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Sedans BMW 3-Series BMW 3-Series 2005 and earlier
30156 messages, Last post on Nov 17, 2009 at 5:41 AM
You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
Welcome back. When Da'Man has something to say... Can't wait for the next installment. 
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Shipo, I got caught once this year in my M3. I couldn't get up a "hill" that rose approximately 3 feet over a length of 50 feet. getting into my driveway was impossible until I shoveled it. 235/40-17 Yokohama AVS Intermediates... rock hard in cold temps, and way wrong tread to get any traction in snow/ice to boot. My $2500 solution was a Taurus SHO. Looking in the garage at the salt all over the Taurus and how shiny clean the M3 is, I'm more than happy with my "winter tires" because while they were pricey they did come attached to a car.  -Colin |
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Given that I am by nature a story teller, I find myself being compelled to weave the tail as to why I am no longer counted among the ranks of BMW drivers.  Almost four weeks ago, 9-Jan to be exact, I pulled up in front of my children’s day-care at about 5:30 PM to pick them up and take them to a long promised dinner at Taco Bell. During the day, we had temperatures around here that were just above freezing, and in fact, it was still just above 32 when I arrived. I got out of my car, walked to the covered sidewalk (just in front of my car) and stepped into what I thought was a shallow puddle of water (it was actually a VERY shallow puddle, over a VERY thin layer of ice). As soon as I planted my left (leading) foot in the puddle, it shot forward with such alarming speed that I was caught completely by surprise, I knew that a fall was imminent. Due to the speed with which said left leg shot forward my body decided to come with it, much to the chagrin of my right leg and foot which were still ten inches lower, down in the parking lot. As I went forward, the toes of my right foot hit the curb, hyper extended the foot at the ankle, and snapped the Fibula like a twig. I heard it snap, and on the way down, I thought to myself “Yup, it’s broke”. Once on the ground (lying in the puddle), I confirmed that I was, at the very least, badly injured, so, contrary to my nature, I actually called out for help. The only response I got was from a lady about twenty yards up the walk, who looked over/down at me and said, “Are you OK?” Even then the stupidity of the question struck me, however, given that I was going into shock, I wasn’t able to properly communicate the severity of the situation to her, so I said, “No lady I’m not, I just fell and broke my leg and I am going into shock!” What didn’t occur to me at the time was that telling someone that you are going into shock means very little, unless they have had some medical training, or of course, been in shock themselves. She just got a sort of stupid look on her face, so, given that I was laying in a puddle of water with a temperature somewhere south of 33 degrees, I figured that I had better deal with the situation myself. I rolled out of the puddle and tried to get up. As soon as she saw me do this, she ran down to me saying, “Are you crazy? Don’t try to get up, just stay there!” With that, she proceeded to try and hold me down! In my ever evaporating consciousness all I could say was, “Lady, I am going into shock, and I need to get inside the daycare and onto their sofa.” What I should of said was that I was about to pass out, and I didn’t want to do it while laying in a puddle of frigid water. Fortunately, some guy happened by and quickly assessed the problem and told her in no uncertain terms, “Help me get him up and inside, NOW!” She did, and as I hobbled into the daycare, one of my kids asked me “Daddy, are you all right?” I managed to say, “No, I think I broke my leg…”, just as my butt hit the sofa, and I passed out cold. While I was out, the teacher (all of 21 years old), had the presence of mind to send all of the children to another class room, call 911, and then call my wife. Smart kid! When I came around, I had literally no idea of who I was, where I was, or how I got there. All I knew was there was a guy holding me down and I wanted to hit him. He said, “Calm down, you are at your children’s day-care, and you fell and broke your leg.” Something he said must have struck a chord, because I stopped struggling and tried to make sense of the bizarre place in which I found myself. I suspect that it took at least 30 to 45 seconds to re-boot my brain and start to put the threads together into what might be called lucid thought. Almost immediately after I came around, I saw the ambulance come into the lot, and I was off to the hospital. Due to all of the ice, there were several ambulances at the hospital, no beds available, and a log jam of gurneys in the hallway with folks who had fallen or been otherwise injured by the slippery conditions. The lady next to me was found by her husband when he got home from work laying on the sidewalk in front of their house, out cold. She came around while next to me, and I could really sympathize with the disorientation she experienced, at least I woke up in the same location where I passed out. Given all of the broken bones and such, the hospital had already called in an Orthopedic Sturgeon [sic], who, when he evaluated me suggested that they pump me full of morphine for four or five days to let the swelling go down and then he would open me up and screw my lower right fibula back together and to re-locate my right foot (which was about a quarter of an inch too far to the left). I told him that I would prefer either no surgery at all or surgery ASAP, as in that night, if possible, because I was scheduled to fly to Taipei four days later. He told me that an non-surgical solution would be problematic (at best) and that, while he might be able to operate on me later that night if we could reduce the swelling enough, I sure as hell wasn’t going on any airplanes anytime soon regardless of when he performed the