A Weekend that started good and ended up bad

[SMOODY]

On Saturday I got to play BMW mechanic. The morning was spent putting a new thermostat housing on the wagon. The old thermostat was leaking and stuck in the open position. The afternoon and evening was spent putting my new UUC sway bars on the 330i. I set them for full stiff up front and soft in the rear, just to be on the safe side. I went to bed with a sense of accomplishment.

On Sunday I took the 330i out to run some errands. I, of course, took some twisty back roads to check out the handling. I also turned off the DSC to make sure it did not mask what I was feeling. The car felt O.K., body lean was reduced substantially and the car felt very responsive. Then I entered a right hand turn, the road was still wet from the morning rain. Right after I entered the turn, the rear began to slide out. I corrected for the slide, but then the front wheels found some traction and whipped the car back the other way. The rear was much looser than I have ever experienced, even on snow or on the skid pad. The understeer that I am used to was replaced with oversteer, big time oversteer.

I was starting to win the battle, when the right rear tire dropped of the side of the road. Physics then took over and the car rotated to the left as the tire slid down the side of the road into the ditch. The car rotated about 90 degrees, and just before coming to a stop slide backwards into the woods. The car ended up neatly parked between 2 trees, perpendicular to the road. Only by a miracle, or sheer dumb luck, none of the body panels sustained any damage.

The car was stuck. It would not move backwards or forwards.

I called my wife, she called the tow truck. While I was waiting for the tow truck, two of Prince William County’s finest happened on the scene. They asked a few questions, and verified that no one was injured and no one else was involved. I told them what happened. They surveyed the scene. Then they asked for my license and registration and went back to the squad car to wait for the tow truck.

The tow truck finally arrived, the cops did their traffic duty, and we winched the car out of the ditch using the tow point on the front bumper. An inspection of the car revealed a missing plastic jack point pad, damage to the front bumper and the plastic shroud in the left wheel well. I paid the tow truck driver and then Prince William’s finest presented me with a reckless driving ticket. Ouch, talk about insult on top of injury. They explained that the ticket was “routine” in these matters. They gave me some compliments on my car and went back to their squad car. They also stuck around to make sure the car would move O.K. on its own.

I was able to drive the car home with no issues detected. I hosed down the undercarriage (it was covered in mud) and jacked it up, I could not find any mechanical damage.

I plan to take it to a professional to get it looked at, replace the damaged pieces, and get a 4 wheel alignment.

I also plan to remove the UUC sways, and put the stock bars back on.

Thanks for hearing my tale of woe.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

Keep the big front bar.

[Dirichlet]

Sorry to hear about that smoods... at least there was no 'significant' damage done to you or your car. And, what's up w/ the reckless thing - you gotta be able to challenge that somehow. Anywho, good luck.

[SMOODY]

Keep the big front bar.

Won't that make it plow like a truck?

[SMOODY]

Sorry to hear about that smoods... at least there was no 'significant' damage done to you or your car. And, what's up w/ the reckless thing - you gotta be able to challenge that somehow. Anywho, good luck.

I am looking into challenging the reckless / unable to maintain control charge. I have not had a ticket in over 10 years, I really don't want a reckless charge on my record. We will see how that goes.

I think the one officer felt bad about giving me a ticket, but his partner was going by the book. A little, good cop, bad cop routine.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

Won't that make it plow like a truck?

No. E46es desperately need more front bar. Rear bar is optional (you don't need it at all).

[glindsay]

Sorry to hear about the bumper damage. It must have been awkward to explain to your family on top of the cost for the bars. Since no other vehicles were involved, the reckless driving charge should not hold up, I'd think. Check your wheels over very carefully for roundness and wobbles. Sounds like they went through a lot of forces.

I'm certain you have re-played the event over and over to determine what went wrong. Sounds like road surface moisture inconsistency on a cold morning running summer tires introduced more variables than the new sway bars. Learning changes in car behavior may not have been a time to defeat the DSC either. From your recount, sounds like you were first faced with under steer, came off the throttle too quick and introduced over steer. Been there done that. Chances are you could have ended up in the woods either way.

I have a 330Ci sport with the 18' staggered wheel option and fully endorse UUC sway bars. As did you, I initially went with full stiff on the front and full loose on the rears. But it was not until the first Driver's School did I push the car hard enough to really find the limits. The track is much more forgiving than a back road.

I feel rear bars are very important. In order to accomplish a turn you have to rotate the car. Controlled over steer helps to do just that. I have now worked up to full stiff on the rear and backed off one position on the fronts.

