Oh God...

Communicationb

Anan1 wrote: »

If the safety catch had still been engaged you'd have been fine, but with the bonnet actually open the wind will force it back as soon as you get any speed up. Older BMWs had front-hinged bonnets, which would have saved you.

I had started off with safety catch on but then stopped and thought that I could get more air in by taking off the safety catch...obviously very stupid but I was so flustered and trying to get back that I just wasnt thinking straight.

keithclancy

Anan1 wrote: »

Not quite what it says in your link:

They can require an MPU when you reapply after a driving ban,

Some examples for a ban would be:
Extreme danger to other road users.
Driving under the influence of alcohol.
Driving a vehicle in a state not safe for other road users,
Exceeding the speed limit in a 120 by 161 km/h

The alcohol one can have conditions such as staying alcohol free for 6 months/1 year and having a liver biopsy to prove that you have not consumed alcohol in that time.

Im not being nasty, but driving with the bonnet open is extremely dangerous, not only is there the shock of the impact from the bonnet but you cannot see where your going.

Edit:
http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/expat2.html

Have a read of that guys experience .. pretty heavy handed compared to most countries.

Communicationb

keithclancy wrote: »

They can require an MPU when you reapply after a driving ban,

Some examples for a ban would be:
Extreme danger to other road users.
Driving under the influence of alcohol.
Driving a vehicle in a state not safe for other road users,
Exceeding the speed limit in a 120 by 161 km/h

The alcohol one can have conditions such as staying alcohol free for 6 months/1 year and having a liver biopsy to prove that you have not consumed alcohol in that time.

Im not being nasty, but driving with the bonnet open is extremely dangerous, not only is there the shock of the impact from the bonnet but you cannot see where your going.

I didnt drive with the bonnet against the windscreen. I pulled over straight away. Thankfully road was clear. No cars behind me or in front. In my panic in trying to get home I just didnt think about the bonnet flying open...I was in a very agitated state.:(

Anan1

keithclancy wrote: »

They can require an MPU when you reapply after a driving ban

wrote:

Wurde eine Fahrerlaubnis entzogen (nicht zu verwechseln mit einem Fahrverbot!)...

In any case, the OP did not have their license withdrawn, nobody was hurt, and the Gardai were not involved. All of which makes this:

keithclancy wrote: »

In Germany you'd be given an Idiotentest (No Joke, if its something dangerous to other road users you'll get it)
http://www.bussgeldkataloge.de/umpu.html

Wrong.

We all, including the OP know that he made a mistake. Have you never made a mistake yourself before now? I know I have.

Emoyeni

Yeah we've all done stupid things in times of desperation -

but a cracking good read though.....

keithclancy

Anan1 wrote: »

In any case, the OP did not have their license withdrawn, nobody was hurt, and the Gardai were not involved. All of which makes this:

Wrong.

We all, including the OP know that he made a mistake. Have you never made a mistake yourself before now? I know I have.

Of course I have, I drive 40,000 km / year .. I'm not a robot, law of averages say I will make a mistake.

But I definetly wouldn't drive the car with the bonnet open, If I did something like that, and an accident did occur then I'd say fair cop, it was careless on my part.

My point being that this is far more dangerous than driving 10km/h over the speed limit but people seem to be more concerned with the damage rather than the safety factor.

i.e. I drive 10km/h over the limit and theres no accident is it ok ?

daveharnett

Anan1 wrote: »

We all, including the OP know that he made a mistake. Have you never made a mistake yourself before now? I know I have.

True, but repeating the mistake after being warned of the consequences is a bit special.

Fair play for following up op, I had a laugh. Next time, try to learn the easy way.

Anan1

keithclancy wrote: »

Of course I have, I drive 40,000 km / year .. I'm not a robot, law of averages say I will make a mistake.

But I definetly wouldn't drive the car with the bonnet open, If I did something like that, and an accident did occur then I'd say fair cop, it was careless on my part.

My point being that this is far more dangerous than driving 10km/h over the speed limit but people seem to be more concerned with the damage rather than the safety factor.

i.e. I drive 10km/h over the limit and theres no accident is it ok ?

Sure the OP was wrong, but so were you with your claims about MPU. The OP should have realized the danger of what they were doing, and you should have read through even the first few lines of the document you linked to. Granted the OP's mistake was far more dangerous, but whereas they readily admit theirs you seem curiously unable to admit yours.

keithclancy

Anan1 wrote: »

Sure the OP was wrong, but so were you with your claims about MPU. The OP should have realized the danger of what they were doing, and you should have read through even the first few lines of the document you linked to. Granted the OP's mistake was far more dangerous, but whereas they readily admit theirs you seem curiously unable to admit yours.