surgery. So, I took my morphine (via the IV, which burned my arm, made me want to puke and didn’t kill any pain, not even a little) like a good little boy and shut my big mouth. Just after midnight, after practically freezing my foot and leg to get the swelling down, he decided that he could in fact operate. Success, I was up and around on crutches about eight hours later. When the Sturgeon made his rounds later in the day, I asked him again if I could go on my trip. His response was predictable, “Not a chance.” So, I asked him, “Why not? Is there a medical reason?” That is when he finally came clean and told me that there was a danger of blood clotting (he called it a “Pulmonary Hematoma”) with such a lower extremity injury being combined with the twenty plus hours of sitting in one spot in an airplane. That said, simply taking two aspirin a day and making sure I moved my leg/foot around as much as possible, should partially, if not completely eliminate the risk. Done, I was going. The trip came off without a hitch (well, it was a little uncomfortable) , and on 23-Jan, I went back the see my Sturgeon for more X-Rays and a new cast. The good news was that the bone was healing well, however (the bad news) was that due to all of the ligament damage to the foot, I was going to be in a non-weight bearing cast until AT LEAST 20-Feb! Assuming all goes well, I will then transition to a walking cast for another four to six weeks, and then on to therapy and walking with a cane for another couple of months after that. The earliest that I can reasonably expect to drive a car with three pedals is sometime between Late May and mid June! (Continued...) |
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Long story short, my wife has the 530i for the duration, and I am stuck driving the Caravan, left footed with my purple casted right leg over in the passengers’ foot well. ;-( Since I started driving a stick shift car back in 1977, this will be my longest stretch of driving an automatic; I hope I still remember how to stir my own gears when the time comes. Best Regards, Shipo |
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KdShapiro, Thanks, I am going to have to live vicariously through y’all for a while. Maybe I can beg my wife to take me out on a date in the 530i every now and again, just to keep the memory fresh. Colin, Hmmm, an SHO, good solution, however, unfortunately our new house has only two garage bays; so, a third car is not an option. ;-( Best Regards, Shipo |
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| Sorry to hear about your accident. Let's hope you can work that 3rd pedal soon. | |
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Doesn't it just figure that I've driven FWD and AWD cars my entire adult life until I bought my BMW, and the first winter I have it, it snows every day! We've got about 8 inches on the ground right now in Pittsburgh (although this week has warmed up). I drive my 325i every day to work and to job sites. I have the base suspension with 16" all-season Continentals, and Steptronic. All in all, the car has gone great. I haven't tried to negotiate a deep snow fall, yet. I have a 4WD pick-up that I can use when it gets really deep. I'd rather drive the pick-up when its really bad than deal with snow tires and aftermarket rims. But, I have been caught out in those fast snows, where the road covers quickly with an inch or two before they get it plowed. My car has gone fine. Starting-out traction isn't the greatest, but DSC compensates and gets it going, and it seems to brake and steer beautifully in the snow - once you get going, it goes up any hill. Would I prefer it to AWD in the snow - no way. But, I haven't been scared yet, and the overall dynamic control of the car, and the flexibility of the transmission, does seem to compensate for the lack of spectacular grip. And, it goes down hill in the snow better than any car I've ever owned, 4WD included. My recommendation, if you're worried about RWD in the snow - with this car - don't worry. For occasional snow, or snow under 3-4 inches, the Continental all-seasons are fine. If you get deep snow often, put on snow tires, and you'll be better off than most of the cars on the road. |
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I'm really sorry to hear about your unfortunate fall. Glad it wasn't worse than it is given the weather and that fact that you retained your sense of humor is a good sign of healing I hope Mrs. Shipo has learned how to drive the manual REALLY well, so she will keep the car nice and loose for when you are finally able to play with 3 pedals again. |
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gosh, so sorry to hear about your fall! it was a very entertaining read, however. best wishes on a full and speedy recovery! you'll be back in your bmw in no time. p.s.--your wife knows how to drive a manual? that's great! i'm trying to learn myself for an upcoming new car, and am hoping the mrs. will have the patience to learn as well. if not, i'd be in a real pickle if i were to injur my leg like you. i've actually thought about that somewhat before reading your story. thankfully i live in sunny cal so no ice unless we go up to tahoe.
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Hi everyone. I cannot thank everyone enough for responding to the different posts I have put here. I am the newby to town hall but a long time auto-freak! Time in essence is standing still here in Conneticut. I am waiting to pick up my 2003 330i on Wednesday mid afternoon. It is seriously like Christmas Eve! On the snow tire front! As I have stated the sales person I am dealing with has included a great deal on once used snows fitted for the sport rims of the 330i sport package. Now the car is a lease. I am not going to get new rims this year b/c it is Feb. already and it was 50 degrees today. However, will the cars abilities in snow be different on the sport rims? And considering it is a lease, should I change the rims to standard rims next winter? Thanks for the help |
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