Safety Inspection: For everyone's sake!

[Tiger]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I just want to remind all of you to do safety inspection on your cars. All suspension components... all steering components... all brake components and all tires!

The reason I am saying is this because I just read a story on page 28 of Star Ledger (NJ). A wife, mother and two daughters got into a real bad accident on NJ Turnpike. They are from Chevy Chase, MD... lost control of her car, went off the highway, hit an embankment and launched her car into underside of bridge support beam... roof destroyed... Total catastrophe. Older daugher age 7 died. Everyone hurt real bad. The car is an E34... 525i. Year unknown as shown in picture.

I wish them well and godspeed.

Now, for all of you... I know most of you are very mechanically inclined... please inspect all your cars. I am hearing too many story on E34 lately.. where people ended up hurt bad. We know the chassis is strong and solid but if you don't have control, it is no use to us.

Perhap we should compile a list of all components to inspect so we don't forget the little critical parts.

Front Suspension:

Shock (hard to test, but I think if you try to take a digital picture without the image stabilization feature... if the picture come out clear, it is good, but if blurry, shock may be bad.)

Upper control arm, sway bar links, lower control arm bushings, All ball joint components.

Steering:
All steering arms should be changed every 100,000 miles. Center drag, two outer tie rods and idler arm.

Rear suspension:
Dogbone (pittman arm), shock, sway bar link.

Tires:
Less than 5 years old for daily tires and lots of threads left... don't use Lincoln head technique. I recommends no less than 3/16" treads... 1/8" is pushing it for severe storm, especially for all season tires.

[BMWCCA1]

Umm, "lost control of the car"? As in Driver Error, maybe? I can't think of any item on an E34 that could fail and cause catastrophic consequences. Probably the worst that could happen is a flat tire. And when was the last time you checked tire pressures? Our driveshafts don't poll-vault like F150s, and our odd suspensions might shimmy but they don't fall apart. I've never had a ball joint fail beyond causing a bit of play. So, what is the point here?

I'm not being cold, and I'm sorry for the woman's loss but we could just as easily find out she was talking on a cell phone while making a lane change and that her daughter wasn't properly belted in. Or that someone else was talking on a cell phone and ran her off the road. Never a bad idea to safety-inspect your car but let's not panic because of one newspaper photo. Taking a defensive-driving course, highway safety or a CCA driving school can help you when emergency maneuvers are required.

This could be the mother and surviving daughter during earlier trying times. Very sad: http://www.gazette.net/stories/041206/bethnew195142_31940.shtml

[Tiger]

Actually there is two of us board member got into accident too... One guy actually died... Andy something... something with his car going out of control too. There is also another guy who with his buddy... car went out of control coming onto highway from a local ramp... he went down embankment and car rolled over a couple of time.

There is alot of things that will cause loss of control. A tie rod ball joint will let one wheel steer you out of control.

Bad shocks will cause you to lose contact with road... easy scenario is you are turning in slippery weather and your rear end goes out and spinning you around.

I think the biggest item that is ignored is the dogbone in the rear wheel... if bushing is bad that is alot of play will let the rear end of the car steer wherever they want you to go.

Sway bar links... will give you plays that makes you car feels loosey loosey on the road... doesn't feel planted enough.


How you portray yourself is one thing... I see you are a CCA member so you probably have alot of track time experience. How about your wife? Girlfriend? Son and daughters? Do they have your expertise to handle all sort of consequences in split second? No... not everyone.

Can we prevent it, Absolutely yes... by maintaining our car. It is never about engine HP that steer our cars out of control... never... talk to any race guys... Hah! Skip Barber track car is only 4 cylinders and can propel as you would never believe.

A blowout on tires can scare you into oversteer and combined with worn parts as above will bring you out of control easily.

Roof is sheared off partially and collapsed... Don't know if buckle will save you life when roof coming down on you.

