E30 crash tests? does anybody know how safe our cars are?

[g57yle]

Hello everybody, like most of the people here i like modding my car and making it look nice, but a friend of mine had an accident the other day in his E30, (not good) and it just brought the question in my head! How safe are our cars???

are there any crash test results out there?

Thanks everybody

[Cotty]

I think three members tested theirs last week

[JOSEMI]

Four... I dunno how to put mine in the site, although I am too pissed off about it anyway

[g57yle]

when you say 3 or 4 members did it. do you mean they they smashed there own cars up? i hope not

is there any official ratings?

[smithy318i]

45-50ish MPH sideways into a lamp post...



I would say they are very well made!

[JOSEMI]

g57yle wrote

when you say 3 or 4 members did it. do you mean they they smashed there own cars up? i hope not

yep, I believe is four so far inc mine in the last 10 days or so

[e30nerd]

Compaired to new cars I expect they are not that good. However, if I have to have an accident in a car bulit in the 80's then the e30 would be one of the cars of choice!!

However, not to forget that tin worm does effect older cars, so they are probably not as good as if they were new

[kam-325i]

I know it not an E30, but it was designed by BMW......
If they can do this with a mini..........

http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashT ... VsFordF150

[Dominitry]

When i did mine saturday i honestly expected the damage to be more, i wouldnt say these cars were weak.

[Cotty]

http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashT ... VsFordF150

Remind me not to buy an F150

[Moofles]

When i did mine saturday i honestly expected the damage to be more, i wouldnt say these cars were weak.

yeah but this is about how safe e30's are, not how strong they are.

cars are meant to protect the driver not themselves - in modern times, what you're talking about is called a 'crumple zone'; you may know it as 'injury', seeing as e30's don't do it...

[Jhonno]

They crash tested them in some Scandinavian country - there was a post about it iirc

they came above average - there were 3 ratings - below average, averag and above average

[Gwynleym10]

they came above average - there were 3 ratings - below average, averag and above average

This is actually online somewhere, i used to have a link.

E30 fair far better then many more modern cars.


I belive that crash test, namely EURONCAP are olny half the story.

Have you been in a renault recently? they may get 5 stars, but you can't see anything becasue all the pillars are so thick, just pass the test. This means your more likely to have a crash in the first place!

A test will never mirrror reality and now NCAP has become such a standard (and marketing tool), manufactures will build there cars to that, rather than reality.

Has anyone heard about that chinese 4x4 thats going to get imported to europe? It didn't pass standard euro tests, but as it only going to be imported in low numbers it doesn't matter! It can still be imported. (wouldn't want to be the child when that thing hits you...)

E30's are good, becuase you have good visibility and you have to respect them. Most crashes are caused by either "over confidence/cockyness" or Lack of vision.

O.K so the crash may not be your fault, well at least you'll see it coming earlier and possible be able to avoid it.

Its much better to look at the cause rather than the impact....just ask TVR!

[Adammcf]

That pic of the F150 and the Mini is madness! Who would have ever thought! I was expecting the F150 to destroy the mini.

[paulj]

That pic of the F150 and the Mini is madness! Who would have ever thought! I was expecting the F150 to destroy the mini.

Both of these vehicles hit the exact same off-set barrier at 40mph.

Now there's no question what would win in a head-on collesion between the two but then again the majority of accidents involve only a single car

[kam-325i]

Theres an idoit around be me who drives around in F150, thinking hes big with his poxy 300Bhp V8 5.4l, i think i might just print it off the pics and show him !!!!!

[Fushion_Julz]

Also, not an E30...

But last year (almost exactly a year ago) I managed to roll my 250,000 mile old E34 530i on the M4...
It spun ended up going backwards down the hard should circa 70mph, the back offside caught the embankment, dug in and flipped the car end over end, twice and once over the roof...Ended up on it's nearside, perpendicular to the carriageway in the hard shoulder and lane 1

I got out through the sunroof (still working perfectly) and, despite every panel being damaged, some heavily, all four doors, bonnet and boot opened and closed...The seats and seat belt mountings remained anchored to all intended parts and I didn't have a scratch or bruise anywhere!

[Lordschleife]

I think they're pretty good for an 80s car
I threw my old 325i into a tree at around 60 and I was surprised at how well it took the impact
Of course that probably means it just transfers all the energy straight to the occupants

I'd like to see the Scandinavian article if anyone has the link?

Remember an e36 which is a lot heavier (and I'd expect stronger) still only got 1.5 stars I think

Anyway at least we're not driving Pug 205's, they're total widowmakers

[6potWil6pot]

Both active (brakes, handling, power etc) and passive (airbag (wrongness? , crumple zones, side impact etc) as just as important as each other. Id rather have both to lean on incase things go bad!

Mine you the E30s ive had felt tough, sturdy and pretty safe but whether actually were or not was something i didnt get around to finding out!

[Rich_W]

Im glad Gwynleym10 brought up the matter of NCAP crash ratings. Its a good guide certainly. But the actual way you get rated is open to abuse.

For example the C Class Merc used to get 4 Stars. But it was at the high end of that. They read the rules and found that if the car had a "Seatbelt not clicked in" Warning light and buzzer they would get the extra few points which would put them into the higher 5 star rating. The actual structure of the car is no different but its now rated higher.

I like this video of a Smart Car hitting a S Class Mercedes.