Just my thoughts,

Greg

[OwnedbyDuncan]

Reckless Driving is not a traffic offense but a Class 1 Misdemeanor in the State of VA. You should not have spoken to cops at all and if you said anything claimed you were trying to avoid a deer, dog, fox or Paris Hilton. You court appearance is mandatory. Your age will make big difference. I would hire an attorney and try to plea down to Failure to Obey a Highway Sign or something similar.
You have one strike against you going into court because of the vehicle type. Your clean driving record though is an asset that your attorney can use. A conviction for Reckless may result in your insurance company dropping you.

Dave Apker

[pranu]

Smoody I feel REAL bad for you. I can totally understand the horror and disappointment at not only having to suffer the loss of control and the ensuing damage and sadness but having it topped of with a ticket is - just like you described it - insult to injury - salt in the wound!

This definitely should not deserve a "reckless" ticket - but unfortunately
common sense <> law

I think Dave's advice is pretty apt. Best of luck with trying to reduce the ticket as much as you can - and hopefully the damage wont set you back by too much!

[bren]

This definitely should not deserve a "reckless" ticket - but unfortunately
common sense <> law

Going into a turn too hot resulting in an out of control spin off the road surface sounds like "reckelss driving" to me.

Of course the officers can't really say what you did was reckless since they didn't actually see what happened.

[pranu]

Bren: Point taken.

I guess I was considering it from the point of view that no one was hurt in the process, the person who caused the incident seems to have suffered a fair amount of ordeal already. But I guess you can't go soft on the law due to these reasons.

From the sympathetic point of view perhaps a stern warning or a failure to follow road signs might have been a more appropriate punishment.

[AlfaEric]

Bren: Point taken.

I guess I was considering it from the point of view that no one was hurt in the process, the person who caused the incident seems to have suffered a fair amount of ordeal already. But I guess you can't go soft on the law due to these reasons.

From the sympathetic point of view perhaps a stern warning or a failure to follow road signs might have been a more appropriate punishment.

It is a very harsh ticket.

Irrespective of the maximum speeds permitted by law, any person who drives a vehicle on any highway recklessly or at a speed or in a manner so as to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person shall be guilty of reckless driving.

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp...6.2-852+500666

I believe a court appearance is mandatory. Hopefully you can get it reduced or thrown out.

---Eric

[SMOODY]

Well, what can I say. I did not think I was being reckless, but I can see why it would appear that way. Guy does a suspension mod, goes for a ride down a twisty road, probably pushing it a little, loses control in a turn, and ends up in a ditch. Agreed, this does not look good.

I will also agree that turning off the DSC was a REALLY BAD idea given the suspension change. I am used to turning it off for autocrossing and the drivers schools, and I thought that it would not be an issue. I can assure you that I will not make that mistake again.

Also, the car did not spin. It fish-tailed a couple of times before leaving the road, but I managed to avoid a spin. It did not even get completely sideways until it left the road. A small issue I know, but I was trying to use what I have learned on the skid pad.

I did not think I was going that fast. The road before the turn was wet and a little muddy from a construction site. I had slowed down going through the mud. I sped up a little coming out of the muddy area because the turn past the construction site appeared to be clear of mud. I was still a little tentative on how the car would respond. I don’t remember if I even used the brakes for the turn.

I discussed the accident in depth with my wife last night. She finally calmed down enough to talk to me about it.

She had come out to check on me before the police arriving on the scene. She said that she remembers the traction control in her car coming on as she took that turn. Although it was not visible, there may have been just enough of a film of dirt in that corner to effect traction.

I do not run a staggered tire set up on my car. I have 225 Pirelli PZero Nero all seasons on 17 inch rims both front and rear. I am beginning to wonder if the UUC sway bars are really designed for a staggered setup were you have more tire at the rear of the car.

I understand that my appearance in court is mandatory. My wife is an attorney. She also called one of her friends who practices in Prince William County to get a list of attorneys who do traffic law. We will see what happens.

Thanks for reading and responding. It helps to see what others have to say, supportive and otherwise. I am trying to understand what happened, and make sure that I do not put myself in a situation like this again.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

If it fishtailed, you were slow to recognize oversteer, cranked the wheel too far, held it too long, and repeated that a few times until you left the road.

[1996 328ti]

Also, the car did not spin. It fish-tailed a couple of times before leaving the road, but I managed to avoid a spin. It did not even get completely sideways until it left the road. A small issue I know, but I was trying to use what I have learned on the skid pad.

I can tell you from experience, the $hit hits the fan fast. On the skid pad you are expecting to get loose and are prepared. In 2000 I totalled my car on a back road in Frederick County, MD. The tail got loose, right rear wheel hit gravel, I shot across the road 90 degrees and corrected. I slid off the road sideways but I was pointing in the direction I wanted to go at least. That probably saved my life. As I was sliding sideways the car was slowing up.

Contributing factors in my case were, I was tired, it was very early in the morning. Dew on the ground and wet gravel. It was not what I would consider a spirited drive for normal conditions. But under these conditions it was obviously too brisk.