[BMWCCA1]

Anyone who can diagnose a bad ball joint by eye-balling it in their driveway has probably already figured out they've got a problem from the way the car drives. Regardless, ball-joints don't come apart without warning. Bad shocks don't make your car climb an embankment on a highway. Stabilizer links are unnecessary for a vehicle to be safe: Take them off completely and the car is still safe. I've driven BMWs with original shocks at well-over 250,000 miles. The car won't arbitrarily leave the road and it still handles better than most new pickups or SUV. Could it drive better with new shocks? Sure! Would you notice the difference? Sure. But it's not necessarily unsafe. And, again, if you can diagnose bad shocks sitting in your driveway, you'd have noticed the problem in driving the car before then. And those dog bones; too much emphasis. All they do is control the camber change of the rear wheels. How did we ever get along without them before? As long as they're still there, no amount of deterioration in them will make them so unsafe as to cause an accident to a prudent driver. And then of course, they, too, telegraph their deterioration to the conscious driver's hands and butt.

If someone can't fix their own car without jeopardizing its mechanical integrity, then they're unlikely to be able to find serious flaws by peering under it in their condo parking lot. My point is most accidents are caused by a failure of the nut behind the wheel, not the stabilizer link. Training that "nut" to drive within limits, and to understand what a car feels like near those limits, is more important than asking the uninformed to go out and kick their tires. Anyone can enter an off ramp too fast for their skill or their car. But a good driver can take a clapped-out E28 with bad shocks, broken dog-bones, worn tires, and loose tie rods and still run circles around most other drivers even if they're in their dad's new M5 they're trying to launch off the end of a landing strip. And yes, my wife has always told me when something on her BMW didn't feel right, even if I didn't believe her. She's been doing that for over thirty years. (And she beats me at the autocross when she gets to drive my car, too!)

Sure, a blow-out will ruin your day, but most actual blow-outs are caused by severely overloaded and under-inflated cheap tires. That's why I asked collectively when you last checked tire pressures on your car. You can't prevent a puncture by inspecting your car in your driveway, but most punctures cause slow deflation and progressive handling deficiencies with plenty of driver feedback before they're flat. Knowing what a car is supposed to feel like and playing an active role in your car's maintenance will minimize these risks. But actively trying to become a better driver is far more important than doing a pre-flight before you head out to the grocery store.

So please, be more specific about what mechanical defects caused two list members to have accidents. Not that I don't believe you, but as it relates to your admonition to do a visual, I'd like supporting evidence that their "offs" were the fault of mechanical failure. There are plenty of people around here blaming the proverbial "brown-and-white-spotted-dog" or invisible deer for their off-road excursions but usually there's a cigarette, or a CD, or a cell phone in evidence with the animals long gone. Nut behind the wheel; the primary failure mode in most accidents. How can I be so sure of this? Well, believe it or not, I was young once, too!

[repenttokyo]

Umm, "lost control of the car"? As in Driver Error, maybe? I can't think of any item on an E34 that could fail and cause catastrophic consequences. Probably the worst that could happen is a flat tire. And when was the last time you checked tire pressures?


What could happen? here's a list:

bad shocks - you hit a pothole in the middle of a turn, the car rebounds into the opposite lane, you get nailed by an oncoming car or worse, you jump the curb and take out a kid or pedestrian. Yes, this happens.

Bad power steering pump: You lose power steering at below highway speeds, you can't avoid an obstacle or oncoming car in time.

Oh, and here's one I don't think anyone can deny: Your brakelines are rotted, or you have a bad caliper, you hit the brakes to stop suddenly, the line blows out, your brake fluid evacuates the vehicle and you slam into whatever is in your way.

The list goes on, but I think I have made my point that yes, there are many regular maintenance items that could go bad and cause a catastrophe. I can't believe brakes weren't the first thing on your mind.



I've never had a ball joint fail beyond causing a bit of play. So, what is the point here?


since it didn't happen to you, it's never happened to anyone else? tell that to everyone i've seen with the wheel on the side of the road and their car 50 metres further along.



Our driveshafts don't poll-vault like F150s, and our odd suspensions might shimmy but they don't fall apart.

