M4 loses control leaving Cars and Coffee, hits median, gets airborne. Owner explains.

[S65V8]

sakhir orange is a nice color.

[Rcar5220]

I wouldn't call this much of a crash...

[Nomana]

Nothing to embarrass
It's one of the reasons car is made for, regardless of a car or human error.

He made mistake. He's just a man.
He learn his lesson.

To be honest I quite enjoy watching it. But I feel for him and the point of whole part of this is No body get hurt.

At least he made a interesting vid happened.

Take care.

[Pure]

I am sorry that you have suffered that accident.

Even if you are a person who has had experience driving high-performance sports car is very important to handle always relaxed and focused.

I hope you are well.

Keep in mind that accidents happen and one should take note of this, to be careful here.

[RingMeister01]

It could happen to anyone and it's ok! But please don't blame tire pressure or the car itself for your own error. It's lame.

[kevinlevrone]

I am amazed at how the driver did not react in any way to what was happening. Like he was on drugs, or was texting or something ? Usually these counter-measures come from instinct, you do not need a lot of learning. No braking, almost no countersteering...and he sais that he drove a bunch of fast cars and "formula" cars ? Come on, really. This adds so much to the insult.

On the other hand, to see the M4 act like this at such a low speed and throttle input makes me think that the car's rear differential has some programming or mechanical design issues in certain circumstances. I have also seen some mentions of this in a review by Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar, comparing it with the Alpina which has a different differential.

This being said, I am laughing when I see people saying that "there was major suspension damage" or "minor frame damage" or "dead steering" . This is so stupid...almost any car can handle this kind of suspension travel with no problems, let alone the BMW. I am sure there was no damage except maybe some plastic bits.

[E90M3JETS]

Originally Posted by Mark's M

Oh come on Mark, this is honestly offensive. From a Moderator yet. I've read this entire thread and I've seen this guys posts before. And we've been around long enough to know better. Zero sympathy, plain stupidity. Period. Had it happened on the track, not a problem 'cause that's where you learn. On the road....well here's a few choice samples of this guy's mentality:

Sept/2014 "Just Got my First Ticket in the M" I got pulled over 2 blocks away after leaving the dealership upon picking up my car -________-

Luckily, the cop was really cool about it and even commented that the M4 was a really nice ride and let me on my way (sigh of relief). In case you were wondering, I may or may not have done a huge powerslide prior to being pulled over but hey my last two cars were AWD, so gimme a break

Sept/2014 "Interesting Tips...after Ownership" DSC off is a must if you live anywhere that doesn't have ultra smooth pavement.

Oct/2014 "First Advanced ///M School" Great and detailed write up! Though I have to agree with KennyPowers. No DSC off = deal breaker. You're not properly learning car control if you don't learn how to understand and react to traction events. The F8X is actually the perfect car to drive with DSC off because it will test your ability to manage throttle/steering input but it never snaps, it's very progressive and a joy to orchestrate. MDM or DSC completely remove that joy.


Oct/2014 "RWD vs Quattro" I bought a M4 specifically so I can get the tires to break loose. Otherwise yeah by a Quattro...

Ahhhh...what words of wisdom from this young fellow. A future candidate for a MasterCard commercial because he's certainly priceless. And if that $50.00 is burning such a hole in your pocket, maybe a contribution to a police/community charity would be the more appropriate thing to do. Lots of them out there that surprisingly try to prevent this type of behaviour, not finance it! On that note, I've worked with enough U.S. police officers to know that Wreckless Endangerment fits just nicely.

And a tip for you Trinim3...you'll not find a judge in the land that's stupid enough to believe your diatribe of an excuse as to why "the M4 lost control" and not you. But best of luck anyways.

Ditto. I hope he learned his lesson. I am glad he did not hurt anybody, but trying to blame the car and trying to justify what happened may indicate he will run the DSC off in public roads again. :

[Rupes]

Here is what I've learned - if you ever crash your BMW you will be publicly shamed not only on BMW forums but also Jalopnik. I like that website, but some really poor choice of words/stereotypes being used by the author which is unfortunate.

Another takeaway - The traffic to this site was so high I couldn't log on the e9x forums to finish the DIY I started over the weekend!

[moldcad]

Thank God nobody got hurt.

I don't lurk into the F8x board often as those cars are (and sadly, will always be) way above my financial means, but I'm so glad I did today!

