My 525i is dead!!!

[shuriken]

Yep crashed the car last night. Driving down a slip road towards my home after work, started to brake and felt the brakes start to work, but felt very "wooden". Fast appraoching the junction and lights at the bottom but not slowing down so pressed harder...... nothing! firm pedal but just like using two pieces of wood on the disc. Went through the junction at approx 30-35 mph (it's a tight left 15-20 mph) and the car understeered into the large brick leg of a viaduct!!. Police car happened to be at the lights and saw me fighting the car round, and so knew I wasn't being a "boy racer". 4 hours in A+E and now feeling very sore. Nothing wrong but wiplash and a sore chest from the seat belt. Both the copper and the ambulance driver said that it was a good job I was driving 'one of those'. Inside was fine. Now on look out for another one.... or maybe a 530i?

[Alexlind123]

*sigh* What was wrong with your brakes? I dont want this to happen to me or anyone else. Please get your brakes inspected to find out what was wrong for the sake of the rest of us.

[nizmainiac]

bad luck man, glad to hear you're ok though

[Alexlind123]

BTW, did the airbag go off?

[SnakeyesTx]

did you try pulling the E-brake to slow down or was there no time? :(

[spyrot1]

That sucks...

no airbag?

[Monastie]

sad, but glad ur ok

[shuriken]

No airbags as this was an extra on my model. Brakes had felt fine for last two months, but never got round to looking at the state of the discs. it had receipts for new pads and the brakes felt pretty sharp. i shall take a look to,orrow as I go up to the recovery garage to take bits out of the car. It did feel like brakes were working but pads weren't gripping, if that makes sense? The hand brake on these models I have never found effective at slowing the car down ( have tried to use it going past a police car on the motorway before!). Thinking back I should have gone down the manual gears on my auto box but it was happening fast, never went through my mind that a routine slowing down would have me through the junction still travelling. Shows what happens at an estimated 30-35 mph though. Very pleased with the way the car took the brunt of the hit. Inside you'd never tell I'd totaled the front. Glove box was a bit tight but that was all. I'm UK based before any one asks for parts!

[bagpuss]

Bummer ! Were the bi-annual brake fluid changes done ? An often overlooked, yet important thing for these (or any cars really). If discs/pads look ok and there's no leaks I think I'd be looking for the service history on the brake fluid. I'd also be looking for things like oil on the discs (as you said the brakes were biting). I think air-bags became standard the year after.

Got a nice 540i on ebay (UK) Item number 280017783326 and the brake fluid's just been changed :-)

One question though - when you knew you were out of control and trying to recover the car, can you remember where you were looking ? 99% of people look at the wall ! Its old bikers wisdom to look where you want to go and the chances are you'll go there - worth remembering - never ever look at the wall ! Hard to do, but it can save your life if you can manage it.

I'm not saying it would have saved you but you'd be suprised. It saved me once and thats what they teach you on the track so worth remembering. Besides its an interesting concept and I'd love to know where you were looking when you were understeering out of control and whether you hit what you looked at ?

Glad you're ok, thats the main thing.

[Yiorgos]

Sad to hear, but glad to know that you're OK. These are just machines, definitely replaceable.


Very pleased with the way the car took the brunt of the hit.

This made me laugh. You don't hear much of this being said with non-BMW owners :D

[Macv]

Aww thats sad, glad you made it out fine. I hope things look brighter with your next. :)

[Ausmpower]

How hot were the brakes when this happened? As in were you on the brakes hard prior to this accident?

Your brakes will fade (read not work) if they are really hot from hard driving....... "Wooden pedal" suggests brake fade, fluid boiling or booster failure.

Is your booster vacuum or the Hydraulic system?

[Paul in NZ]

wow that was a hard hit,the a pillars and the widscreen transferred the energy through to the roof.