I dropped the driveshaft out of my F150 twice - what is this 'pole vault' you are referring to, because it certainly didn't happen to me.



What is the point of poo pooing the original poster's sentiments of safety. It was good advice for everyone. If you don't want to do maintenance on your car, then please stay off the road so you don't hit me.

[repenttokyo]

I've driven BMWs with original shocks at well-over 250,000 miles. The car won't arbitrarily leave the road and it still handles better than most new pickups or SUV.

But a good driver can take a clapped-out E28 with bad shocks, broken dog-bones, worn tires, and loose tie rods and still run circles around most other drivers


i'm sorry but that's complete horseshit.

and what the hell is your second point supposed to mean? "take a good driver and pit him against a poor driver and see how much better the good driver is, and by the way, this somehow proves my point that poor vehicle maintenance is rarely a culprit in accidents.'


ridiculous.

[gale]

Also remember to check your throttle cables. It's a good idea to make or buy a set of safety clips to keep the cable sheath from riding out and then hanging up and preventing the throttle from closing. This happened to my son's 535i just last week. Fortunately he had the quickness of mind to shut the key off & coast to a stop & check it out & found the cause. Needless to say I quickly bent up a pair of clips & installed them that same night.

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/tc2.jpg

On his, it wasn't just the lack of clips. The metal collar at the butt end of the cruise control cable was also loose. The clips wouldn't have prevented the event by themselves. I had to re-crip the collar onto the cable sheath.

[BMWCCA1]

that's not horseshit, he's got a point... don't blame the car if u can't drive.
HOW THE HELL DID PEOPLE DRIVE IN THE 80's ???? no abs, they must have been crazy... shocks won't kill u, tie-rods won't kill u, etc.Nice to see somebody got the point. ;)

[healtoeit]

I think the biggest item that is ignored is the dogbone in the rear wheel...

What is that/where is it located?
and


How about your wife? Girlfriend? Son and daughters? Do they have your expertise to handle all sort of consequences in split second? No... not everyone.


This is a great point. And one that I am really worried about. I just went through the WONDERFUL American driver's education program (that was completely sarcastic). And I can tell you that what I learn from this was...you ready? NOTHING! I learned more about how a beer will effects my ability to drive a car then when its wet outside it is slippery. Not one person told me that when it's slippery outside and I slam on the breaks my car will slide. Sounds obvious, eh? WELL! so does drinking and driving! Your children, or girlfriend or whoever! will learn nothing from the drivers ed process about driving a car.
So, where does this leave us? With driving courses and track days. Yes, track days! I learned more about my cars limits at a single track day then most of my peers will learn about their car in ten years. To feel you car on the limits of what it can do is a great necessity that all drivers should have. Now, some people will say
"how does you taking you car 100mph on the track help you in normal driving?"
to which my answer is
When my car is going 100mph I have less reaction time, longer breaking distances, and every motion is multiplied by about 10 throughout the chassis of the car. When I take a turn on the track my car is being pushed to the very edge of its limits and I have gone over them. I will know WAY longer before you (being the person that asked the question) that I am in trouble, for instance if my car starts loosing traction! But before I even get to that point in any situation, I do one critical thing that has saved my life more times then I can count (and yes I have been driving only about 1 1/2 years)
I pay attention!
That is how people can really help themselves and others, is by not being stupid and paying attention to what is in-front to the sides and behind them!
That includes maintaining your car!

[Ross]

I disagree with you. A tie rod or ball joint failure will cause a loss of steering.
How many times have you seen a car on the shoulder of the road with a tire jammed up in the wheelwell?
I personally once repaired a Chevy van with tie rod ends so bad that GRAVITY was all that held them in place. I **** you not, one tie rod end could be lifted from it's "ball" on the steering knuckle by hand with near zero effort. The driver complained of a "clunk".
Too many people are absolutely oblivious to what their car is doing(often correlates to a second X chromosome)that anything other than total failure is unnoticed.
In states like mine(IL)ther are no safety inspections only smog. You can legally drive the world's biggest chunk of **** as long as it doesn't smoke too much. Go figure? Thanks to all the greenies for that.

