each headlight to 5-10-20$ to replace clips

Also pedestrian protection system seems to have triggered.

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by avlnch

I was in a bad accident in my E60 M5. It was M5 vs tractor trailer.

The car saved my life. I was able to make a hard right before going under the trailer which was horizontally across the road.

Anyways, the door handles flew off, mirrors fell off, and the front windshield rolled up like as if you rolled a piece of computer paper. The A pillar as basically cut in half.

So these are very strong cars. It might not look like it after an accident, but everything you see that's destroyed, was built to be destroyed like that. It's energy spent wrecking the car parts rather than energy going to the driver and or occupants.

Do you have any pictures? I would be very interested to see how the car ended up in a collision like this.

Was this the one before the frozen grey one?

[avlnch]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

Do you have any pictures? I would be very interested to see how the car ended up in a collision like this.

Was this the one before the frozen grey one?

This was my black M5 in 2008.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...r-trailer.html

You can see a line from the a pillar to the d/s window. That's the bottom edge of a box trailer.

[richard in NC]

Originally Posted by avlnch

This was my black M5 in 2008.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60...r-trailer.html

You can see a line from the a pillar to the d/s window. That's the bottom edge of a box trailer.

It actually looks like the internal structure of the A pillar survived and kept the passenger cell intact. A weaker pillar would have allowed the trailer frame to slice right through sending the car under the trailer. Yes it saved your life.

[1230vani]

Overheard yesterday the guy will have to pay 5% of the damage, feel real sorry for the guy. Car is owned by BMW manager in Munich (the only M5 competition they could arrange for the test drive).

[Dionysus]

Originally Posted by 1230vani

Overheard yesterday the guy will have to pay 5% of the damage, feel real sorry for the guy. Car is owned by BMW manager in Munich (the only M5 competition they could arrange for the test drive).

Apologies in advance if this is deemed a little harsh, however, I cannot understand why you would feel sorry for someone that, it would seem (obviously accept that we don't know the full details here, although if the 5% is true, it does imply some blame), is the root cause in damaging another's property that was taken on trust.

If we fail to read the small print before signing on the line, then we've only got ourselves to blame.

[saflang]

Originally Posted by 1230vani

Overheard yesterday the guy will have to pay 5% of the damage, feel real sorry for the guy. Car is owned by BMW manager in Munich (the only M5 competition they could arrange for the test drive).

I hope you meant to say at least 50% !!!

If it were only 5% I'd be begging Munich to lend me a car so that I could learn how to take it to the limits (and past a few times).

[Actor]

Originally Posted by saflang

I hope you meant to say at least 50% !!!

If it were only 5% I'd be begging Munich to lend me a car so that I could learn how to take it to the limits (and past a few times).

Working out the maths, 5% is a very small price to pay for the damage that is shown….I'll take those odds!!!!

[avlnch]

That 5% is probably an insurance ded. or something like that.

Just a guess though.

[AttyGunther]

I would hate to see what that is going to cost to repair. The final estimate on my deer hit just came in (pictures here: http://f10.m5post.com/forums/showthr...ht=Deer&page=2 )... A tad over $15,100. And that's just cosmetic, nothing structural. The hood will not be replaced, so that's saving some bucks (no pun intended). Apparently the minor dent came out just fine without disturbing the underside.

And no LCI grilles to be found yet!

[1230vani]

Originally Posted by 1230vani

This is what i know:

- car was sent for a test drive to Austria, Vienna

- it belongs to BMW Munich

- test driver already owns an M5 which is why BMW made extra effort so that he can test have a test drive

- not sure how much he will have to pay, probably only a little sum

- driver is fine physically but under shock of what happened

I found (not officially) out that the guy did not pay the insurance waiver (15 euro) so he would have to pay about 75k in damages. Its an old post, was just reminded by bimmerpost app.

[soooma]

Originally Posted by 1230vani

This is what i know:

- car was sent for a test drive to Austria, Vienna

- it belongs to BMW Munich

- test driver already owns an M5 which is why BMW made extra effort so that he can test have a test drive

- not sure how much he will have to pay, probably only a little sum

- driver is fine physically but under shock of what happened

[AntDX316]

Originally Posted by avlnch

I was in a bad accident in my E60 M5. It was M5 vs tractor trailer.

The car saved my life. I was able to make a hard right before going under the trailer which was horizontally across the road.

Anyways, the door handles flew off, mirrors fell off, and the front windshield rolled up like as if you rolled a piece of computer paper. The A pillar as basically cut in half.

So these are very strong cars. It might not look like it after an accident, but everything you see that's destroyed, was built to be destroyed like that. It's energy spent wrecking the car parts rather than energy going to the driver and or occupants.

I mean, when you are spending 5x more than a new Toyota, you should assume you are getting some kind of superior crash safety equipment. The frame alone might cost $20k. Depreciation doesn't count as it's the cost of initial production is what matters. Houses appreciate but the quality of the materials go down. Cars drop like 4x their value after a few years but some components, like the power is still at least 97% there given the vehicle was well maintained. I spent so much time trying to retrofit and modify vehicles to get some power that used vehicles already have. You might as well just buy used with the option.

[JMD]

...send the wheels my way!

[jensputzier]

I had a similar accident last year. Someone took my right of way and I hit the other car in the side with less than 20 mph. Damage was 20k€. So doesn't have to be careless driving to get this result.

[F10M5SoccerDad]

wow that rough. Now let's part that baby out! hahaha