Hi Folks,
I own a 1998 model BMW E39 5 series, 523iSE Steptronic Auto Saloon.
I currently have a nightmare situation involving an accidental aibag
activation in it and was wondering if anyone else has ever encountered
any similar occurrences. If so, please read on.
Anyway, my story goes like this.....
A few weeks ago, I reversed from my friends driveway out onto the
roadway. I then selected 'Drive' and began to move forward slowly, at
which point I drove over a small lump of tarmac debris on the roadway.
This 'lump' of tarmac was no more than a couple of inches tall and I
ran into it with the front right hand wheel (drivers side - I'm in the
UK). This was at no more than 2 or 3 miles per hour.....I had quite
literally just started to move forward....but immediately on hitting
the debris, both the Driver's door side impact airbag and the driver's
side-curtain (roof) airbag went off.
To say I got the fright of my life is a bit of an understatement....I
very nearly S**t myself!!
Anyway, I turned off the engine and got out of the car, with the car
still sitting in the middle of the roadway. The hazzard warning lights
had come on automatically, and the doors unlocked automatically too.
I was in a bit of a daze at this point, but soon realised that my car
was pretty much blocking the road, so I got back in and tried to start
the engine....but no joy. The starter relay just clicked and the
engine wouldn't turn over at all (I assume this is normal in the Auto
once an airbag has gone off?).
Anyway, the matter is now in the hands of my insurance company and the
vehicle is undergoing repairs as I type.
What concerns me more is this. Clearly the airbags shouldn't be going
off in situations like this, so following the incident, I contacted
BMW UK to see what they would suggest.
They were completely uninterested to say the least. Basically, they
told me that they had no wish to inspect the car to see what had
caused the airbags to go off. When pressed a bit further regarding the
very dangerous issue at hand, especially if the airbags had gone off
at speed rather than when I was moving very slowly, they simply said
that it was nothing to do with them.
I left it at that as I just assumed that it must be an isolated
incident.
This is where things then got a little intersting, and what prompted
me to write this post came to light.
About 3 weeks after my incident, I had occasion to be back at the
dealers picking up a couple of small trim parts which the coachworks
were going to fit for me whilst my car was in for repair.
Whilst in the Dealership, the parts boy who served me recognised me as
being the owner of the BMW with the accidental Airbag Deployment. He
told me that no more than a week after I had been in to see them
following the initial incident, yet another 5 series owner (also an
E39, but believed to be a lot newer than mine) had been in with
exactly the same problem. The parts boy told me that this other owner
had hit a small pot hole in the road at slow speed and like mine, 2 of
his side impact airbags on the drivers side had activated.
I asked him if he could let me know who this other 5 series owner was,
but at this point his General Manager overheard the conversation and
walked over to us. He immediatelly butted in and told me that in no
uncertain terms would he be assisting me to contact the other owner.
I then requested that if I left my details with him, could he forward
them to the other owner allowing him to contact me if he wished, but
again, he refused point blank.
Clearly, there does seem to be an issue with these side-impact airbags
and by the reaction I got from the BMW dealership it looks possible
that it's something which BMW know about but which they are hiding
from and refusing to address.
I count myself lucky that I was moving very slowly at the time of the
incident, but I shudder to think at how different the consequences
could have been had I been cruising along the motorway at the time.
Which leads me back to my opening point. Is there anyone else on the
group had the same or similar experience?
If so, I'd be very interested in hearing from you as I can't help but
think that this is an issue that needs looked at. If you don't want to
reply on-group, you can e-mail be at
Bast regards,
Barry - AKA BigBazza