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/04120...42_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.



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 ... 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.