I used to drive RWD cars only for some 40 years (until 2 years ago when I bought the xDrive F10), but of course living in Poland could never afford a really powerful one like the M4. Therefore - having less torque, but also no electronic nannies whatsoever - those cars of my past have taught me the reflexions and muscle memory which which came handy so many times, preventing me from losing control totally like this.

Why did I say I'm glad I saw this incident? Well - having driven two AWD cars for two years now (the 528xi and the 300 hp Golf 7 R), I started missing the kind of thrill only an RWD car can give you, and guess what: I'm swapping my F10 (which I found annoyingly underpowered with is 4-cylinder engine and AWD powertrain) for the M235i with LSD

Even though I won't have it before March (have just ordered), having watched what can happen with today's turbocharged RWD bimmer I said to myself: even though I've only driven AWD for 2 years vs. 40 years of RWD only, before I even think of playing with DSC I need to train for several days outside public roads to check whether the muscle memory is still there... Maybe even some BMW school - who knows? Anyway, this video constitutes a memento for me before I start enjoying my new RWD bimmer!

BTW - what do you Americans mean by "snap oversteer" (as opposed to simply oversteer)? Please answer in technical terms; TIA

[IEDEI]

Originally Posted by trinim3

I won't state the costs because it'll just add fuel to the fire but I will say this the BMW is EXCEPTIONALLY ENGINEERED. BMW deserves an applause for building such a safe and well-engineered car!!!! I'm truly astonished. My only advice to anyone who may face themselves in the unfortunate situation of having an imminent collision with the curb is to take it straight on. Don't try to take it at an angle or sideways, because that's how your car will flip and roll or you'll break your suspension. Thanks all for your feedback both good and bad.

thanks for the great advice.....next time I will try to remember that jumping the car straight right into head on traffic is the better and safer choice! lol

:

[Shakal]

I wouldn't respond if I wouldn't read driver's comment about his experiences in some Formula and on race track. Sorry, but driver with a very little experience in motorsport would know how to react in this situation at that speed. This is not a mistake, but lack of driving skills IMO. Driver with some experiences would automatically react in that situation - in instinct and wouldn't keep a steering wheel in a same position.

Anyway, important is that nobody get hurt and Im sure M4 will be very soon back on road.

[SilentAttack]

Something about this sounds fishy. On another note the car sounds as good as his driving skills.

[paddyrx8]

1. Leave traction control 'On' on public roads
2. Lift off throttle and correct the oversteer.
3. Do not brake, that is when it really went wrong.

I'm sure this guy feels pretty stupid right now, but how much worse if he had of ploughed into a mother and child crossing the street. Don't take chances on the road.

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by Shakal

I wouldn't respond if I wouldn't read driver's comment about his experiences in some Formula and on race track. Sorry, but driver with a very little experience in motorsport would know how to react in this situation at that speed. This is not a mistake, but lack of driving skills IMO. Driver with some experiences would automatically react in that situation - in instinct and wouldn't keep a steering wheel in a same position.

Frankly this is what I thought, too - but then I realized that with all my RWD driving experience, I had never ever driven anything as powerful and "torquey" as the M4, so what do I know to publicly doubt his excuses... This also is the reason for my "what the snap oversteering is" question above (perhaps it can only happen in such a powerful car)?; still waiting for explanation from someone savvy...

PS. Or has "snap" simply simply been used for "sudden"?

[cartaa100]

poor guy, really seemed to snap quickly

[moldcad]

What a real idiot can do in a car his father's money bought him I could see with my own eyes here in Poland some years ago:

[Black Gold]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

I think posters on here need to eat some humble pie themselves.

The car snap oversteered across two lanes or about 30 feet of travel. Assuming he was doing 30mph that means from the time the slide initiated until he hit the curb was about .75 seconds.


I'm sure every expert driver on here can correct unplanned snap oversteer in less than a full second and in under thirty feet of lateral travel. I couldn't.

And additionally the driver went full throttle, rolling, on an empty public roadway that was straight. I do that. I would think that's a fine place for quick burst. I'm sure many others would too. His main mistake was having dsc off.

Aside from thst, who on here in their all knowing condescension has an m3 they don't go WOT on public roads that are straight and empty around you? If you do it, then you are inherently saying that you could counter out of the blue snap oversteer in about .75 seconds and without the car traveling more than 30 feet laterally.

