How safe is the e30 really?

[Das Delfin]

djjerme hit it on the head - the human is the deciding factor in whether or not a car is safe. I feel safe in my bmw because I scan the horizon, have a good feel for the roads, am always on the lookout etc. Just some stuff to make sure I'm prepared for what's coming up ahead.

When I'm with a girl I joke about how it doesn't have airbags or rollover protection - so live in the moment! But in reality I'm not worried at all. It's up to you to make sure your car is safe - try to be aware of all the bullshit that can happen on the road. And don't drive too fast for the situation.

[bobdavisnpf]

My wife and I feel safe in our E30 vert, comparing it to other 80's & 90's cars we've driven. I did replace the driver's seat belt, to ensure it's not gonna fail to ratchet and to refresh the somewhat-worn belt material. And to get where I felt safe in it, I fitted new tires and had a shop rebuild/replace the suspension.

But my daughter won't let me put her 2yo in it. so, not safe enough for that.

[squidrope]

A few years ago 2 guys from Canada died after hitting an ice patch and backing into a stone embankment on I89 after a Bav Auto get together. Very sad that the seats do little to protect your neck/head. I wouldn't drive an e30 at highway speeds unless the seats were updated.

[coldweatherblue]

It's safer than my motorcycle.

[djjerme]

It isn't safe compared to a modern car. Same thinking as people who say 60s American cars are safer than modern ones because they are heavier. Just total nonsense.

That wasn't the question though. Of course it would be considered less safer than a new car. That's like saying a 318 is somehow more fuel efficient than a newer 3 series.

Technology should always improve and march on, otherwise you are just going backwards or never learning from previous mistakes.

But the question was is an E30 safe - and comparatively, yes. You are not going to die just from driving it around. It's safer than most cars built prior to it, and even many cars of the same vintage. Maybe even safer than a few models that may have came after it.

But even the Uber-safe cars of today will probably be considered Death Traps in some not to distant future because they didn't encase you in super safe crash foam on impact or rollover and actually *gasp* let the human drive the car manually!!

Now if the question had been is an E30 safer than a new car or most modern cars, I'd say no.

[c0rbin9]

The E30 being "safe" is just broscience and anecdotes. It isn't safe compared to a modern car. Same thinking as people who say 60s American cars are safer than modern ones because they are heavier. Just total nonsense.

[Northern]

I wouldn't stick my (theoretical) kid in an e30 for a highway drive, but around the city, sure.

I didn't realize the date on this thread until after I read the OP... either way, that little sheet metal seatbelt bracket is cringeworthy, as well as the reply about only trusting it if it were titanium. lol

[djjerme]

I would trust it with anybodies life. And as a father, I stand by that.

Having raced these, in both full race car, and nearly stock (except a cage and harness) form, and wrecked them at higher then freeway speeds, I think I can vouch for the E30's safety.

That being said - any car (or motorcycle, or Bicycle) that you don't maintain can become a deathtrap. Not to mention, no car can prevent stupid drivers from doing stupid things. People still manage to off themselves in (insert this year) cars somehow - the only way to eliminate human error/judgement is to eliminate the human.

[BaltimoreBimmer]

I just want to bump this thread because it was a good read - but.......

I would say this to all those praising the safety of the e30 on today's roads (granted its been ten years since this conversation was occurring)

The one question you should ask yourself is would you trust this car with your child's life?

I wouldn't. But then again I don't even have kids. Still.

Anyone have any recent crashes they'd like to share?

[Jscotty]

It's all relative. Somehow the human race survived. Maybe people were more aware of the consequences and drove more carefully than today.

You hit the nail right on the head- With all of the sharp edges and pointy surfaces and toxic chemicals that I was exposed to when I was young, you would think that its a miracle that I ever survived my childhood.