[Tiger]

I actually had this happened too... Oldsmobile... we changed just the outer tie rod... took it out and whoa... really worn and the darn thing just popped out right in front of us.

[Tiger]

Don't hijack this thread for topic on bad drivers or incompetent one.

I posted this topic out of concern for fellow E34 owners. Reminds all of us to check our car out before anything that can cause problems later. If I see three or more cases of E34 being in accident that seems more out of ordinary... it is a concern that we might have missed something... that we should have replaced.

Having one person to distract from this is not conducive to other E34 owners. There are alot of things we can't check accurately for the condition of parts... especially shocks... these are impossible to check on modern cars. It used to be so easy to tell but not anymore.

[Tiger]

Dogbone or offical name is rear pittman arm is located at the rear wheel... in front of rear wheel. Someone actually post a real cool video on the location and how bad his was... complete loss of bushing.

If you look at your sway bar link at the rear wheel, it looks just like that but much larger and are mounted horizontally... 22mm bolts holding that thing.

[Tiger]

Eyeballing a bad shock? Okay so you catch only one bad shock out of 100 shocks. Bounce test? You will catch zero on modern cars. So tell me, if I show you 10 cars out there... 5 I know has bad shocks on all 4 corners because I have personnally took them apart and put back on... You will find nothing wrong with 10 cars on parking lot. Oh... you want to look for tire cuppings? Nope, won't find any either.

When you drive it, you probably might catch 3 of them. Why? Because you would know from your personal experience. Now what about the other 99 drivers? Maybe some might catch 1 or 2.... but majority of them wouldn't know.

You sound like I demands everyone to spend money to replace all unnecessary parts per your opinion... No... I am saying to check them... or have someone check them.... Cost them nothing to check... a little time... a little time getting to know your car a bit better. So why do you object to a simple check? Yes, it is your time involved... but then again, that is your choice.

Wife tells you something is wrong and yet you choose to ignore her car? Even 30 years... doesn't matter... you are doing a calculated risk assessment on probabilty that your wife might lose control of her car... You speculated that since she beat you in racing that she would have the best chances to avert such problem. That's your choice... You thought of that the car is well maintained by your trusted mechanic or you yourself that zero chance of anything goes wrong with it... at least major problem.

[billy]

i'm sorry but that's complete horseshit.

and what the hell is your second point supposed to mean? "take a good driver and pit him against a poor driver and see how much better the good driver is, and by the way, this somehow proves my point that poor vehicle maintenance is rarely a culprit in accidents.'


ridiculous.

i drove a 525 id took out of storage for a few days, the back springs were cracked in 3 places and the shocks had water in them, car drove perfectly

and the brake system works on a figure x fashion, if you did have brake corrosion you would have to have fairly bad luck for them both to go at the same moment, ie should one line fail and you loose fluid, you would get a warning on your dash but the other 2 wheels would still have full braking force

[skr]

that's not horseshit, he's got a point... don't blame the car if u can't drive. i see lots of people being overly paranoid about how their car is going to get them killed if they don't change stuff in time. but it's just part of a trend, just like being paranoid of not having esp, or other stuff. in my opinion it comes down to this : HOW THE HELL DID PEOPLE DRIVE IN THE 80's ???? no abs, they must have been crazy... shocks won't kill u, tie-rods won't kill u, etc.
flooring it on a wet while cornering will, driving on snow like on dry road thinking "hey, i got winter tires" , yanking the wheel to not hit a dog at 120 mph, etc, etc will. so it comes down to the driver. not shocks and tie-rods.