That is true, serious offence, withdrawl of license (not a ban) MPU can be requested although its not always necessary, its only if the police suspect that you are incapable of operating your vehicle.

That goes for whether
Your drunk.
Driving the wrong way down the motorway
Knowingly driving with the wheels hanging off
Repeatedly performing the same offence over and over again.

a 1 month/3 month ban is different to a withdrawl of your license. A withdrawl of your license occurs only in serious circumstances.

If you REALLY want Anan, I'll go ask the lad who had to go through it and I'm sure he can dig out the papers.

I really don't have prove anything, its up to you what you choose to believe.

Anan1

keithclancy wrote: »

If you REALLY want Anan, I'll go ask the lad who had to go through it and I'm sure he can dig out the papers.

I really don't have prove anything, its up to you what you choose to believe.

I believe the link you quoted. The same link that directly contradicts what you posted.;)

Tigger

Communicationb wrote: »

I did fill the radiator with water twice in a vain attempt to cool it down...:(

never do this people

kazul

Why not?

Tigger

you'll kill the head gasket or worse

peasant

Tigger wrote: »

you'll kill the head gasket or worse

You won't kill the headgasket by putting in water instead of coolant as an emergency measure.

The reason why you don't pour water into a hot engine via the radiator is because you'll severely burn yourself.

The cooling system is under pressure and very hot (over 100 degrees).
Open a hot radiaor cap and pressurised steam and boiling water will come spurting out, doing you serious injury.

Only ever refill the cooling circuit when the engine is cold and off (another reason to stop the car when the engine gets too hot/the lights come on)

glic71rods46t0

Anan1 wrote: »

I believe the link you quoted. The same link that directly contradicts what you posted.;)

wow? Guess you never directly contradicted yourself Anan????

evolutionqy7

lol why did u drive over a bin bag in the first place... if u were going so slow i figure it wouldnt have been hard to slow down and move to the other side of the road or move it out of the way...its much cheaper going around things on the road without...and the fact that you didnt stop straight away didnt do much good either...you can cause alot of problems letting your engine over heat it even says it in the road rules

just a tip for the future

KamiKazi

Gwan OP, stuck up a few pics of the result there

cullen5998

I feel sorry for you, but it is funny reading:)
Some people are for driving and some people are made to be driven. I'd say you might fall into the latter.:) Only joking
Hope it all works out well for you

bijapos

keithclancy wrote: »

Edit:
http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/expat2.html

Have a read of that guys experience .. pretty heavy handed compared to most countries.

Not heavy handed IMO. He was over 1.6, the limit in Germany is 0.5, here its 0.8.

If you are over 1.6 and are capable of getting into a vehicle and driving it then their belief is that you have a drink problem and its up to you to prove otherwise, hence the MPU. A normal person who drinks on a casual basis would be literally falling over and be incapable of driving. Over 1.6 and capable of driving makes you a kind of habitual drinker in the eyes of the German justice system whether you like it or not. If you are under 1.6 no MPU is necessary.

Happened to one of my best friends, he needed the licencse professionally and the whole lot cost him about €4000, not €15000 as in this guys experience.

Note he also failed the psychogical interview the first time. This is where I suspect it got very expensive as he went to further psychological counseling.

In other cases an MPU can be ordered by a court where no drink is involved in incidents such as extreme road rage etc etc.

Sorry to go OT.

dirtydiesel

Op sorry for your troubles, looks like you killed your beemer:(
Hope you dont mind me telling your story down the pub on friday night!
Bad luck on you your learning the hard way but your story is funny.

vibe666

Anan1 wrote: »

Come on now lads, we all learn by making mistakes.

maybe, but most of the time common sense intervenes before sensible people make ludicrously reckless mistakes with a 1 tonne high speed (potential) killing machine! :rolleyes:

whatever about driving 15 miles and costing yourself a lot of unneeded expense out of the pure laziness of not wanting to have to thumb a lift and get the car towed like any rational person would do when faced with an overheating engine, but anyone with even an ounce of common sense would know better than to drive with the bonnet unlatched, never mind with the safety catch off.

and you're really using "i saw it on top gear" as some kind of rationalisation? :eek:

nothing but blind luck saved him from causing a serious accident that could have easily lead to people being seriously hurt or killed.