Some time ago I asked a friend of mine about why is it that kids wear helmets on bicycles and why people wear goggles when caulking the tub and why is it that electronic equipment is inundated with all kinds of warnings and precautions (as if I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to use my TV while in the swimming pool)

He said that because we have become a society that does more stuff in less time we tend to be less careful and less observant of the obvious. As it relates to cars, I tend to agree. Because back in the "old days" when you did repair work on your car, you also took the time to check for loose bolts, worn brakes, etc.. but nowadays we just DRIVE until the warning light tells us that we need fuel or an oil change. And in older cars we could hear almost every rattle and sometimes we could "feel" when there was a problem.

Nowadays we are in such a hurry to get everywhere and cars have become so comfortable that when the brakes get to be metal to metal we will keep driving as if everything is OK. So now I have to have an airbag because some moron might decide that getting to his kid's soccer game is more important than getting a brake job.

[Eliminator]

It's all relative. When I was growing up, our family car had bias ply tires, drum brakes, NO seatbelts (let alone child safety seats), a METAL dashboard with pointy metal knobs, and I don't even think it had safety glass. Pretty typical of most cars up until the mid or late 1960's. Somehow the human race survived. Maybe people were more aware of the consequences and drove more carefully than today.

Side impact protection is a relatively new concept and the federal government didn't adopt any standards for it until the late 1990s (1997? 1998? I forgot). Reinforcing the side of a vehicle in the 1980s was very, very rare and each manufacturer had their own standard (if at all) of what was a safe side impact threshold.

That idea started back in the early 1970's, when door guard beams were mandated. Prior to that, you had a piece of sheetmetal, the window regulator, and a cardboard door panel seperating you from the next car

Likewise, one of my family members who once owned an E46 330i drove it like a madman, even in torrential downpours with visibly flooded sections of the highway. He felt very safe in that car and overtrusted the abilities of ABS, DSC, CBC, and the rest of the electronic gizmos. He could have easily died on many occasions.

That's one of the problems with all of our technology. It makes us feel really safe, and then we drive faster, not realizing potential danger.

The point is a safe car is a safe car. You want a safe car because there's no accounting for all the bad and crazy drivers on the road. You can be minding your own business, two hands on the wheel, and alert and still be blindsided by an idiot running a red light or hit from behind by someone on a cell phone changing a CD. All those driving schools won't do much, but a safe car will.

IT's true. Last summer I was stopped at a red light, and someone not paying attention plowed right into the back of me. I saw him coming but couldn't go anywhere. E30 performed very well, and I had only a minor whiplash injury.

[Eliminator]

The only thing you can get these days is a used crown vic from the auction. The new ones are only sold for government, and fleet purposes.

Not true, you can get them new from the dealer.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/cars/crownvictoria/

[Jscotty]

The only time I ever outran a cop was when I was on the interstate and I happened to see my buddy in the lane beside me and we started racing. One of us would pass the other and we kept going back and forth until we passed a cop sitting behind a tree. By this time we were up to about 90 MPH. I saw the cop then I looked at the speedo and I said, "Oh golly!" (well thats not what I really said) I made a mad dash for the next exit ramp hoping that I could get to the shopping center parking lot and I could exit the vehicle before the cop could catch me getting out of the car. He turned his lights on but I figured that I was far enough away from him where I could use the "I didn't know that I was getting pulled over" defense should that come up. I casually got out of my car acting "natural" as 2 cop cars circled the parking lot. (lights flashing and everything) Either they couldn't find my car or it was just a coincidence that there were 2 other cops at that location on another matter.

I shut all my lights off went into this loading docks parking lot and stopped with the e-brake.

Turning the ignition to the off position works too because it shuts down all of the electrical systems including the brake lights. You can still safely brake and steer because there is still is still enough boost left in the brake system to get at least one more power assisted stop. And even though the power steering stops working, the wheel does not actually lock until the key is removed.

[Funkmasta]

Update on the Albany crash;2 occupants had felony warrants at the time.

Hence why they ran...

Albany has a meth problem.

[oh2fly]

Update on the Albany crash;2 occupants had felony warrants at the time.