[shuriken]

One question though - when you knew you were out of control and trying to recover the car, can you remember where you were looking ? 99% of people look at the wall ! Its old bikers wisdom to look where you want to go and the chances are you'll go there - worth remembering - never ever look at the wall ! Hard to do, but it can save your life if you can manage it.

Glad you're ok, thats the main thing.

I was looking at the exit of the turn, I am a biker (by some 10 years over my car license ), I thought I'd make it and remeber thinking(split second) **** I'm gonna dent the side of the car, but the car just went straight, just after the initial turn in, I was in panic mode and still had foot on brake. Wonder if I had taken it off if I'd have got round? I was way to fast for the turn though. Glad for once a copper was there to witness the crash.
I cant see too much of the brakes but I'm wondering if the inboard side of the discs were scored, the visable side looks lightly ridged, and as for fluid I never checked! Had the car two months and had a to do list, which included the fluid. Car looked so new that I assumed that it had been changed at last service. Been serviced at indie garage, around Christmas time. I think the fluid and/or the discs getting hotter as the more I braked were to blame. I had initially braked to bring the car down from 60 to 40 and then started to brake , thats when it felt wooden so I braked harder. Brake fade seems very likely.
Went to recovery today to get bits out of the car and to get the parts I'd retro fitted- air vent and duct to rear, stereo, OBC and battery. Also Fully BMW tool kit and my added tool kit. Also have the dash binnicle.
Here's what it looks like away from the wall...... Don't forget this was "just" a 30-35 mph hit!! My thoughts to take away from this is get the fluid changed and if in doubt the discs too, don't wait........

[bagpuss]

Interestingly in this picture, the damage looks face on - hard old whack by the way !! - but the wheels looked turned in (for the corner perhaps). So unless the wheels have been moved since crash time, and given what you say about keeping a foot on the brake, perhaps the front wheels were locked, hence the lack of steering response. If that were the case then perhaps there was some oil or deisel spillage (corner not near a garage is it ??). Where there's blame, there's a claim - lol - be nice to be able to apportion it to a 3rd party like a garage - the bloodsuckers of the highway :-)

But thinking about it, you'd have to have an ABS failure for the front wheels to lock I guess, so that probably not a good suggestion (other than blaming someone, like a garage of course !).

[SharkmanBMW]

I was looking at the exit of the turn, I am a biker (by some 10 years over my car license ), I thought I'd make it and remeber thinking(split second) **** I'm gonna dent the side of the car, but the car just went straight, just after the initial turn in, I was in panic mode and still had foot on brake. Wonder if I had taken it off if I'd have got round? I was way to fast for the turn though. Glad for once a copper was there to witness the crash.
I cant see too much of the brakes but I'm wondering if the inboard side of the discs were scored, the visable side looks lightly ridged, and as for fluid I never checked! Had the car two months and had a to do list, which included the fluid. Car looked so new that I assumed that it had been changed at last service. Been serviced at indie garage, around Christmas time. I think the fluid and/or the discs getting hotter as the more I braked were to blame. I had initially braked to bring the car down from 60 to 40 and then started to brake , thats when it felt wooden so I braked harder. Brake fade seems very likely.
Went to recovery today to get bits out of the car and to get the parts I'd retro fitted- air vent and duct to rear, stereo, OBC and battery. Also Fully BMW tool kit and my added tool kit. Also have the dash binnicle.
Here's what it looks like away from the wall...... Don't forget this was "just" a 30-35 mph hit!! My thoughts to take away from this is get the fluid changed and if in doubt the discs too, don't wait........


WOW, that is a lot of damage... it must have been a heavy crunch.
If that was a honda or something like a neon... you wouldn't be typing to us here.

It is good to see you are feeling ok, the car did it's job.

[shuriken]

Interestingly in this picture, the damage looks face on - hard old whack by the way !! - but the wheels looked turned in (for the corner perhaps). .