[repenttokyo]

i drove a 525 id took out of storage for a few days, the back springs were cracked in 3 places and the shocks had water in them, car drove perfectly

and the brake system works on a figure x fashion, if you did have brake corrosion you would have to have fairly bad luck for them both to go at the same moment, ie should one line fail and you loose fluid, you would get a warning on your dash but the other 2 wheels would still have full braking force


the danger doesn't lie in everyday driving, the danger lies in an unexpected situation where you have to swerve out of the way to avoid something or brake very hard to stop suddenly. In both of those situations you put a much greater, more extreme demand on your suspension and brakes, and that is when component failure causes an accident.

[repenttokyo]

that's not horseshit, he's got a point... don't blame the car if u can't drive. i see lots of people being overly paranoid about how their car is going to get them killed if they don't change stuff in time. but it's just part of a trend, just like being paranoid of not having esp, or other stuff. in my opinion it comes down to this : HOW THE HELL DID PEOPLE DRIVE IN THE 80's ???? no abs, they must have been crazy... shocks won't kill u, tie-rods won't kill u, etc.
flooring it on a wet while cornering will, driving on snow like on dry road thinking "hey, i got winter tires" , yanking the wheel to not hit a dog at 120 mph, etc, etc will. so it comes down to the driver. not shocks and tie-rods.


oh hey, great argument, you've certainly convinced me.

[healtoeit]

Also remember to check your throttle cables. It's a good idea to make or buy a set of safety clips to keep the cable sheath from riding out and then hanging up and preventing the throttle from closing. This happened to my son's 535i just last week. Fortunately he had the quickness of mind to shut the key off & coast to a stop & check it out & found the cause. Needless to say I quickly bent up a pair of clips & installed them that same night.

That happened to my car on the track. The cable would pop out of the "female" end and move to the side, the cable would then get stuck on the a lip. I used zip ties to hold the cable in place when i hit the throttle and its worked fine for 10k miles!

[vince]

Beautifully put, Phil.

It's pathetically easy for an inexperienced or more likely careless or inattentive driver to place the blame on the car they've chosen not to maintain properly. Today I witnessed a GMC Tahoe zipping through traffic at 40+ with the left rear tire nearly deflated. I could see where the edges of the tir were already bald from being driven while underinflated. And he/she was cutting through traffic as if on a race track, unaware of how poorly those SUVs actualy do handle.

I've had the "pleasure" of driving rental cars on business and pleasure through some of the great roads in the west. Natch, many of those cars were new or very low mileage. Boy, did they handle like crap! And that's compared to a recent acquisition, a certain silver 525i touring you've seen at a few Oktoberfests with 250,000 plus miles on the suspension. Yes, it's not as tight as it could be, but it's still plenty stable, and obviously not likely to cause any accidents on it's own unless I do something really stupid.

Many times on TV I see something about some terrible accident, where people died, etc. The cars are always torn apart, yet the speed limit wasn't that high. Weather wasn't a factor. But why were they going 2, 3 times the speed limit? Like you said, the nut behind the wheel.....

Years ago, I had a local guy give me grief for going too fast in my E30M3. He was behind me. He had no way to judge my speed, which was at the speed limit, no need to get caught being stupid. His car was a tired '80s Ford Escort on skinny tires. I wonder how his car felt at 40 mph on a few curves compared to an E30M3? I made it clear he needed to do something about his own ignorance before he worries about other people.

I got rear ended in my '90 525im a year ago by a 22 year old girl in an older Blazer. I was stopped at an intersection. Surprisingly little damage though she was going about 30 mph and hit the bumper squarely and shattered the cover. I suffed a herniated disc and 3 bulging discs a few days later; we're still discussing the settlement. After the accident, she kept crying about how she didn't know what happened, though the cell phone never left her hand. DUH! She wasn't paying attention and hit a stopped car! DUH!

Why do these ????? insist on trying to find excuses for their careless, reckless driving?

vince

[infurno]

I can see how a serious mechanical failure can cause a problem.

One of my engine mounts on my E28 was bad. Every once in a while the engine would tip and pull the throttle cable. The car would randomly floor itself and the best you could do is flip it to neutral or cut power.

