it was bound to happen

[cmcpokey]

alright... i wrecked the mini.

it sucks. im pissed. especially because it was all my fault.

i was driving along enjoying the beautiful day, windows down, sunroof open, radio blasting. savoring in the relaxation that is the drive home. but unfortunately i was paying more attention to the beautiful day than what was happening in front of me. i noticed a bit too late that the cars ahead had slammed on their brakes. I plowed right into the back of a ford 15 passenger van. not good for minis.

the exterior damage looks deceptively light. not much wrong. i will need a new grill, bumper, radiator (as evidenced by the big puddle of green on the pavement), etc. the big thing is the airbags went off. i didnt end up hitting at a very high speed, and i do not believe that in a normal setting they would have gone off. so i am using you, my large group of automotive experts to help me out. i believe the bags were set off when the trailor hitch on the van punched through the bumper. i am thinking that that is where the airbag deployment sensor is located. i was wondering if any of you with more connections than me could get a schematic, diagram, whatever, showing where the sensors are located in the front bumper.

thanks for the help.

p.s. the pics were taken with my phone, so excuse the poor quality.

[cmcpokey]

more of the mini, and some of the offending van

[Niko_Fx]

Damn... Sorry to hear that cmc...

Can't help you with what you're looking for, but I'm sure that someone will be able to. Best of luck.

[cmcpokey]

yeah, lots of suckage involved. i got chemical burns on my wrists from the airbag explosion. lots of pain. im gonna see the dr in the morning. i didnt take any pics of them, but that was because i didnt want to gross any one out. especially myself.

[bmwpower]

How is ur insurance coverage?? Hope your covered. Ur mini S is exactly like my friends only he added mods. He has a black grill, custom rims, sparco racing seats, a carbon fiber scoop, and upgraded his super charger pulley (have no idea what that is..) The car is gorgeous, and since you have to change ur grill u might want it in custom black. The car is a beauty, gl with ur injuries and gl bringing it back to life, better then ever before.. Or a chrome would be hot too

[kingofthering]

Originally Posted by bmwpower

How is ur insurance coverage?? Hope your covered. Ur mini S is exactly like my friends only he added mods. He has a black grill, custom rims, sparco racing seats, a carbon fiber scoop, and upgraded his super charger pulley (have no idea what that is..) The car is gorgeous, and since you have to change ur grill u might want it in custom black. The car is a beauty, gl with ur injuries and gl bringing it back to life, better then ever before.. Or a chrome would be hot too

its the thing that that pulls the supercharger, because unlike a turbo it is mechanical driven

[johnnynumfiv]

Sorry to hear about that, I almost was in the same situation the other day, windows down, radio way up, flooring it around a corner almost into the back of a car.

The pulley is what turns the supercharger, it's driven by a belt off the motor.

[scottie300z]

the airbags went off b/c the hitch made the sensors believe the impact was harder then it really was. Wouldnt the sensor monitor the whole bumper, so it wouldnt matter where it is located? i dont really know how those things work, but for safety and efficiency id imagine thats how it is.

[johnnyperl]

The sensor for the airbags is a small box which is sensitive to the Gs experienced by the car, it isn't (directly) based on how much the car is crushed. Probably, BMW just put a more delicate sensor in the mini because there is not much of an impact structure so the airbags are necessary for even smaller impacts.

The depth or location that the hitch went in doesnt matter. It just shows that the car that you hit was very rigid which means that the impact that you felt was more severe.

[nota]

Sorry to see that

I noticed your bonnet is now out of alignment and with impacts more severe than yours (looks to be) I have heard this can be a tricky job to restore to exactly-right on New Minis, so something to keep an eye out for in regards the future repair

[scottie300z]

Originally Posted by johnnyperl

The sensor for the airbags is a small box which is sensitive to the Gs experienced by the car, it isn't (directly) based on how much the car is crushed. Probably, BMW just put a more delicate sensor in the mini because there is not much of an impact structure so the airbags are necessary for even smaller impacts.

The depth or location that the hitch went in doesnt matter. It just shows that the car that you hit was very rigid which means that the impact that you felt was more severe.

ah ok, thats very interesting.

[henk4]

as long as you are personally not too bad off this can be overcome. How sad the car may look now, it surely looks repairable. The more frustrating part will be the fact that you will be haunted for a long time by the fact that it happened, and you were the only one to blame. Anyway, I wish you all the best and get back on the road soon...

[cmcpokey]

thanks for the support guys. im not worried about the car getting repaired. i have wrecked cars much worse than this and they were repaired perfectly. i also will be having the body shop from one of the top mini dealers in the country, so hopefully it will be perfect.

it does suck that i have only myself to blame. but i'll be okay. i'll pay for it in other ways. namely insurance. ive got a ton of coverage on it, so everything will get handled, i'll just pay even more out the ass for it.

[matek]

Thats terrible ahh and the poor mini

But atleast the insurance will get it back into shape

How r yr arms from the burns????

[Boomer4ES]

Sorry to hear about the accident, but at least you're alright for the most part. Is it really a chemical burn that you got from the airbags? My girlfriend had burns on her arms when she was in an accident too, but we just figured it was from the friction of the speed that the airbag deployed. Are there really chemicals involved that are dangerous enough to cause burning?