What Was Your Worst Wreck?

[davintosh]

I just read Disco Inferno's post about his buddy's E28 wreck, and got to wondering about the e28's crash-worthiness... I've not had mine very long; certainly not long enough to know first-hand how I'd fare in a wreck anyway.

So the open question is, what's the worst wreck you've been involved in (in anything; e28 or otherwise), and what kind of condition were you in afterward?

[oldskool]

Embedded my superbike into the side of a Camaro at 70mph when the jackass decided to pull out in front of me. Thank god it was not a minivan or this would not be written. Jackass then decides to pick a fight claiming my headlight was not on and he was upset his junk was now junk. You've seen that knight from Monty Python's "The Holy Grail"? Well that was me trying to hop out of the road and away from this TOOL.

[stuartinmn]

I nailed a Cadillac at about 50mph with my motorcycle when the driver pulled out in front of me. I got knocked out briefly, but other than that and a few scrapes I was okay. I did walk like a 200 year old man for a week.

The bike survived as well, although it needed a new front wheel, fork assembly and fairing, among other cosmetic parts.

[Scottinva]

Riding a skateboard, got hit by a car speeding that decided not to stop for a big red octagon :/ I came back a few minutes later, I started out in the middle of the street came back in the middle of a sidewalk.

[Sniper X]

Had a 1969 Nova SS and was sitting in an intersection waiting for traffic to clear before turning left. Lady in a 1972 Tuna Boat Oldsmobile Delta 88 or 98 or whatever rams my Nova in the middle of the front because she was running the red light for the traffic coming the oppisite way. She gets out and looks at her car gets back in and tries to take off, with my Nova stuck in her grille. My Nove was totaled. I was fine. The other one was going up the hill to Santa Fe Ski Area, in the 1972 2002. Guy comes the other direction cutting the corner in his brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee and head ons with me. ALMOST totals thge 2002 so I sold it after it got fixed and bought a 2002Tii.

[Kyle in NO]

I was broadsided by a Ford 3/4 ton van on my motorcycle several years back after the driver blew through a red light. Broke my collar bone, shattered my right wrist, broke my left one, and chipped something in my leg. The van smashed into the bike about 6" forward of my right knee...glad I didn't take a half second sooner or I'd probably be dead or a quadriplegic at least. Still have a half dozen screws and a plate in my right arm to show for it...yay.

[87royal]

Riiiight, because I enjoy re-living the worst moment in my life

[stuartinmn]

As far as e28-related accidents, I really haven't had any yet - knock on wood. I did pull a bonehead maneuver once...I was driving home from a band concert with a large bass drum on the roof rack, and I forgot it was up there when I tried to pull into the garage before the door was fully open.

That bass drum made a REALLY BIG NOISE when the garage door tore it (and the roof rack) off my car. I had to get the roof repainted and replace the drip rail trims after that little escapade.

[Shawn D.]

... I forgot it was up there when I tried to pull into the garage before the door was fully open.

That's why the first step in putting the roof rack on my car was to take the garage door opener out of the car. That way, I couldn't inadvertently do something like that by mindless habituation.

[skip535i]

My sister and I were rear-ended in her 240gl wagon. Raining, midday, by a tow-truck. Hit us in the rear so hard that the bolts holding my seat to the floor came right out and my knees shattered the glovebox and dashboard. I was whiplashed so hard my hat ended up in the trunk above the spare tire. Her forehead hit the steering wheel pretty hard, but we were otherwise SORE, but fine. That thing really held up well...the crumple was perfect, and good thing, because it probably saved our butts.

I also totalled my first 535i (lachsillber on cardinal 50k original miles ) when my abs failed and I skidded right through an intersection. I had the wheel turned completely to the left...and as soon as those tires hit grass the car went up on its passenger side and I slid about 20ft and got pinned between two trees. Not a scratch on me or my two passengers.

