Black230

My Two Cents.
Sit and wait is all I can say. I was in a severe head-on collision offset to my side the drivers in a brand new 2001 GTI 1.8T at about 53mph without ever hitting the brakes. The person I hit had top notch coverages and I was lifted to the hospital and had severe back injuries and knee injury due to my knee hitting the lower part of the dash. I crushed a lower back muscle and had lots of pinched nerves and back out of place. I filed a huge lawsuit and I've yet to see a settlement. It's a back and forth negotiation and since I was young at the time of the accident and it was considered a soft tissue problem-no broken back or bones or wheelchair-with therapy I should get better-that was the womans insurance comment. In my family there is a federal judge and two top attorneys and they agreed that you only get big big bucks when you are paralyzed or near death or dead-but if you suffer just sprains and ligaments unfortunately its no biggie just a regular wreck and you go on. However if you have uninsured motorist at a high amount you can use that and get those funds-with an attorney of course-but it ain't as easy as one thinks. I got better, and purchased my Audi at the time back in March of 2001 and still go to the chiropractor and haven't settled yet. Due to my age my attorney's did not want me to sign a disability because if I ever get involved in another accident, I would not be able to claim anything due to the disability issued. Just be careful what you sign and don't yell victory until you see yourself with $100,000K in your wallet and a new car paid for.



PS-By the way the VW held up extremely well and very rigid frame, sad thing was that the car was only 2 weeks old. I lost my left front fender, left front door, entire front end, hood crumpled past the wheel, the turbo intercooler lodged itself under the lady's car it was nasty. But the ETR's blew held me in place for airbags.

vinmanc32

Im sorry to hear about your accident fellow MB owner but you did help that girl total her car just days ago... Youre a dangerous fellow. In all seriousness, Im glad that you only had minimal damage to yourself and hope you enjoy shopping for a new vehicle. I have no idea of what to suggest but would probably tell you to replace it with what you had unless you were dissappointed in it. Get Well Soon!

Accord

Timmy, if I were you I would go with a C43. My second choice would be a CLK, although you wouldn't be able to get much of anything on it, and at the most you could get would be a CLK 320.

Don't get an M3 under any circumstance, if you were in an M3 when that accident happened you probably would have been critically injured, or possibly even death could have occured. Be thankful you were in a Mercedes Benz when it happened.

pixmation

John, do you have any stats or test result about the rear end crash about MB and BMW? My impression is that both MB and BMW make relatively safe cars.

Accord

BMW's are horribly designed, unsafe cars. All of their safety claims are at the bare minimum of the government requirements.

I posted this in the CLK forum:

I would even take a crappy Daihatsu mini-van over an M3.

If you go look on CrashTest.com or another National Insurance Institute website, go look up BMW's. Almost everything is "Acceptable", and there are some other categories, very few mind you, that are rated "Good". I am sorry, but "Acceptable" just doesn't cut it, and it is the bare minimum.

After that, go look up Mercedes Benz, you will find nothing but "Excellent"! The only Mercedes Benz car with poor crash test ratings is the A-Class, but I wouldn't really consider than a "Car".

AndrewK

Buy a C36, mod it and have even more performance and more $$, or just get a CLK coupe.

dasMafia

ummm... I'm gonna assume that you mean the M coupe or M roadster as the actual M3 has absolutely NO relation to the E36/7 and E36/8 M-cars (Z3 roadster and coupe, respectively). the E46 M3 (2001+) is gonna run well over $50K, however the M coupe is going to just clear 40. I would be all over the M coupe. best car I have ever driven, hands down. A new 330Ci would also be cherry at about $40K.

I like the C320 too, but any of the other MBs are not very sporty in feel. the CLK (while gorgeous) is too soft, and the E class is the same. anywho, bummer dude, hope you get better.

ever think of an Audi TT... they are pretty damn cool if you ask me.

MB-BOB

dasMafia, you're still here?

dasMafia

ummm, right. and what about those of us who don't give a rats *** about safety and want speed. that would make the MBs "horribly designed, slow cars."

the BMW is fine, its simply designed for something totally different. and I really doubt that those cars racing in Miami were impacted "Identically" there is no way to statistically predict that probability, and I simply don't believe it. there is no way that all of the speed and force factors were identical. unless they both impacted a solid barrier at the exact same moment in time at an ange of 0 and at the exact same speed... just not gonna happen.

I'm not trying to start a flame war, I just hate it when people openly degrade a perfectly fine automobile. kudos to MB for going above and beyond the call of duty, its jsut not something that is important to me. hanging the backend out around a 270* entrance ramp at 85mph... that IS important to me.

dasMafia

( :::lurking quietly in the bushes::: )

of course I'm still here, you think i actually have a life! someones gotta keep you guys honest! (and I like the cars... so sue me!)

