sakodik

Today, while driving to San Jose airport around 830pm, my S550 @ 65MPH hydroplaned and I rammed into the center divide on 101 Northbound about 3-4 times head on. No airbags deployed, but man, what incredible strength the front had, at those speeds and multiple hits, most of the car was still in tact, only the front left received the most damage as it was the point of impact with all the hits. Thank god no one else was near me at the time I lost control, pretty heavy traffic too. All I can say is, this car is built pretty heavy duty, no one was seriously injury nor was anyone else on the freeway hurt. I checked the damage before driving off to the exit ramp to wait for a tow truck.

My headlight assembly is torn apart, I could stick my hand in there and touch the projection housing. The grill and hood are jammed and stuck. At this point, it is not a total lost, and I'm leaning more to a repair then replacing it. I'll post pictures when I can to see what you guys think! Right now, it is sitting in the back parking lot of Beshoff Mercedes dealership in SJ. What a night fellas... lucky to be alive to take finals next week.

P.S anyone with an amg front bumper? I don't like the looks of brabus or anything else.

Red Marko

I would definitely replace it.
Pics please, but from your description it looks like the suspension/chassis is in question.
Too many variables on safety issues - again, pics please.

Best outcome...you are safe!
And that's what matters.

WSH

Cars are just a form of bodyguards and health insurance; sounds like your S550 protected you well

But, following that metaphor, crash forces irreversibly (both visibly and invisibly) compromise a car's structure vs any future impacts (no matter alleged repair/replacement of parts)...sort of like a human post-major neuro/spinal/cardiac injuries, diseases&surgeries....advantage of cars is they're fully insured (ideally leased and lease-gap insured) and one can easily trade-in for a new copy w/fresh, latest-tech structures/systems

sakodik

sad sad

sakodik

Again, this was on the freeway at more or less 2 miles of speed limit from the time I got on to and time of the accident. Thanks to all of you for your words and all of those random people who stopped to offer assist and stopping traffic to allow me to merge out of 4 lanes of 101!

sakodik

On the lighter note, my rear bumper project of the car was finished not too long ago. Straight pipes and quads sticking out of the rear looks beautiful. S63 bumper does it well, considering doing the same to the front after what happened.

RajwanyS550

sorry about your accident, at least U R ok. these cars R built like tanks.
looks mostly cosmetic, but they will know more after they put her on the lift. at least Iam guessing 15K + damage.

aeggroup

I assume you have insurance. It should not cost more than deductable. Even deductable can be avoided. Sorry for your car.
GL..

cjf_moraga

Ahh, bad pictures... My condolences but at least you are OK. If you have to crash you know the car to do it in...

Chris

sakodik

Insurance going to help pay for it as it is too much out of my own pocket. Awaiting claims, my PS2 came in today as well, too bad the car is out of my hands! Thank guys.

I definitely know which car to crash in, but knowing the S class, although as damaged as it is, is still worth more than my 06 H2, breaks my heart and I rather avoid any crashes with the Benz.

JonMBZ

odd the airbags didn't deploy at those speeds. Make sure to have it repaired at a certified MB workshop and have them test the SRS system thoroughly .

AsianML

Airbags only deploy when the sensors detect a rapid rate of deceleration.

Glad to hear the S did its job and that you're okay! The damage doesn't actually look too bad.

sakodik

I figured that was the case! I was skidding for a good 100+ ft before coming to a stop with my butt sticking slightly outwards towards traffic.

The damage really doesn't look that bad, considering what I saw from the driver seat, I thought my engine bay was going to have some damage. Only my hood was pushed up though surprisingly!

Kar don

people in CA seldom replace their tires or wipers because of the great dry weather and then all of a sudden it rains and this happens. Your tires look very worn from the pics, hopefully you learned a valuable lesson. Glad you are safe and not hurt from the accident, could have been much worse.

JonMBZ

That's good to know I guess they are only necessary in those situations.

chokaay

It is also EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to keep your tires inflated to the PROPER PRESSURE, and check them ONCE A MONTH (something most people forget to do)! Underinflated tires are much more prone to hydroplaning than properly inflated tires, and the risk goes up the heavier the car gets (ie: S-Class vs. a lighter vehicle):

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...e.jsp?techid=3

Other benefits of a properly inflated tire (besides reducing the risk of hydroplaning) is better control of your vehicle (in all conditions), increased MPG, and more even wear across the tire (which means your tires will last longer under "normal" use).


Glad you're OK though!



EDIT: Just as a reminder, regularly check your tire pressure with a GAGE, NOT YOUR EYES! Going through the link I posted above, Tire Rack's website has an excellent example of a properly inflated tire vs. underinflated tire... both look exactly the same to the naked eye, but one is underinflated by 30% than the other. To give a frame of reference, I have noticed that on both my E350's on average they lose about 2 psi per month in each tire when properly inflated (front and back, michelins and continentals). 2 psi may not sound like much, but it does have a noticeable effect on the handling of the vehicle as well as the feel of the "ride"... and remember these effects get worse the longer you wait to check/inflate your tires!

CynCarvin32

Do you have any clue about what you speak? I often wonder that.

sakodik

My front tires are somewhat new, bought it 6 months ago, I was going to replace the rear tires as they are going to bald after another 2 months of driving, but the replacement came 4 days too late lol. Yeah truly my fault for taking the S out over the hummer that night. Bad decision.

I admit that I routinely skip out on inflating tires from time to time. Sometimes in the summer, when its dry and I am usually not going anywhere far, I skip out on pumping for 3 months max. Otherwise, yes I do pump my tires often when the weather is bad/camping/snow trips.

Update from my bodyshop, about 12k in repairs, but that is just an estimate, I wouldn't be surprise if it does match up to RajwanyS550's guess of 15k+. Crazy considering a Fit or a Nissan Sentra cost that much. Anyways, insurance covering it, but it is still a lost to me because I have to repair the sexy-class. On the paper, theres a lot of S63/65 parts that were mentioned. Anyone know if these trims share some parts in the front? Universal things like headlamps is understandable but the mesh grill as it states on my paper is labeled as S65 mesh and foglamps as S63 foglamps/mesh. A lot of other thing on my 4 page report.

13pauls

"Do you have any clue about what you speak? I often wonder that."

I completely understood what the jest of the post was., as I do the majority of WSH's posts...as the saying goes my friend...post and let post. BTW glad to know the driver was safe and not too much damage to the car.