how long would it take to die in an e30....

[Scrotty]

in an accident?
like hit a parked lorry or somthing big n' heavy, as you do...what sort of speed you think you would be going in order not to survive, in an e30?
well an e30 with a big heavy cast iron M30 up front
hypothetically speaking of course

[m3ben05]

wow, an uplifting topic here

No idea on a speed but i really dont want to find out!

[sam325is]

i reckon 60-70 upwards but that is a completly random guess tbh

[wildeian]

If you're feeling suicidal get a French car..........they fold like paper!!!

E30's like a tank, I was stationary when I was hit at about 30-40 mph, and I destroyed the Hyundai (?) before I drove home

[m3ben05]

BM's really are built solid, i was hit from behind by a rover 25 at about 15mph in my e36, caused 2k of damage to the rover and i had a cracked numberplate

[Cotty]

I always wanted to run a caged car and if the worst was to happen, I could step out brush off the debris and say "that was a close one"

Obviously with full harness and proper seats and plumbed in fire extinguisher

[Cotty]

BM's really are built solid, i was hit from behind

Wheezie was recenly hit fom behind in her Baur made a mess of the other car bit that may due to the crumple zones in newer cars

[e30bmlover]

If you're feeling suicidal get a French car..........they fold like paper!!!

E30's like a tank, I was stationary when I was hit at about 30-40 mph, and I destroyed the Hyundai (?) before I drove home

here here, the french.... cant build cars cant fight wars.

[Ziggy]

that may due to the crumple zones in newer cars

Nail's got a sore head now.

If you're in a high speed accident, you want your car to come out looking a mess - crumple zones absorb the impact & are a lot easier to repair than people....

[tim-ix]

What a depressing thread. There is only one way to really find out the truth of course.

Any volunteers?

[bazza93]

i don't think i would really want to know the answer to that question

[keri-WMS]

'tis true, hit (or get hit BY) a small soft car and the heavier/more solid beemer will protect you TO AN EXTENT by (a) dumping the energy/shock load into squashing the other car, giving you less whiplash and bruised internal organs etc and (b) stopping you getting crushed inside the car.

However...

- Hit a tree and you've had it! Much worse than walls and can also really penetrate the door/side of the car and get you!

- Fit a rollcage and it will kill you in a road crash. The reason is that rollcages designed for race cars where the driver will have a helmet on!!! Rollcages crack sculls as they are so tough (where even car body panels will bend if you head-butt them in a crash), alway fit pipe lagging and any padding you can to the bars near your head......

[hoshy]

I always worry about side impact. Having stripped out my old 318 and swapped a couple of doors I reckon as people say they're pretty strong front and rear but I reckon a side impact would be nasty.

They look like tin cans when you take the door cards and rear seats out!

[Templ8e30]

I was hit whilst driving my wifes now deceased 316i, knob head in a mondeo estate hit me in the drivers door witout even touching the brakes in a 40 zone. I pulled out from a junction having not seen him, it was 5am in feb whilst pissing down, he had no lights on at all.

The front just disintegrated on his shit heap which needed to be taken away on a flat bed, we were still driving the E30 a week later until it was written off. The e30's roof and floor pan had buckled, the sill was bent and the door resembled a pringle crisp. The door would still open and close although the window was jammed shut.

Very solid build quality although this isn't always what you want.

Cheers,

Iain T

[Martinaston]

Nice topic
You could try rolling the car and see how long your scull lasts against a concrete ballard as it comes through the side window. I dont think any kind of cage would help in that situation.

[Jesus325iTouring]

that may due to the crumple zones in newer cars

Nail's got a sore head now.

If you're in a high speed accident, you want your car to come out looking a mess - crumple zones absorb the impact & are a lot easier to repair than people....

Sorry Jon,I don't very often disagree with you,but......

If I was in my renault 5 and had an accident at say 4mph,my cars going to look a dreadful mess,have a crash at 50mph,the cars going to be demolished and i'm not going to look much better!
So in my case,I rather not want my car to look a mess,as I know for a fact i'm going to be toast!

[Jon_Bmw]

If you're feeling suicidal get a French car..........they fold like paper!!!

E30's like a tank, I was stationary when I was hit at about 30-40 mph, and I destroyed the Hyundai (?) before I drove home

here here, the french.... cant build cars cant fight wars.

Thats right.. who gets the best N cap safety ratings in almost all of their cars...Renault.

True of the old stuff, not true of anything younger than 5 years.

[Jesus325iTouring]

If you're feeling suicidal get a French car..........they fold like paper!!!

E30's like a tank, I was stationary when I was hit at about 30-40 mph, and I destroyed the Hyundai (?) before I drove home

here here, the french.... cant build cars cant fight wars.

Thats right.. who gets the best N cap safety ratings in almost all of their cars...Renault.

True of the old stuff, not true of anything younger than 5 years.

I'm f.ucked then,my R5 has a safetyr rating of -XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

[Jon_Bmw]

here here, the french.... cant build cars cant fight wars.

Thats right.. who gets the best N cap safety ratings in almost all of their cars...Renault.

True of the old stuff, not true of anything younger than 5 years.

I'm f.ucked then,my R5 has a safetyr rating of -XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yes rog you are screwed! BUT the plastic shit shields/side skirt things that are on there probably added strength to it

[Jesus325iTouring]

Thats right.. who gets the best N cap safety ratings in almost all of their cars...Renault.

