Airbags of X5

[bmw_lodhi]

Wife had a road accident in my X-5 and accrued serious head injury due to the fact that the air bag never went off and the brakes did not come into play?? I am looking for some answers or infomation to explaining why the malfunction?

X-5 ramped into a pole, as she saw a car come towards her, and in order to save herself from on-coming car.

She pressed on the brakes and the SUV swerved, lost control of the SUV for about 7 ~ 10 seconds and hit the pole, and because the air bag/brakes did not deploy and the seatbelt did not lock, her head hit/flung against the steering wheel injuring the left side of her body, neck and back. She would not have been injured if the equipment was not faulty.

My 31 month old daughter was in the SUV as well. She has had fever and has thrown up a few times the following days.
The baby girl is very scared to sit in the car as well.

The pole was sitting on the SUV. When I (the husband) reached the site of the accident. Wife has a head injury (bump on her head), swollen eye, body pain.

The air bag/brakes did not deploy. (WHY)?
This is what I need BMW to explain??


Please advise what my course of action should be. As I am disturbed that my wife is in pain and bruises since the accident.
She feels the pain when she tried to do certain things (like shoulder movement..)

This is not a wear and tear issue but a mechanical/factory defect on their product. this issue has to be addressed.

We buy BMW's because of the name, the performance, and the service. Everyone I meet asks if the service is outrageously priced. Though it is more expensive than domestic cars my reply is that my BMW may cost more to service, however, doesn't need serviced as much as other American cars. That's because it's a great car backed up by a great company. This however, may not be the case.

Could the traditional BMW philosophy be changing? Do you really care about your customers? Now that I think about it, I may want to weigh my options when spending that much money for a car that the manufacturer will no longer back up. This story is troubling. It really is. All this bad publicity, for what?

The really sad part is that it doesn't just look bad on you, but it looks bad on ME! Why? Because I'm one of those who spent all that money to buy a "LEMON." I suggest you nip this problem in the bud, real fast. We can't have people running around claiming that BMW's are horrible cars. If you lose the image, what more do you have left? A VERY expensive hunk of metal and no one to buy it.

[fredchen]

I'm a Taiwanese working in China. Last year I had an accident on freeway driving my 03 X5 3.0 on my way back to Shanghai from Anhui, China. It was a rainy day and I did drive too fast (about 150km/h )when corning, the X5 just lose control as soon as I ran over the white painted stripes on the road. I planned to change lane from right to left. But instead of turning left when I found the car just slipperly then I turn my steering wheel a little right, it just slipped and ran into the center protection board in 150km/h. Then the car bumped into the center about 50 meters and then did a 360 degree turn, then stopped. Fortunately the driver's airbag and the right passenger curtain airbag did blow. I was so lucky the airbag did save my live and also there isn't any car passing around on both sides while the accident happened. Otherwise I just can't imagine how seriously it would be. Now the car had been fixed and it works out fine. It cost me more than US$20,000 because I didn't buy the full coverage insurance. Since then I got a lesson, don't drive too fast especially on a rainy days, especially when corning.

[bmw_lodhi]

I do appreciate your reply, and sharing your experience.
My concern was that the X5 air bags did not deploy.
My car has been declared 'totaled' by my insurance company.
Does one not think that the air bag should have deployed, keeping in mind that the SUV has been declared 'totaled'..

What good are these 5 star ratings..when they don't come into play?

[pmeloche]

Airbags will deploy in a frontal collision but if the collision is not frontal then the probability of deployment goes down. This is true for every generation of airbags although the newer generations do a better job. What MY is your X5? Airbags are a great invention but it's not a cure all system. There could be valid reasons why the airbags did not deploy.

That said, you should obtain a good explanation as to what happened. You may want to lawyer up eventually.

I hope your wife and kid fully reccover. Best of luck.

[bmw_lodhi]

BMW of North America (BMW NA) inspected your vehicle on February 18, 2010
at BMW Collision Center. Our National Technical
Engineer performed the inspection and the results reviewed by our National
Engineering Group. The results of our inspection reveal no faults, defects, or
malfunctions in your vehicleʼs airbag system.
After a thorough evaluation regarding the impact energy, our findings reveal the
impact your vehicle received did not warrant the activation of the airbags.

To understand why the passive restraint system may or may not deploy an
airbag during an accident, it must be explained that the activation of the airbag is
directly related to the amount and duration of deceleration to which the vehicle is
subjected. More specifically, the passive restraint system sensors measure
deceleration, the rate at which the vehicle slows down during the accident or
impact.

For the front airbags, only the longitudinal component of the deceleration is the
decisive factor. This deceleration acting upon the centerline of the vehicle, front
to back, is a product of a variety of factors. Some of those are impact speed,
impact direction, and vehicle attitude upon Corn an impact, size, shape, stability,
flexibility, and deformability of the object struck. For side-impact airbags, only the
lateral component of the deceleration s the decisive factor. This is the
deceleration acting at right angles to the vehicle

If the deceleration is high enough, the system is designed to deploy the
appropriate airbags P08o2 to help reduce the risk of severe injury. If it is not high
enough, the safety belt system, when worn as recommended, is designed to
reduce the risk of injuries that may be less severe. Please note that airbags are
not designed to deploy when the risk of causing injuries is higher than their ability
to prevent or mitigate injuries.

The inspection of your vehicle revealed impact damage offset to the left front
area. Damaged Telephone body parts included the left front bumper cover, left
front fender, left front headlamp assembly, and hood. The left front wheel was
slightly out of position. It appeared that the vehicleʼs front bumper support crush
elements and frame rails were not compressed. We noted the airbag light in the
instrument cluster was operational and was off at the time of the inspection.

Although impacts received in the aforementioned area may result in moderate
deformation to the vehicleʼs body, they may not equate to impacts, which
produce enough vehicle deceleration to warrant the deployment of airbags.

In as much as your concern indicated that the driverʼs safety belt failed to restrain
your wife during the accident, inspecting the driverʼs sliding latch plate, buckle,
and inertia reel function paid particular attention. The inertia reel operated as
designed, as it locked the safety belt in various positions when pulled rapidly. No
defect in safety belt operation was observed.

You also communicated that the brake system may have failed. Although a test
drive could not be performed due to impact damage, visual inspection revealed
no brake fluid leaks at the brake master cylinder, DSC hydraulic unit, brake lines,
or brake assemblies.

Brake rotors and pads were checked and measured, and were all found to be
within specifications. The brake fluid level was slightly below full, and the fluid
appeared dark. A stall test was performed, in which the brake system held the
vehicle in place with the engine running, the gear selector in Drive,
and with the accelerator pushed towards the floor. The vehicle performed without
incident as it remained stationary, and the complaint of brake failure could not be
reproduced

Thank you for providing us the opportunity to inspect your vehicle and share our
findings with you. Your patience and cooperation in this matter have been greatly
appreciated. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me
directly.
**************

ANY SUGGESTIONS AS TO WHAT SHOULD I BE DOING??
SEEMS LIKE THEY ARE WASHING THIER HANDS FROM THE INCIDENT...
SEEMS LIKE THEY ARE SAYING " IT IS YOUR PROBLEM....YOU DEAL WITH IT".

[pmeloche]

I really don't know what to say. Their analysis seem to confirm what I know of how airbag systems work. Can you have an independent analysis done on the vehicle? It may confirm or infirm BMW's analysis.

Good luck.