My car exploded, and other hell from the past two days. (pics) - United Bimmer Community

**komodo** · 01-26-2006, 11:48 PM

Well, this has been one hell of a past two days. Let me go through it quickly. (if you want any more detail on anything, ask and I'll explain better)

Yesterday afternoon I tried to go down to my car and go somewhere (I parked on the curb), and there was another car in the space where my I parked. I went into panic mode, thinking my car was stolen, and after calling a few different police departments, I found it was towed for "parking improperly". Anyway, I got a citation, but I was completely legal and plan on taking it to court. Enough on that.

Later that night (around 3:30am) I was sitting upstairs in my room on the computer, and I all of a sudden heard loud tires screeching outside. I jumped up to look out my window and saw a jeep go off the road and into a fence and tree at about 50mph. I immediately grabbed my coat and ran downstairs, yelling to call the police to the doorman on my way. I got to the jeep down the road and there was a girl (the driver) stumbling down the sidewalk. She looked up at me and had large gashes all over her face, completely covered in blood. Her head went entirely through the windshield. I had her sit down and sat with her, trying to keep her focused (and conscious) until the police and ambulance got there. I was up almost all night filling out police reports.

This morning I got my car back from the impound.

Recently I got my new power supply for the computer installed, so tonight me and Rob were going to try and fix the car computer. I'm going on a nice long trip to Tennassee with my girlfriend for the weekend, so it'd be nice to have the computer working for MP3's and such. Anyway, we got it up and finally working. We put the Windows cd in and left it installing/formatting while the car was sitting in the garage idleing. We went inside while that was going on (freezing cold outside) and were browsing the forums on my laptop when all of a sudden we heard a loud BOOM outside. We curiously got up and walked over, opening the door that lead to the garage. The entire garage was filled with smoke and the floor was flooded with a greenish liquid. I immediately lunged into the car and turned the key off. As it turned out, my radiator exploded and coolant went everywhere. It ripped open, throwing chunks of plastic on the ground and spraying coolant everywhere.

We put the car in neutral and rolled it out of the garage, parking it in the driveway. Then we hosed out the garage, disconnected the battery, and left it to deal with another day.

This is the night before an amazing trip me and my girlfriend have been planning for months.

Anyway, here are the pics of my car:

I must have really pissed off fate.

**B3M2W5i** · 01-27-2006, 12:17 AM

im so sorry to hear/see what happened. i hope all goes well..

**jrhaile** · 01-27-2006, 12:25 AM

why don't you have your hood insulation? You're just asking for your paint to bubble...

**german speed demon** · 01-27-2006, 12:33 AM

holy hell, harry! Sorry bro. Wow, hope it works out for you soon.

Dave

**komodo** · 01-27-2006, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrhaile

why don't you have your hood insulation? You're just asking for your paint to bubble...

I took it off a long time ago and have never had any problems. Same with Rob (Robstah) and his car, as well as Karl (zeit00), neither have insulation and have never had a problem.

It's gotten in the way in the past when I wanted to adjust the windshield washer nozzles, and I think when you're standing outside the car, you hear the engine louder, less muffled.

I'm not worried, plus if the paint does bubble (which I don't think it will), that seems like a good excuse to get a CF hood or something else.

**devinwwu** · 01-27-2006, 12:44 AM

damn man i was just looking at a couple pics of when a bmw radiator blew... maybe yesterday. that's weird. i had the hose blow on my e34 and spray while i was driving. damn those little rubber hoses going bad after 15 years.

**Rob** · 01-27-2006, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrhaile

why don't you have your hood insulation? You're just asking for your paint to bubble...

The 95 M3 LTW did not have hood insulation.

**c1apton** · 01-27-2006, 04:54 AM

Harry, sorry to hear/see the bad luck bro. While everyone "jaws" about your hood insulation - it looks like you have overheating issues (I kno, duh) I'ld be worried about engine damage at this point. Between under drive pulleys & fan delete - you're putting alot of faith in your thermostat and electric/aux fan. If that thermostat stuck closed the whole system got extremely hot then grenaded the weekest point - the plastic fittings on radiator. When you do put it back together, pray you don't have a case of the "Rooz Blues" (blown head gasket). Another thing you might invest in - is a $3.00 toggle swith for your aux fan, so you can turn it on and override the radiator switch. They're life savers if you're sitting in traffic/long idle conditions. If anything, it didn't happen while you & the babe were on the road. (that's painful to look at)

PS - D-wu - the lifespan of radiator/coolant hoses average about 4-5 years - you're running on blind luck anything after that.

**Dudesky** · 01-27-2006, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by komodo

I must have really pissed off fate.

That's doubtful . . you helped out a girl in need, that counts for something. No sense dwelling on misfortune, nothing else to do but get it fixed and done

Beyond the new radiator, it doesn't look like too much time and money. Hopefully nothing else got messed up. I know the feeling though, I heard pretty much the same sound when my expansion tank blew up this past summer.

**tomctx** · 01-27-2006, 06:20 AM

Hate to see it, man. think about this. You could have been under the hood tinkering when it went. The situation could have been MUCH worse. Glad everyone is allright. Are you going back with OEM? Or one of those aftermarket ones?

**billycuth** · 01-27-2006, 07:56 AM

not that I don't feel bad about the car, but what happened with the girl?

**billycuth** · 01-27-2006, 07:57 AM

I wonder if this has to do with the fan delete mod. I am gonna hold off on that.

**01Mike330i** · 01-27-2006, 08:11 AM

Oh bro, that just sucks ass on all levels. Sorry to hear it's been so shitty...bright side, things can only get better!

**c1apton** · 01-27-2006, 08:13 AM

The fan delete is a cool idea for a few extra HPs and quicker response but on the same note it has it's drawbacks like idling, traffic w/AC on and I strongly rec a manual switch to turn on electric fans if caught in any of the above. It's a good idea even if you don't have the fan deletes, you can manually "jump the gun" before temp starts to climb. (even race set ups have manual switches - more control to avoid probs) It's just another example of tweaking one part for HP you amplify the possibilities of a weak spot somewhere else.

**dinan540** · 01-27-2006, 08:40 AM

Just a random thought. For the three series, is it reccommended to replace the thermostat switch, radiator and water pump at 60,000 miles? I know for my E39, that as a preventive measure, at 60,000 replacing those items is recommended. This is not what BMW NA says, just past experiences of other owners.

Sorry to hear about your car Harry. I hope your gf has a car that you guys can take on your trip.

On the bright side, you helped out someone that needed it. Good karma.