SoCal240/6

I did what you suggested and ran the tests on crashtest.com for the current 3 series and the current C class.

http://www.highwaysafety.org/vehicle...cecompoutc.asp

Look under "midsized luxury cars" and run the side by side test.

From a crash test standpoint, the two cars receive almost identical ratings.

gab

whenever people bashing BMW on this board, dasMafia will come out

I start to think dasMafia really regretted not buying a MB

TimmyC230boy

I'm regretfully informing you that I will not be able to get picks from the car. The only panels that were not damaged were the doors, but the passenger compartment was fine. If there had been rear passengers they would have been fine also. As far as the quality of a BMW, I would feel just as safe in a BMW as I would in a Mercedes. I'm going to test drive a Audi TT 225hp Quattro tomorrow, a 1999 CLK 430 with 35Kmiles tomorrow, a Boxster, M3 (old body style), and a and a E430 Sport Monday. I will let ya'll know what I pick. Yes I will be driving the ML till the new car comes. I might just get another C230, with the C7 package of course and Aftermarket HIDS.

Accord

I was just telling what I saw on the local news, that's all. The CLK and the M3 did hit the barrier in the same place within a 20 foot area, where it was exactly the same and they both hit it at roughly 75 mph. Not exact but extremely close. Either way, it was close enough to see the differences.

BMW's are tin death traps!

Mike T.

US crash tests are a joke. Go to EuroNCAP.com for good comparative tests. While you're there, for a laugh, check out the Chrysler minivan test result. Compare it to Crashtest.com.

EuroNCAP is sponsored by numerous EU national car clubs and the FIA. The 3 Series and W203 sedan are rated virtually equally.

According to EuroNCAP protocols, the safest car in the world is a Renault Laguna.

DtS

When reading the results from EuroNCAP, one can easilly be fooled just to look at how many stars a cerain model did get. Car-mags in Europe (German and Swedish edition of Auto Motor & Sport) claims that BMW had to redo the EuroNCAP crashtest after the facelift of the 3-series, just to reach the fourth star. (Before the re-design the BMW had shown very poor results in the side-impact tests.) And still, the BMW is much closer beeing a three-star car than a five-star. The C-class however is pretty close beeing a five-star car.

You are correct about the Renault Laguna. It is considerd the safest car in its class right now, and is the first car ever to get five stars. This due to superior results in the frontal-collision test.

greg230

i did the same, and the c class and 3 series are exactly the same except for dummy kinematics, which bmw got an acceptable, and mercedes got a good.

odd when you have to agree with socal and das mafia, but they are right, and there is some definate anti bmw nonsense being thrown around.

greg

Mike T.

Of course, you are correct, the 3 Series is not as safe as the W203 sedan according to EuroNCAP, even though they are both "4 star" cars.

Nonetheless, the BMW is not a death trap or whatever the Honda Accord guy was claiming with his hyperbolic rhetoric. The 3 Series BMW is slightly better than average, actually.

Black230

Hi,


I dont know if its just me, but Timmy, don't count on getting a big lawsuit when you are walking this weekend what three or 4 days after your accident to buy another car. Attorneys and investigators note all of this stuff (Spy and make calls) the reason why I'm telling you is because both are in my family and they told me when I had my accident. And it seems like you are okay, already talking to people in this forum about your options and already shopping for a car walking through lots (only a few days after the accident)-be careful and don't get caught becuase all that will be done is that you'll get your car replaced and the bills for the doctor will be paid directly to them and you will see yourself without extra cash.


Don't misinterpret now what I wrote as an insult, its just a warning from someone that was in your same shoes.

DtS

Definitively agree on that Mike T. I would never refer to a "four star"-car as a death trap. Now the 3-series is a pretty safe car, and my point wasn't to bash the BMW (which was, and still is, my second choice after the C-class), but to provide you all with non-subjective facts on the differences between these two cars crash safety.

C230K

BMW, VOLVO, and MB are all built to be safe. I would concentrate on what you fell good in when you drive it and value for the money and looks. That's what I did and now own the C230 Couep and the VOLVO S60 24T and happy with both. One for me to play in and family car for my wife.
Tom

greg230

dont rule out offerings from audi and saab, both offer some nice products.

greg

dasMafia

no regrets here, just getting impatient for sunshine!!!

and BMW bashing is only allowed if it is regardignthe new 7 (eek!) or the interior trim details.