OP, if there's one thing you should take from this whole experience it's that karma [or insert deity of choice here] sometimes has a way of telling certain people that they should just not be put in charge of a vehicle. be grateful that you learnt that lesson without losing yours or someone else's life.

seriously, you need to cop on. you could have killed someone with a ridiculous stunt like that.

MagicMarker

How fast were you going when the bonnet flew open? :eek:

-Corkie-

I feel so sorry for you because when i was younger i had mountains of bad luck like you did. I remember the sunroof blew of my 405 and hit another car. However now i can sit back and laugh at it and i hope you will too. We all make stupid mistakes at least you had the balls to come on to the most popular internet forum in the country and tell everyone your story. Maybe a lot of posters here who are giving out about your driving made bigger mistakes than you, i know i did but i aint tellin:D:D. I would love to take you for a pint though because i feel sorry for you.

Best of luck hope it changes;)

Malachy

no1beemerfan

SARASON wrote: »

I feel so sorry for you because when i was younger i had mountains of bad luck like you did. I remember the sunroof blew of my 405 and hit another car. However now i can sit back and laugh at it and i hope you will too.

Malachy

I'd a canoe fly off my roof! Thank God I was passing out a car when it happened so didn't hit the car behind me!!:D

We saw the funny side after about 5 seconds though, it split the canoe in two but we picked it up and taped it together and then it sank in the middle of the shannon!

Jeez, the things you do when you're young!



Hope things work out for you OP.

challengemaster

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

lol why did u drive over a bin bag in the first place... if u were going so slow i figure it wouldnt have been hard to slow down and move to the other side of the road or move it out of the way...its much cheaper going around things on the road without...and the fact that you didnt stop straight away didnt do much good either...you can cause alot of problems letting your engine over heat it even says it in the road rules

just a tip for the future

Oh the lol's of not reading things properly.

Bin bags, killing engines since 2010 :pac:

EPM

challengemaster wrote: »

Bin bags, killing engines since 2010 :pac:

It's possible:pac:

Communicationb

Well I spoke to the mechanic this morning...

Much to his surprise and despite my best efforts, he said that it prob isnt the head gasket after all. That it seems fine.

He said there would be more symptoms if it was gone. There is dripping from the radiator and it looks like the there is a crack in the radiator and/or the hosing and that is prob it. He will look closer this evening. But if it's just a new radiator needed then happy days.

I suggested would he look at the head gasket anyway...he said not a chance. It would take 2 days just to take it apart as it is a 6 cylinder engine.

So fingers crossed that it is just a new rad and I'll get a few more months out of her...:)

Stevie Dakota

Is he supplying the rad or are you? May be cheaper for you to do it, try GSF or Otto.

Communicationb wrote: »

Well I spoke to the mechanic this morning...

Much to his suprise and despite my best efforts, he said that it prob isnt the head gasket after all. That it seems fine.

He said there would be more symptoms if it was gone. There is dripping from the radiator and it looks like the there is a crack in the radiator and/or the hosing and that is prob it. He will look closer this evening. But if it's just a new radiator needed then happy days.

I suggested would he look at the head gasket anyway...he said not a chance. It would take 2 days just to take it apart as it is a 6 cylinder engine.

So fingers crossed that it is just a new rad and I'll get a few more months out of her...:)

Communicationb

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Is he supplying the rad or are you? May be cheaper for you to do it, try GSF or Otto.

This guy is sound and I was good buddies with his sons in school. He has been good to me in the past. I wish had gone to him when the thermostat went but he was too far away from where I abandoned the car.

I think it's best I leave it with the professionals...:o

It's a bit like..."You are not having a heart attack, it's just some indigestion."

GTE

Communicationb wrote: »

:(:(

I know I know...I had no option. I was playing a match and was late for the kick off...so abandoning the car in the middle of nowhere just wasnt an option.

ps. We won the match but all I could think about on the pitch was my poor car...:(:(

Im sorry mate but you had a few options. You said yourself you cant afford another car yet you drive it 15 miles as if something had fallen off the engine.

I hope it turns out to be one or two minor parts going wrong due to age as it seems to be after reading the lastest posts but you cant justify this with a match.

You do learn from mistakes but this mistake is a big enough one to have to learn from it


EDIT:
I just read drove it again but with the bonnet unlocked. Oh god.

Best of luck though. Lets hope you can get another while out of the car.

Communicationb

bbk wrote: »

Im sorry mate but you had a few options. You said yourself you cant afford another car yet you drive it 15 miles as if something had fallen off the engine.

I hope it turns out to be one or two minor parts going wrong due to age as it seems to be after reading the lastest posts but you cant justify this with a match.