One of the worst failures happened on my E34 when the bolts on the bottom of the boot under the shock came loose on my way home after replacing front end parts. You can blame me for that if you like. Have no idea what happened, I checked everything 4 or 5 times before hitting the road. Worst case? I could have lost the wheel and mowed down someone walking on the side of the road, or a head on collision on oncoming traffic.

IMHO the biggest risk of mechanical failure is human error on a DIY or even professional repair. Not properly installing parts, forgetting to tighten bolts, ect...

I drive 1 hour and 30 min to work every day now for 5 years, and thats not including classes. I have never had an accident my fault or not.

Im not suggesting thats impressive or anything but I would say 70% of driving safely is being aware of your surrounding's. Knowing who is to the left, right, and behind you at all times. Not only check when you signal to turn.

The other 30% is knowing how to handle your car. What do you do if your slipping on ice, slush, snow? A hot wet road? Its important to know how to expect and handle the situations and how to restore control. Under controlled situations I practice so that if one day im sliding towards a group of kids I wont panic and know what to do. Recovering form a 360 spin is fun too :D

Finally you can never underestimate the stupidity of other people on the road. Don't expect them to see you coming, to yeild, or stay in between the lines.


Driver error or not, every time you start your car it could be the last time. If its not a failure on your end, it could be someone else.

[Ross]

I think everyone gets your point, I do and agree.
The intent of the OP was to remind people to inspect thier cars.
Lets have some of the pros chime in here with stories of what is on the road being driven by totally oblivious drivers.
Certainly driver error is the #1 cause, but an unsafe vehicle only compounds the problem. Vince's point about underinflation is a good example.
Most if not all of us bought our cars used and some recently, most without any idea of service history I'd guess. No harm in an inspection.

[BMWCCA1]

Sorry for the long re-quote. If the forum software kept them in the right order I wouldn't feel compelled to do this:
Eyeballing a bad shock? Okay so you catch only one bad shock out of 100 shocks. Bounce test? You will catch zero on modern cars. So tell me, if I show you 10 cars out there... 5 I know has bad shocks on all 4 corners because I have personnally took them apart and put back on... You will find nothing wrong with 10 cars on parking lot. Oh... you want to look for tire cuppings? Nope, won't find any either.

When you drive it, you probably might catch 3 of them. Why? Because you would know from your personal experience. Now what about the other 99 drivers? Maybe some might catch 1 or 2.... but majority of them wouldn't know.

You sound like I demands everyone to spend money to replace all unnecessary parts per your opinion... No... I am saying to check them... or have someone check them.... Cost them nothing to check... a little time... a little time getting to know your car a bit better. So why do you object to a simple check? Yes, it is your time involved... but then again, that is your choice.

Wife tells you something is wrong and yet you choose to ignore her car? Even 30 years... doesn't matter... you are doing a calculated risk assessment on probabilty that your wife might lose control of her car... You speculated that since she beat you in racing that she would have the best chances to avert such problem. That's your choice... You thought of that the car is well maintained by your trusted mechanic or you yourself that zero chance of anything goes wrong with it... at least major problem.
I'm not saying you shouldn't check your car. I'm saying there's very little you can check yourself with the car sitting in the driveway other than tire pressures and most don't even do that. If you continue to drive a car that exhibits a problem, you get what you deserve. I did not say I ignored my wife's concerns. I said I didn't believe them . . . until I drove the car and saw what she meant. In one case it was a brake master cylinder sticking with the brakes held on so much she couldn't climb a hill. When I got there, it had released. We swapped cars and it took a week for the problem to exhibit itself. When it did I saw immediately what she had been telling me. I replaced the master cylinder and it's been fine for 100k ever since.

So what about those examples of the two list members who got in accidents because of failed parts? Do you have those specifics? You made the original point about inspecting our cars in conjunction with reporting an accident involving an E34. There's no evidence presented in the news story that there was any mechanical failure. Some of the examples used here show that maybe some owners aren't capable of inspecting their own cars. I don't even know what this means:

One of the worst failures happened on my E34 when the bolts on the bottom of the boot under the shock came loose on my way home after replacing front end parts.
Bolts on the bottom of the boot under the shock . . . on the front? WTF does that even mean?