[a]

10/30/69, driving home in my 47 GMC 1/2ton pick up. The lights were flickering. I had the high beams on and dipped the lights to see around a corner. The lights went out. I stomped on the brakes and the truck slid straight into 2 trees. Trucks of this vintage had a roll out windshield for ventilation. I had just gotten the windshield replaced and hadnt hooked up the linkage. I hit the windshield with my face and it gave. That was the extent of my injuries . The jimmy was totalled, It was wedged tight into the trees and a front end loader was used to remove it.

[davintosh]

Riiiight, because I enjoy re-living the worst moment in my life

That's one way to look at it; I prefer the "here's how I dodged death", or "God must have more in store for me to let me live through that" outlook on the nasties of life.

My story; hit a black cow on a dark rural highway after it had been hit by another car. The cow rolled under the car when we hit it (at ~60mph), tossing our little '82 Honda Civic Wagon into the air. First impact was on the hood, & then proceeded to tumble & roll for what seemed like a long time.

It was me, my 18 month old daughter, and my very pregnant wife in the car. We were all buckled in, so we walked away with a few scrapes & bruises, and minor concussions for me & my daughter. The wife started having contractions right away, but they stopped a few hours later.

The wreck happened just a short way from the home of an internal medicine surgeon; he was second on the scene. Funny thing; I couldn't open my door or the passenger door, so my wife & I climbed out the windows. When I went back to the car the next day, the doors were locked; they opened just fine when I pulled the knobs up.



(click here to read more)

[Son of a]

My worst e28 accident is the story of how the Grape got its Polaris rear deck. It was still all Burgundrot in December 2000. On Triangle St. in Amherst, MA I was rear-ended by a Chevy Blazer at about 30-35 mph. Hit me so hard that my driver's seat frame snapped at the pivot point. I hit the seat-belt hard enough that the upper mount was tweaked forward. Trunk was un-openable and the rear quarters were pushed to within about 1/2" of the rear wheels, and forced downwards by a good few inches.

Drove it 125 miles home with the seat propped up by 2 long-handled ice-scrapers, a dorm mattress, and 3 pillows. Insurance company totalled it. Dad bought it back and used the $$ to get it back on the road. Everything was able to be fixed, albeit not to return it to "perfection."

Sure it required a frame straightening, and yes the rear bumper was never level after that, and yes only 1 license plate light at a time would ever work after that, but the car did its job. I was totally fine, it still drove great and the legend of the Grape was born. She'd go another 120k before being put out to pasture as a parts car.

[TheE28Ranch]

May 7, 2000. Driving "down" off the Mogollon Rim (outside of Payson) Arizona between Pine and Strawberry on my Triumph Thunderbird Sport... I come around a corner a little "heavy" on the double yellow lines, a woman headed the opposite direction freaks out and slams her brakes... a Ford F150 behind here swerves into my lane to avoid rear-ending her... I lay the bike down, apparently slide between the two vehicles while the bike gets run over by the truck (destroying it). I come to a stop, get up to walk and find a peculiar limp in place of my normal walk, l look down, and my left foot is facing the opposite direction and my hand is knocked out of place.

Following a helicopter ride to Phoenix, I got a steel rod implanted in my left tibia and a plate and six screws (all still in there, airports love me), as well as a set pin in my left wrist, in addition to a whole new perspective on life (my son was almost 4 months old and I almost left him fatherless). To top it off they later had to re-break my leg since the angle that the leg/foot healed was off.

I wouldn't philosophically be who I am today had I not been in that accident. Notably, before I was healed 100% I came to know BMW and my new "safer" hobby - track cars, in the form of my first BMW - the 1983 E28 that I still own.

[C.R. Krieger]

I've never done anything more drastic than smashing the nose of Da Red Dog, pushing the radiator wall back against the engine. Unfortunately, I've done that several times.

First time was my first car getting the right front corner knocked off by a drunk. If he hadn't just kind of cleaned off the headlights at an angle, I might have been hurt.