True of the old stuff, not true of anything younger than 5 years.

I'm f.ucked then,my R5 has a safetyr rating of -XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yes rog you are screwed! BUT the plastic shit shields/side skirt things that are on there probably added strength to it

Thats true fella,I did after all use B&Q's finest galvansied wood screws to attach them

[Loony]

N cap test does not mean you are going to come of better in a crash.BMW scored low on there M cap test once as it scored badly in protecting a pedestrian if you ran one over.So what that says is drive a renault and you may die in a crash but some old dear will survive if you run her over.

Now on to the speed issue.For this there is no real answer as it depends on many factors such as what angle you were to hit the object.what the weather is like ie you will not reduce the speed as much in the rain as in the dry,the driver as in his/her reaction times,condition of vehicle ie brakes tyres rust on car etc.There have been accidents where people have been doing 30mph and died and ones where people have done 70mph and lived.

[318i1989]

I lost control in my e30 in the wet once when i had crappy tires on it, the car span right round and hit the driver's side front panel at about 30 mph.
it was crumpled but i just bought a new one and screwed it on, then had it resprayed and it looks as good as new.

very strong car!

[Jon_Bmw]

N cap test does not mean you are going to come of better in a crash.BMW scored low on there M cap test once as it scored badly in protecting a pedestrian if you ran one over.So what that says is drive a renault and you may die in a crash but some old dear will survive if you run her over.

Now on to the speed issue.For this there is no real answer as it depends on many factors such as what angle you were to hit the object.what the weather is like ie you will not reduce the speed as much in the rain as in the dry,the driver as in his/her reaction times,condition of vehicle ie brakes tyres rust on car etc.There have been accidents where people have been doing 30mph and died and ones where people have done 70mph and lived.

Occupant safety Pedistrian safety
Renault Mégane 2003 5star 2star
Renault Mégane 1.6 RT 1998 and 1999 4star 1 star
Renault Mégane CC 2004 5star 2star


The above taken from http://www.euroncap.com/content/safety_ ... .php?id1=2 seems to disagree with your view point.

Put it this way, if i had to be a passenger in a car that was going to hit exactly the same type of car I would choose the megane over an e30 or my audi or a lot of other cars.

[riklusby]

Watched a crash test on tv the other day on one of those top gear type progs, an e34 head on with a volvo i think it was, both at 60, forget all these N cap safety ratings, roll cages, airbags etc, Both cars were toast and no-one would have walked away ! a very sobering sight

[Cotty]

Watched a crash test on tv the other day on one of those top gear type progs, an e34 head on with a volvo i think it was, both at 60, forget all these N cap safety ratings, roll cages, airbags etc, Both cars were toast and no-one would have walked away ! a very sobering sight

So thats a 120mph impact. I dont suppose there are many if any that could survive a 120mph impact.

[andyborris]

Having recently survived a 90 mph-ish (combined speed) head on impact in a MGB, a car which is built in much the same way as a E30, I feel qualified to add my thoughts.

It f**king hurts.

Andy

[Speedtouch]

What became of the MGB (V8?) afterwards?

[Cyril]

Euro Ncap is the best guide we have to safety of cars relative to each other.
The e30 wasn't tested but the e36 was and it was pretty poor, e46 was a lot better and the latest 3 series better again - certainly I wouldn't expect an e30 to be too good in a crash but it's unfair to expect it to as it's a 25 year old design after all.

[munky30]

old vs new was tested last year on fifth gear.

They staged a head on collision between a new espace and an old espace. The new one's on board computers didnt deem the impact heavy enough to deploy airbags. All occupants in the old one would have died if i remember correctly.

http://www.7digital.com/stores/productD ... sid=217354

my connection is too shit to watch the clip so i cant recall if everyone dieing was the actual result or thats just my mind playing tricks on me but i remember it being pretty severe.

[DanThe]

I hit a wall at 70 and survived........


By the skin of my teeth




Not planning on doing it again anytime soon

[munky30]

that looks savage!

i hit a wall in a mk3 escort at 75, me and two passengers walked away, and the car drove on once it had a new front wheel..... go figure.

It was a wreck, and I hit the wall at a 45 degree angle... but still.

[tim-ix]

I can't watch the 5th Gear thing at home either Simian, but if I remember correctly the new Espace just drove straight through the old one. The old one was knackered and the new one hardly damaged at all. So if you're going to crash, aim for the oldest car you can see would be the moral of the sory I suppose. Or don't crash.

I've never been in a high-speed crash (touch wood) but I was once a passenger in a Granada which needed to be re-shelled after twisting the monocoque following a 10-15mph shunt into a tree. Strong things trees.

[andyborris]

What became of the MGB (V8?) afterwards?

Written off, but only because the accident happened in France, if it had been in the UK, the car would have been re-shelled.

Andy

[Speedtouch]

Eek, so some lucky Frog ended up with that nice ol' V8 to put in their Citroen? btw, your white one's still going strong - I recently fixed the speedo (which had seized, causing the drive dog in the overdrive to strip its teeth - fortunately, Bill Reeves MG centre in Birchington had a new one).

[Martinaston]

N-cap is a load of toss, Volvo's got bad scores with it so they went out and built there own test centre to show the french how it should be done.