This stuff happens to every major high powered vehicle. Someone encounters somethinv they weren't expecting. This was just caught on video.

Joe

Full disclosure: I have gone into a pretty wild slide on cold PSS in my f80 with no throttle just going into a turn too hot. I was saved by MDM. Warm PSS would have been fine.

I have gone dsc off in my e39 m5 and on an empty backroad snap oversteered it off the road and got lucky and caught in mud.

I've tasted humility and will again.

1) the road was not clear. there were people on the side of the road (which is how we got multiple videos), and I doubt he checked to ensure that the road going the opposite direction was clear.

2) that was not snap oversteer. he should have been more focused and prepared for the situation. it is very obvious what will happen when you slam the gas on a 400whp RWD car at 20 MPH on the street with soft street tires. everyone knows the car can get sideways in a hurry

3) the DSC should never have been off in that situation. for a million reasons. the fact that he should have known that slamming the throttle would have resulted in loss of traction and a situation in which he would have to rely on his car control skills to safely ensure that the car didn't slide (which he was unable to do in this situation). its unnecessarily risky.

YES, of course people have made mistakes. HOWEVER, all these excuses are ridiculous. it was an incredibly selfish and dangerous decision, and it should be labeled exactly as such. yes, I think he will learn from it.

however, it was NOT ok, it should not be explained away, and there are zero excuses for it. that's the bottom line. unsafe and unintelligent decisions on the street are unacceptable and can have horrible consequences.

out of the million things that could have gone wrong, incredibly none did. I am sure happy about that, and so is the OP. but it was wrong, and nothing more should be said than this. DO NOT TURN DSC off on the street, and certainly DO NOT drive like that in those situations on the street ever.

cars are serious these days, and they can do a lot of damage.

end of story. no excuses, no bs. the OP knows what happened, and learned from it. this is not a car issue, or something unpredictable that happened. its very predictable, and its obvious what could have, and did, happen when he made the decision he did.

Quite honestly, im much more disturbed by the responses in this thread than in the OP and his response.

Take your car to the track if you want to drive with DSC off, everyone.

[l!ve]

It's the internet, you can say or do whatever you want. It's not my place to comment on what has been said. But for me, I can't go through the day without coming across this video, so I hope to present another perspective.

I'm sure the guy feels bad enough as it is. It must suck to see something you regret doing played over and over again all over the world. I really hope none of us have to live through something like this regardless of whether we are right or wrong.

A brand new car got damaged and no one likes to see something like this happen. Fortunately, no one got hurt. Let's just give thanks to that. I wish the owner and his car well.

[Diver]

He lit up his tires, we lit up this board...

[Damasconian]

Originally Posted by PawnStar

I get so mad just thinking it could have been a minivan full of kids in the oncoming lane, crashing into this idiot's stunt mobile...damn it...want to do stunts, take it off a public road. This guy's driving privileges should be suspended for about a year so he can brush up on CA's rules of the road and gain respect for it's laws.

But why stop there? It could also have been a bus full of orphans, a Veterans day parade or - GASP - the worlds last white rhino carrying a panda baby on his back.

All you are doing is speculating, and my comments are no less ridiculous than yours. The road was wide open and he did something he shouldn't have then admitted to it. But the internet police want to take his licence away for a year (takes 3 DWI's in Texas for that) and force the guy to sell his car.

I am so proud to be a member of this infallible forum.

[ihc95]

It's shit like this that force automakers to prevent DSC to be fully disabled. BMW thus far has been one of the few manufactures to allow full deactivation (hell even Lamborghini and Porsche don't allow it anymore), but if more stuff like this happens, don't be surprised if future BMWs follow the latest trend of permanent safety systems.

In the end we all lose. Just keep DSC active on the street and save turning it off for the track.

[1&done]

Originally Posted by paddyrx8

1. Leave traction control 'On' on public roads
2. Lift off throttle and correct the oversteer.
3. Do not brake, that is when it really went wrong.

I'm sure this guy feels pretty stupid right now, but how much worse if he had of ploughed into a mother and child crossing the street. Don't take chances on the road.

This, save it for the track, not the public rds. Showing off will get you the attention, maybe just not in the way you expected. Life lesson learned...hopefully.