Sure, there's never anything wrong with checking your car's components for condition. But my point assumes we're all driving BMWs and, other than faulty repairs or negligent repairs, I've never seen a BMW in an accident because of a defective part. It's usually driver error, so work on that, too. Granted, the E34 was recalled for throttle cables. I think I remember this was on the automatic M50 cars only and it was the kick-down cables to the tranny. I could be wrong, it was almost fifteen-years ago. When it happened to me, before the recall, I just shut off the engine. It hadn't floored the throttle, either, since it only sticks and doesn't go wide-open, unless it happens to stick when you put your foot to the floor. It felt like the cruise-control didn't shut off. That would certainly be a problem on the track, and I'm glad some of you mentioned it in this thread. Regardless, knowing what you're doing keeps the problem from causing an accident.

I sold Audi during the unintended-acceleration years. All driver error. Short people turning around to look behind and hitting the wrong pedal. Usually on starting out from their own garages. Sometimes they were in D and thought they were in R. Always automatics. Somehow I thought this group on this forum were smarter than that. Sure, check your car; what of it you're capable of. But if you really believe bad shocks on your E34 makes you less safe than a stock, new, American car, or can cause an accident, then you probably don't know what a bad shock feels like. And what, exactly, did you find on the "5 I know has bad shocks on all 4 corners because I have personnally took them apart and put back on" Are you psychic? Were you laying-on hands? And why did you, the safety Nazi here, put them back on at all? Again, if anyone believes a split ball-joint boot or disintegrating Trac-Links (that's the actual dog-bone name from BMW) is the cause of your accident, I'll challenge the assessment. Sure, replace a joint with a broken boot because it will lose its lubricant over time. But anyone who's ever driven their BMW when a worn ball joint or tie-rod end actually came apart, please let me know. I'd like to use you in an experiment on brains being disconnected from the body.

Check all you want. But have it done by someone who knows what they're doing. Better still if they can communicate to you what they're looking for so you can tell yourself. But if you don't take a pro-active approach to your car, you're more likely to get ripped off then to become an accident victim. These are well-made cars. They don't come apart without feedback. We'll never hear if the lady in the Turnpike accident had her kids buckled in properly, was talking on a cell phone, or had a seizure. Her child died and it was ina BMW. That's all the press wants to tell you, particularly in the community in which BMW NA has their offices. And you all perpetuate the scare tactics here. There's a big difference between saying "The car went out of control" and "the driver lost control of the vehicle". In this case at least the reporters chose the latter term.

[repenttokyo]

this thread has become completely ridiculous. comments like this:


But if you really believe bad shocks on your E34 makes you less safe than a stock, new, American car, or can cause an accident, then you probably don't know what a bad shock feels like.

why don't you get off your high German horse and realise how asinine you sound. You are right, this entire board is populated by mechanical numbskulls who have absolutely no understanding of how a car works. Keep spitting out your BMW-dogma, it cracks me up every time I read your posts.

"If you really believe that an American fighter jet can outperform an E34 with cardboard wings and a homeade afterburner, then you probably don't know what flying feels like".

"If you really believe that an E34 couldn't perform lifesaving surgery any better than a fully trained American doctor, then you probably don't know what real surgery feels like."

"If you really believe an E34 with bad shocks can't give you a better BJ than a brand-new American car, then you probably don't know what bad shocks feel like."

[BMWCCA1]

why don't you get off your high German horse and realise how asinine you sound. You are right, this entire board is populated by mechanical numbskulls who have absolutely no understanding of how a car works. Keep spitting out your BMW-dogma, it cracks me up every time I read your posts.Thanks for your cogent contribution. Might it just have been easier to answer the question? Here, try this: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting

[Morgenster]

I think everyone gets your point, I do and agree.
The intent of the OP was to remind people to inspect thier cars.
Lets have some of the pros chime in here with stories of what is on the road being driven by totally oblivious drivers.
Certainly driver error is the #1 cause, but an unsafe vehicle only compounds the problem. Vince's point about underinflation is a good example.
Most if not all of us bought our cars used and some recently, most without any idea of service history I'd guess. No harm in an inspection.