Second time was putting the same car ('63 Pontiac Tempest) into a ditch after getting swing axle jacking in a corner.

Next was a low speed headon on an icy Cleveland street when a goofball went left of center. My wife didn't like wearing a seatbelt until after she cracked my windshield with her head in that one. To her credit, she learned.

I drove off a wet street onto a snowy parking lot and hit my office. Yes, I really did hit a building. The real lesson learned is that Yoko A008s ain't worth a shit on snow ...

Finally, I crashed Da Dog.

[Shawn D.]

The real lesson learned is that Yoko A008s ain't worth a shit on snow ...

Really? That pattern always looked like a good snow tire to me!

[wkohler]

Mine was May 14, 2007. It's the only car accident I've been in to date. I was heading to work, when I came upon an uncontrolled T-intersection (no stop sign and I was on the side that was to yield). As I was making my left turn without stopping, a white '94 E36 325iC with 60,000 miles suddenly appeared. I hit the brakes, car stopped, she didn't see me, then she hit her brakes and she hit the left front of the car just in front of the wheel. I was fine physically, but I did lose it, though. She pushed my car over a considerable amount as well as moving the frame rails over 7". It was later determined using calculations with my car at the time being a stationary vehicle that she was going about 40 miles per hour. Of course, I was cited for failure to yield.

[skip535i]

are you whoring your seats, Chris?

[MShimon]

Got nailed at a busy intersection turning left in a 1992 Ford Explorer. It got hit in the rear left wheel, it totaled his Taurus IIRC. I drove home from the scene and then just around town for a few days until I could get it fixed right.

[option00002]

I have been very lucky. Sadly while stretching her legs on some late night twisities I lost this one to the tail of a Range Rover Disco. I came up behind it very fast only for them to slam on their brakes. Squirrel sightings at 11pm will forever translate to a brake check in my mind.



Only 60k miles on her some 10+ years ago.

[w0014170]

12yrs old, took my Dad's VW Bug without permission, no license, lost control in a field next to a lake, rolled it 4 times like a ball and dropped it in a ditch upside down, 25 miles from home.
Banged up and bruised, no broken bones, hurt for weeks, he laughs about it now.

[Kyle in NO]

As I was making my left turn without stopping, a white '94 E36 325iC with 60,000 miles suddenly appeared...

Good thing it didn't have 90k on it....that shit woulda been really messy!

[TheE28Ranch]

12yrs old, took my Dad's VW Bug without permission, no license, lost control in a field next to a lake, rolled it 4 times like a ball and dropped it in a ditch upside down, 25 miles from home.
Banged up and bruised, no broken bones, hurt for weeks, he laughs about it now.

That is pretty funny, what a little turd!

[C.J.]

2004, on my way to a Hot Water Music concert in Atlanta. Camp Road in Collegedale, TN (just North of Chattanooga). '95 VW Golf 4 door. Decided to pick a fight with a pine tree and lost.

Had 4 other people with me in the car. Girl behind me didn't have her seatbelt on, so she got thrown up against my seat, which helped to shove me into the airbag. That gave me a fat lip, airbag burns on my face and arm, and a severely sore neck. Her boyfriend cracked his sternum. The guy riding shotgun was completely fine, as was the girl riding behind him. We hit the pine tree pretty much on center with where I was sitting.

In hindsight, that was probably the best thing I could have done with that car. It was such a pile. And the car that replaced it? Well, it's in my sig.

[Kenny Blankenship]

Ten years ago I was driving in to work on the freeway when two road raging cars cut me off. I lost control of the car ('82 733i), veered into the concrete divider. The car rode up the concrete divider and flipped over, I probably rode on the roof about 100 feet. Some bystanders helped me out of the car, all I had were bruises on my forearms (from gripping the steering wheel) and one on my chest (from the seatbelt).

Now you know why I'm an E23 fan...