You do learn from mistakes but this mistake is a big enough one to have to learn from it


EDIT:
I just read drove it again but with the bonnet unlocked. Oh god.

Best of luck though. Lets hope you can get another while out of the car.

I just have to put the whole thing down to inexperience.

My first car was 2003 VW TDi and my second was a 2006 BMW 320 Coupe which I sold last August. Naturally enough, those cars gave me no trouble whatsoever and so my knowledge of cars and engines was non-existant.

Downgrading to a 1998 Hyundai Accent and then a 1996 BMW 320 Saloon has thought me lots which I wouldnt have learnt otherwise and I can go forward a few valuable lessons learnt.:o

stevenmu

Just a suggestion, but oil can be damaged and become pretty much worthless if it is badly overheated. I think you mentioned changing it recently but I'd consider doing it again if you were driving for long with it overheating.

Communicationb

stevenmu wrote: »

Just a suggestion, but oil can be damaged and become pretty much worthless if it is badly overheated. I think you mentioned changing it recently but I'd consider doing it again if you were driving for long with it overheating.

Cheers.

Yeah I changed the oil and filter last Friday..all 4.5 litres of it. I prob drove about a mile with the engine overheated. I'll say it the mechanic to see what he says.

CJhaughey

Communicationb wrote: »

.all 10.5 litres of it.

:eek:
Are you sure your engine takes that much? a 3l turbodiesel landcruiser only takes 8.5 with filter change.
You could easily blow seals if you overfill it.

Hagar

Don't worry, if the rest of the thread is anything to go by he put it in the ashtray.

Sitec

Communicationb wrote: »

Cheers.

Yeah I changed the oil and filter last Friday..all 10.5 litres of it. I prob drove about a mile with the engine overheated. I'll say it the mechanic to see what he says.

thats way too much oil.:eek:

Stevie Dakota

Oh this thread is the best, it has to be a wind up! 10.5 liters!

Communicationb

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Oh this thread is the best, it has to be a wind up! 10.5 liters!

No sorry...that was a typo..just a 4.5 litre oil drum went in...not sure why I wrote 10.5 litre..

Emoyeni

The engine oil volume for this make, model and year is 4.25 ltrs.
The engine coolant (radiator volume) is 10.5 ltrs.

This leads to other possibilities.

1. The terminology got mixed up
2. Engine oil was put into the radiator

Communicationb

Emoyeni wrote: »

The engine oil volume for this make, model and year is 4.25 ltrs.
The engine coolant (radiator volume) is 10.5 ltrs.

This leads to other possibilities.

1. The terminology got mixed up
2. Engine oil was put into the radiator

Yes I have been reading up about the cooling system over last few days and had 10.5 litres in my head which is the cooling syetem capacity...sorry.

Communicationb

69 wrote: »

Don't worry, if the rest of the thread is anything to go by he put it in the ashtray.

Hilarious...:(

The mechanic said that the radiator is cracked and so new one is needed. The compression tests etc suggest the head gasket is fine. He said if it was any other car it would be fúcked.

Water only leaks when the engine is heated and it drips constantly hence why I never saw it when the engine is cold. When the level of water is below a certain the engine overheats.

Stevie Dakota

Hope it works out, we all want you to resurrect that car! This saga deserves a happy ending.

Vertakill

I think it's in everyones interest on this thread that you get the car up and running again. Let your car shenanigans continue.

Other than genuinely laughing out loud at the bonnet fiasco, I feel bad for you OP.

Emoyeni

Communicationb wrote: »

Yes I have been reading up about the cooling system over last few days and had 10.5 litres in my head which is the cooling syetem capacity...sorry.

Darn...the dark side of me was rather hoping the oil went into the radiator...we would have got a lot more mileage out of this - no pun intended - lol

Communicationb

Well my poor car lives to fight another day....:)

It was the radiator afterall which I bought and had replaced on Friday. Got the car back at 5.30 Friday evening and driving well since then.

Saturday morning I got a fright as the engine and car was shaking while idle which apparently is a vacuam valve problem...but that dissappeared during the course of Saturday.

Thanks guys for all the comments and for drilling home a few basic truths about car maintenace home to me...:)

Stevie Dakota

Good news!

Communicationb

I needed a new bonnet as the last one was busted.

So after much internet searching I came across a guy 45 mins away with an E36 for breaking in the exact same colour and year as my car....:)....got a new bonnet fitted and other bits and pieces for €60.00...happy days.

Fits like a glove and same colour.