so,... i was driving yesterday towards a gas station when i came upon a stoplight. so i stopped. the light turned green and traffic started moving. i let off my brake and turned my head to the left to look at something when all of a sudden... WHAM!!!! the frickin airbag slammed into the right side of my face after i touched the vehicle in front of me. i wasn't going any faster then 10 mph!!!! did my airbag malfunction? should i contact bmw about this? i already called my ins. co. because the airbag went off and, i'm no expert on ins., but i figured since my airbag deployed, i had to contact them. hell, the lady said that if i just gave her 200 bucks, it would be all cool. but since my car wouldn't start, i asked for her info. bmw is closed over the weekend, but should i call them on mon? is this normal? i've been in much worse accidents than this in my old 92 325i and not a single one set off the airbag,.... well... exept the one that totalled the car. but other than that, not one!!!
airbag deployed!!!!
- Thread starter ra328i
- Start date
That is weird. Take it to your dealership and tell them what happened. Obviously the sensor is just way too sensitive or something. This situation is strange, but not uncommon. Sometimes the airbags go off in a situation when it's completely unnecessary for some reason. All you can do is take it to the dealership and explain to them what happened. I'm sure when they replace the new airbag, they'll find out what went wrong.
I was going to say it should not have deployed, I thought it was like 20 - 25 mph minimum. But I Googled this - http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5409,00.html - and it says most airbags are designed to deploy at 10 - 12 mph. I learned something today!
Excerpt:
"You may be surprised to learn that it doesn't take a major accident to trigger inflation of your airbag(s). The exact speed varies a bit between manufacturers, but most airbags are designed to inflate in a crash equivalent to driving into a solid barrier at only 10-12 mph.
While no parent wants to consider the possibility of such a tragedy, even a simple low-speed parking-lot accident has been known to cause fatal head injuries in children who were improperly restrained or in infants whose rear-facing car seats were placed in the front seat."
Excerpt:
"You may be surprised to learn that it doesn't take a major accident to trigger inflation of your airbag(s). The exact speed varies a bit between manufacturers, but most airbags are designed to inflate in a crash equivalent to driving into a solid barrier at only 10-12 mph.
While no parent wants to consider the possibility of such a tragedy, even a simple low-speed parking-lot accident has been known to cause fatal head injuries in children who were improperly restrained or in infants whose rear-facing car seats were placed in the front seat."
there was another thread going on about improper airbag deployment from like a pothole or something, and when they took it to a dealer they did all the repairs and stuff and tried to make it go through quietly or something, so that no stories would go on about improper airbag deployment...i would say call BMW and tell them what happened...i mean you are gonna need to take it to the dealership anyway
Sorry to hear about your situation, and I'm glad no one was hurt, no major damage, etc.
I realize it's too late now, but on a side note, you really should NOT have called your insurance company! They now have an "at fault" accident on your record. I'm not saying this will definitely affect your insurance rates, but it it definitely can't help! And what if you want to apply for insurance with another company, and the application asks you if you've had any accidents in the last five years? Anyway, just keep this in mind for next time!
I realize it's too late now, but on a side note, you really should NOT have called your insurance company! They now have an "at fault" accident on your record. I'm not saying this will definitely affect your insurance rates, but it it definitely can't help! And what if you want to apply for insurance with another company, and the application asks you if you've had any accidents in the last five years? Anyway, just keep this in mind for next time!
i actually rear ended someone at a very low speed. ixmas... i know that i shouldn't have called them now, but i've already been in 3 previous accidents in my two past bmws. no other ins. co. would cover me anyway.... as for the price of replacing the steering wheel, it came to 613.47. not nearly as much as i thought would come out to be.