Yeah the wheels are turned as started to make it round the corner and then the speed over came the grip and it washed out on the front. It was a full on, flat to the wall hit, straight across the front of the car, so I supose thats better than hitting the corner of the wall, disapates the energy evenly?
Started to look for another one this time with my pre check list in hand and things to be IMMEDIATELY done too (Brake check and fluid change). Looking at E39's, any thoughts? Don't know much about them as have had E34's for passed 5 years.

[Yiorgos]

Looking at E39's, any thoughts? Don't know much about them as have had E34's for passed 5 years.

The "latest" issue of BMWcar (issue 06/2006, has a Hartge 550bhp V10 3er on the front) has a whole low-down on the ins and outs of the E39 and what to look for.

[bagpuss]

Started to look for another one this time with my pre check list in hand and things to be IMMEDIATELY done too (Brake check and fluid change). Looking at E39's, any thoughts? Don't know much about them as have had E34's for passed 5 years.

Buy my 540 ! already had brake fluid changed and MTech susp might get you a fighting chance round those 'too fast for the turn' situations - lol. But seriously, as you know there's loads of E34s around in Uk, some great, some not so. As for E39, I've tried a few but just cant love them as much as the E34. Not sure why, they're nice cars, but an E39 540 just feels a bit pipe and slippers against the E34 counterpart - and if its got one of those horrible double-decker bus steering wheels then forget it ! If I was looking to spend 10 -15k then the M5 is in a different league - these aren't pipe and slippers with 400bhp and suspension to match (and a decent steering wheel).

Depends what you want and what you wanna spend. As you know, you 'can' get E34s for under 500 quid in UK and you'll probably get a reasonable E34 525 or 530 for 1000-2000, a nice later 535 for 2500 (I would avoid the early 535 'Sport' versions, they've probably been bought in later life by boy-racer types) or one of the last 540s with low miles and MTech (mine- lol) for under 3500, a decent 3.8l M5 for about 7000, then you can go to any price up to about 25 or 30 grand for a late mint M5 E39 and all E39 variants in between.

Whatever you do, dont go less than a 525 as they're severely underpowered for the weight of the car. Personally I'd consider a 530 about the minimum.

[shuriken]

Cheers bagpuss, have up to £4k and was looking at E39 523i SE's. Missus has a lot of say in this now after crash!! It safety issuses "we're after" and the fact I have 11 points for speeding ( from my bike- M27 coppers :( ). Have seen some nice E34's for around £2k though and they're by no mean out of the question.

Just downloaded the BMWCar E39 report in pdf, makes for good reading, but then so does the E34 buyers guide.

[bagpuss]

Cheers bagpuss, have up to £4k and was looking at E39 523i SE's. Missus has a lot of say in this now after crash!! It safety issuses "we're after" and the fact I have 11 points for speeding ( from my bike- M27 coppers :( ). Have seen some nice E34's for around £2k though and they're by no mean out of the question.


I would pass on the 523 due to power. Although its really a 525, the E39 is a clunkier car than the E34. 528 would be my min here. Safety doesn't mean slow, as more power can get you out of dodgy situations. Just because its there, doesn't mean you have to use all of it all the time. You'll get some high miler bargains as a lot of E39 523/528 were (lower-mid) executive company cars with great maintenance done on them - look for the high-mileage low-owners - that'll be them !

But do try a later E34 V8 with MTech, a great combination IMO and that'll come in under your budget, they're quite a bit firmer on the ride, offering a safety premium. Just make sure it idles well - despite what ppl think about the 'Nikasil' issue being non-Europe, there were a low percentage affected in the UK, but if they idle well after 100,000 miles, chances are you're OK. Your budget will also get you a 3.6l M5 (much better than later 3.8 for reliability).

[bagpuss]

PS: There's a nice 530i in Edinburgh (20 quid on plane from Southampton Airport ? - I assume you're near Soton due to the 'M27' tickets). Only 3 hours to go and looks like it'll be about a grand ! Looks like a nice car ! (Ebay-uk Item 180016418561) - I have no affiliation.