Runaway BMW

[davidstone28]

bit more here -> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...080205,00.html

...and then after an up to 130mph head on crash into a roundup, having been supposedly terrified for the last 30 minutes thinking he's going to die, he says to the fireman who's trying to get him out of the car, 'don't cut my car, its my baby'.

That bloke's story gets even more ridiculous and unbelievable every time he opens his mouth.

[Howard]

He overtook cars on the verge of the fast lane. He tore up behind two articulated lorries, driving side-by-side.

Sounds like the average BMW driver

[99Flake]

You can notch an auto into neutral at any engine speed. I'm pretty sure it disconnects the torque converter form the engine (well it feels like it anyway).

And I doubt it'd damage it, you don't even have to push the button in to get neutral on all the autoboxs I've had.

I used to work for BMW and from what I remember you cannot move the gear lever whilst the car is in motion and in Drive, it locks it up. Not only that but at 130Mph, turning the engine off would be suicide. A 3 series with no PAS is a pig to steer, nigh on impossible, he would not have been able to counter any forces that could shift the car off course and could have just lost control, same with the breaks. Had he done it at say 70Mph and used the breaks to slow down first, then yes maybe.

[davidstone28]

A 3 series with no PAS is a pig to steer, nigh on impossible

I don't agree with that at all.

The steering on a car travelling over 20mph is pretty light, even one without PAS, and the faster you go the lighter it gets. It's not as if he was driving through a load of chicanes either.

I had a non-PAS Rover years ago and although the steering was heavy at parking speeds, it's not as if you can't turn the steering wheel!

[Big RICHARD]

I don't agree with that at all.

The steering on a car travelling over 20mph is pretty light, even one with PAS, and the faster you go the lighter it gets. It's not as if he was driving through a load of chicanes either.

I had a non-PAS Rover years ago and although the steering was heavy at parking speeds, it's not as if you can't steering wheel!

But in a car with PAS and the engine turned off the steering is REALLY heavy, much heavier than a car without PAS at all.

[5lab]

I used to work for BMW and from what I remember you cannot move the gear lever whilst the car is in motion and in Drive, it locks it up. Not only that but at 130Mph, turning the engine off would be suicide. A 3 series with no PAS is a pig to steer, nigh on impossible, he would not have been able to counter any forces that could shift the car off course and could have just lost control, same with the breaks. Had he done it at say 70Mph and used the breaks to slow down first, then yes maybe.

i'd go as far as to say any speed above 10mph pas makes very little difference. besides, if the engine was still turning the pas would (probably) still be active.

turning the engine off would just have slowed the car gently to a halt, using engine braking. far far safer than overtaking stuff at 130 mph.

[AlexB]

But in a car with PAS and the engine turned off the steering is REALLY heavy, much heavier than a car without PAS at all.

Yeah, because you're fighting against the PAS fluid and what-not. Definatley NOT impossible though.

[5lab]

Yeah, because you're fighting against the PAS fluid and what-not. Definatley NOT impossible though.

not convinced - if you jack the front of a pas car up its fairly easy - i think the most of the difference is that pas cars aren't designed with light steering in mind..

[mart_haj86]

I believe this is far more sinister than we could have imagined, is this the end of life as we know it, see the link below...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/03/13/satanic_bmw/

[Syd]

I think Howard's right actually.

Its an E36 old shape BMW and not the current model that he was driving.

From memory the 318i saloon is 1.8l and pretty underpowered at that - 115bhp or something around that. I used to have a 318is coupe which had a 1.9 140bhp engine but it was a very different engine to the one in the saloon.

You had a 318is which featured a 1.9 16v engine, which did go quite well!

[Mike Fishcake]

Was this him?

[badass]

I once had a similar incident in my current car shortly after buying it in teh very early morning on a deserted 3 lane motorway. The accelerator just jammed open, sutck under my right foot until hitting appx 120 MPH at which point it miraculously unjammed for just long enough for me to put it into 5th. this 145MPH speedo indicated ordeal lasted for a terrifying 2-3 minutes untill I saw traffic about a mile in the distance and it miraculously unmjammed allowing me to overtake it at a much more agreeable 80 ish MPH and carry on my merry way

[Syd]

Was this him?

..............Theres a bomb on the milkfloat

[Konan555]

I used to work for BMW and from what I remember you cannot move the gear lever whilst the car is in motion and in Drive, it locks it up. Not only that but at 130Mph, turning the engine off would be suicide. A 3 series with no PAS is a pig to steer, nigh on impossible, he would not have been able to counter any forces that could shift the car off course and could have just lost control, same with the breaks. Had he done it at say 70Mph and used the breaks to slow down first, then yes maybe.

Well, the BMW autobox is odd then I've not driven one where you can't get neutral. Even then, he could've manually selected a lower gear and used the brakes to get it to the point it'd downshift

It's easy to drive a PAS car without the PAS working at speed. In fact, many PS systems are speed sensitive and reduce the assistance as the speed increases.

The reason PS systems without the PS pump off are so heavy is the way they're geared. E.G. A non PS rack it'll be 2.5 turns to lock whilst the PS version might be 1.5.

Brakes. If they're powered by a charge pump it'll work with the ignition set to 1 (normally for towing). If not, they'll still work unassisted.

[badass]

The only type of brake assistance i've seen is vacum assist. Since teh car is floored it'll make no difference to the brakes whether the engine is running or not - there'll be no vacum so after a couple of pumps the assistance will go. However all he has to do is press the brake pedal once. So ignition off=brakes work enough to stop him as they would normally. Also, even without assistance it would not be hard to stop the car in a couple of miles even at 135 MPH.
I suspect that the gene pool would have benefitted had he not survived the crash at the end.

[5lab]

The only type of brake assistance i've seen is vacum assist. Since teh car is floored it'll make no difference to the brakes whether the engine is running or not - there'll be no vacum so after a couple of pumps the assistance will go. However all he has to do is press the brake pedal once. So ignition off=brakes work enough to stop him as they would normally. Also, even without assistance it would not be hard to stop the car in a couple of miles even at 135 MPH.
I suspect that the gene pool would have benefitted had he not survived the crash at the end.

depends where the vacuum is taken from - if its coming from above the throttle (but below the air filter) there will be more of a vacuum at full throttle than at no throttle..

Hugh