Nearly 20% of roadgoing vehicles fail inspection yearly here (Belgium). But our inspections are painstakingly thorough and everything gets tested yearly. It made me cringe to see mine up on a shock and harsh movement simulator getting shaken about to check the sturdyness of the suspension components, but I'm glad they check it so thoroughly here.
Our roadworthiness inspections check all safety items from brakes to suspension, steering, shocks and seatbelts, as well as chassis and bodyshell corrosion. I failed my inspection last year on account of a worn dustboot on one of the lower control arms in front. I'm surprised inspections are so lax in other countries and it would explain why there's so many foreighn licenseplates on our roads.

[repenttokyo]

Thanks for your cogent contribution. Might it just have been easier to answer the question? Here, try this: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting


nice, I see you are also familiar with years-old internet memes. Is there anything you CAN'T teach us?

[Tiger]

Ask Bimmer Nut Ed about the accident. He did a fund raiser for the family. The kid I remember was early 20's and he was driving along the highway and for some reason, the car veered out of control and oncoming traffic from behind or front (don't remember) killed him. Not weather related. I think this was in 2003.

The one about the coming out of the ramp onto the highway... I think this was around 2004 or 5... It may have been weather related but still accident right out of the highway ramp with no traffic is also quite unusual. This was on a weekend in the early morning... I don't know if I can find this thread... Our forum thread only goes back 2004... I was member since inception of 2001.

[BMWCCA1]

The kid I remember was early 20's and he was driving along the highway and for some reason, the car veered out of control and oncoming traffic from behind or front (don't remember) killed him. Not weather related. I think this was in 2003.

The one about the coming out of the ramp onto the highway... I think this was around 2004 or 5... It may have been weather related but still accident right out of the highway ramp with no traffic is also quite unusual. This was on a weekend in the early morning... Weekend? Early morning? Was there a party involved? So, you have no facts to support that either accident was caused by a mechanical failure, right? "For some reason" and "quite unusual" doesn't cut it. Ask any cop or accident investigator.

I ran off the road once and into the trees——with no damage to myself, my passenger, or the BMW 1600. Why? Because I was driving too fast for my skill level. I also flipped my Mom's MGB-GT end-over-end back around 1969. Now I wasn't ticketed because the cop took pity on me with the car still upside-down in the ditch and pointed out the very worn bias-ply tires. Truth was I was going too fast and showing off for my passenger and didn't have a clue about driving a car properly when I was 16. I had never taken the time to learn the car's limits. Luckily I lived to admit it so no one would blame the poor car!

[attack eagle]

Dogbone or offical name is rear pittman arm is located at the rear wheel... in front of rear wheel. Someone actually post a real cool video on the location and how bad his was... complete loss of bushing.

If you look at your sway bar link at the rear wheel, it looks just like that but much larger and are mounted horizontally... 22mm bolts holding that thing.

I don't run dogbones.

well actually I take that back... I run ONE dogbone on one side because it is part of the anti hop link on one side...

I might burn the bushings out of them and put them back on... maybe even squirt some window weld in them as a substitute bushing this year... After all, I now that I have enough power and gear to spin both 245s in the wet axle tramp is more of an issue than it has been for the last year.

what I won't do is buy new ones to replace them or just put them on "because".

Where is the link to the article, pictures of the car or scene? I want to see whazzup if you were so moved by it to start a new thread.


This is much ado about nothing IMO.

It isnt a new e34 safetly/recall item/problem. Might have been age/ condition/maintenance or Driver error.
I wasn't there and I didn't inspect the car, and I don't even get to see accident photos to make my own determinations since no link was provided. Neither was the OP, or anyone else.

I certainly hope that on an enthusiast forum it should not require seeing a fatal accident in your model of car to remind you to keep the car maintained...