( You can download the full vid here 24.7mb )

Notice how the Smart's main "tridon" shell remains almost totally intact. OK it did fall over, (800kg vs 2000kg) But its a demonstraton as to how safe you CAN make a car if you want to.

On the Subject of F150s they are classed as a Truck, so dont have to meet the same regulations as cars. For MPG or Crash safety. Many of you Im sure will remember the Bridgestone tyre thing with the Ford Explorers in the States where the sodding things were falling over and killing people!

[DanThe]

70 mph + into a brick wall
I didnt look too pretty either

[johnono]

dude

[g57yle]

into a tree at 55mph. i walked out with only bruises and some expected wiplash. i hope everyones as lucky as i have been

[SCOTT325SE]

Those are some nasty incidents guys! Its testament to the E30 that you are still here and in 1 piece at least!
Ive never bent one of my cars, but i always felt safer in my E30s than i have in almost anything else. The new clio i had back in 1 B.E. (Before E30) i never felt truely safe in, despite the high safety tests.
The e30s feel solid and well made, where as new cars feel plasticy and ready to fall apart.

My vote goes to a well made heavier older car .

[JOSEMI]

Older cars do feel more solid and shell-like, whereas newer cars feel more unsafe, latelly there have been a few accidents and everyone is still alive
nasty pictures though... respect

[Gwynleym10]

I do however suspect that people who did fair badly in an e30 crash would not be posting here....

[Chaos]

modern cars arent always safe

this is a friends evo 6 after it hit a tree

[AnnaSlut]

I have read in 'the dog and lemmon guide' that they arent very good. you are 5 times more likely to die in an e30 crash than a 5 series.

But then there's ratings like this http://www.mynrma.com.au/used_safety_ratings_lux.asp

[Moofles]

re: old cars with better visibility vs new cars with better protection (the few cars mentioned here - like the F150 - aside)...

This would be partly about transferring risk - if you are in an old car, you put the risk on the driver - he has to have the good visibility, control, concentration, etc. If you have the new car, the risk is with the car - which doesn't fall asleep, be 'bad' or 'good' (within the same model, obv), etc.

As a manufacturer you have to take that option, it puts the safety in *your* hands not the drivers - and in a numbers game I think that would win out...

chaos, i agree modern cars aren't always safe - there's a limit to everything and until we're all wrapped in cotton wool and drive fluffy little clouds stuff like that can always happen but you surely aren't saying an e30 would have taken that hit better? (it probably wouldn't have happened in an e30, cars like evo's are renowned for having their limits at quite unsafe speeds!)

FWIW, I've been in a crash in an e30 - head on @ about 60mph into a bus (i suspect we had both slowed to a degree, so the total impact was probably 40mph + 40mph = 80mph. I wasn't injured. My reasoning behind that is because it is a fairly big car (compared to most 18yo's cars, e.g. fiestas and the like), which was one of the reasons for getting it. I think other big cars would have reacted similarly.

[SCOTT325SE]

Chaos, I bet the tree was still standing after he hit it though hey? (Another old skool winner i see).... although, i bet the tree has been round a lot longer than the average E30!

[chippenham_touring]

As the E30 was sold in the usa, where crash tests in the 1970's and 1980's were much tougher than the european ones. The car is much much stronger than its european contempories such as the ford sierra, vauxhall cavalier etc etc. I know which I would rather have a crash in.

[Moofles]

As the E30 was sold in the usa, where crash tests in the 1970's and 1980's were much tougher than the european ones. The car is much much stronger than its european contempories such as the ford sierra, vauxhall cavalier etc etc. I know which I would rather have a crash in.

I think the e30 was better than a lot of other cars from the industrial revolution too, i'm not so sure in the modern era, that's all.

[alpinac227]

A few years back I had a crash in a 1991 325 Mtech Sport. Driving straight along at about 60 ish , a woman turned right across my path. I hit her Fiesta throwing it out of the way, and bounced off towards the right across oncoming lane down a ditch and into a big concrete block head on that held a signpost coming to a halt. I walked away from this and though the car was written off, it did extremely well given the speed and impact into a (very) solid object. The front crumpled absorbing impact, but there was no intrusion in the floor or from the pedals. The roof buckled slightly but all were impressed by how well the car stood up and protected me. It did however break my heart as it was a beautiful example in Silver. Mind you I then got an Alpina C2 2.7 in Alpina green which I still have and am currently reconditioning.

[Chaos]

chaos, i agree modern cars aren't always safe - there's a limit to everything and until we're all wrapped in cotton wool and drive fluffy little clouds stuff like that can always happen but you surely aren't saying an e30 would have taken that hit better? (it probably wouldn't have happened in an e30, cars like evo's are renowned for having their limits at quite unsafe speeds!)

its been estimated that the impact speed was 50 - 60 mph iirc.
i dont see that an e30 wud have been worse to be in that the evo tbh

[Richy325iTouring]

this crap with encap is now bollux


cars that shouldnt get 5 stars are getting it just because they make the impact for a pedestrian safer
reason why renault and the like are getting 5 stars while volvo bm and merc are not

the whole this is marketing when they say this car has a 5 star safty rating then people are going to buy it thinking that they have a safe car

i think this is wrong
modern cars are so full of stuff now that people are being lead into a faulse scence of security, we have arir bags active brakes active steering side impact protection and countless other and all this does makes people feel safer and more likley to have an accident

airbags never liked these as the law on explosives had to be altered to allow them in the uk. Cars are dangerous enough now without adding another bomb into them.