lift hood at high speed

[1978.530i]

Scary stuff.

[JimD]

Years ago I didn't latch the hood right on my wifes Pinto and it took out the windshield with me driving on the highway. I had driven our other car from Philadelphia to Kansas City and then driven a friends 911C from Kansas City to Philadelphia. The Pinto was the third leg and I guess I must have been tired. Fortunately I could see enough under the hood to get to the shoulder. I then tied the hood down and drove the rest of the way with a busted windshield. Gave me a heck of a headache. There wasn't even 1 square inch of windshield intact.

The hood was my fault but that was a terrible car. I fixed it up enough it looked OK and we got rid of it. The oil filter would vibrate on tight enough to bust a filter wrench. The shifter came off in the wife's hand while she was pregnant. Muffler fell off repeatedly. Terrible car.

[Berra]

This seems like an issue only on the right side of the hood, take a look at this 1M:

At 0:47 sec, look at the hood, no gap at all on the left side from the M6! But, take a look on the right side of the car at 0:49 when the M6 passes, good amount of gap.

The speed is about 150-160 mph at this point!

I want a 1M and have tried to read as much as possible about the car and so far, this is the most annoying issue!

[fastauto]

If you don't have hood lift your not driving fast enough lol.

I was at the track this past weekend and took a video of one of my sessions. The video captured some of the hood and on the straights I had hood lift.

[GAZ 345]

why does the 1m bonnet have two threaded holes in it that are not used,maybe was going to be two pins holding it,then cost cutting came in

[RimasRS]

There was vid of 135i also but this one is crazy scary

[Berra]

Seems like its only on the right side of the car. I´ve tried to look up some other videos and so far, I´ve seen the same thing for 135i as with 1M, its only the right side that opens up.

[vasmir]

Originally Posted by RimasRS

There was vid of 135i also but this one is crazy scary

Do not like.

So other than lifting a bit at speed... does anyone know of any actual 135i / 1M hood flying open occurrences?

[RimasRS]

Originally Posted by vasmir

Do not like.

So other than lifting a bit at speed... does anyone know of any actual 135i / 1M hood flying open occurrences?

I had few times on my car that the hood lock unlocks from vibration or some other reason but applying wd40 on the lock solved the problem. Somewhere was thread about it. Anyway it looks that it is not the strongest point on the car.

[octainejunkee]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

That hood isn't closed properly. No way the hood lifts at high speed.

After a trip back from the ring with the speedo showing off the clock my bonnet looked like it was going to lift up. The panel gaps around the headlights and front wings is terrible now.
Our cars arent very aerodynamic..

cheers Jamie

[jan9]

Originally Posted by octainejunkee

After a trip back from the ring with the speedo showing off the clock my bonnet looked like it was going to lift up. The panel gaps around the headlights and front wings is terrible now.
Our cars arent very aerodynamic..

cheers Jamie

Do you think, you could get BMW to replace your hood? I've seen photos of my car going vmax with the hood looking like it was about to lift off too.

[Berra]

Originally Posted by octainejunkee

After a trip back from the ring with the speedo showing off the clock my bonnet looked like it was going to lift up. The panel gaps around the headlights and front wings is terrible now.
Our cars arent very aerodynamic..

cheers Jamie

This isnt about aerodynamics, it´s a design flaw, a really stupid one! How can a Company like BMW, or any other for that matter release a car with this huge flaw?!

What blows my mind away even more is the owners...you have car which you know has a design flaw and never asked BMW about it? If you did, what did they tell you?

I´ve been searching for a 1M for a long time now but this hood problem can pretty much be a deal breaker for me.

[MDORPHN]

Ain't no big thing...

I've driven my car at 160+ on the high banking at Daytona and haven't given the very slight hood lift a moment's concern.

Is anyone aware of the hood latch mechanism ever having failed?

Neil

[ozinaldo]

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

Ain't no big thing...

I've driven my car at 160+ on the high banking at Daytona and haven't given the very slight hood lift a moment's concern.

Is anyone aware of the hood latch mechanism ever having failed?

Neil

+1. Not seems to be a really big problem for stock cars at least. I did multiple vmax runs at (P3Cars gauge reading) 266 km/h (around 165 mph) for as long as straights allowed me with my factory engine tune car which still has the governor in place and I never noticed this. While I have no doubt it moves at speeds over 200 km/h, this is not enough to lift or leave some wider gap between hood and bumper/headlights.

Dackel once wrote that BMW engineers think it is fine up to 280 km/h which is above the stock 1M's capabilities and probably is the real vmax of the car if governor would not be in place (fifth gear seems to have a theoretical max speed at 280 km/h).

Tuned cars which can reach over 280 km/h speeds, even over 300km/h, should be concerned imo.

But I agree that this is a kind of a weak design from BMW, especially so for an M car which they build knowing well that most will be tuned sooner or later. But 'dealbreaker'? Not worse than lack of colors like a nice blue or front parking aids

[Berra]

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

Ain't no big thing...

I've driven my car at 160+ on the high banking at Daytona and haven't given the very slight hood lift a moment's concern.

Is anyone aware of the hood latch mechanism ever having failed?

Neil

I´ve seen what hood failures can do, so with all due respect...for me personally, this is a very big deal.

It only happens once, and that one time will be enough for the car to possibly, end your life. I´m also bummed about this:

Originally Posted by octainejunkee

After a trip back from the ring with the speedo showing off the clock my bonnet looked like it was going to lift up. The panel gaps around the headlights and front wings is terrible now.
Our cars arent very aerodynamic..

cheers Jamie

Jamie, do you mean that the parts have been moved out of line/place? For real?

[MDORPHN]

Originally Posted by Berra

I´ve seen what hood failures can do, so with all due respect...for me personally, this is a very big deal.

It only happens once, and that one time will be enough for the car to possibly, end your life. I´m also bummed about this:




Jamie, do you mean that the parts have been moved out of line/place? For real?

There are tens of thousands of 1 series in use around the world that rely on this mechanism and I'm not aware of a single failure of a properly latched hood.

Neil

[ozinaldo]

Originally Posted by Berra

I´ve seen what hood failures can do, so with all due respect...for me personally, this is a very big deal.

It only happens once, and that one time will be enough for the car to possibly, end your life. I´m also bummed about this:




Jamie, do you mean that the parts have been moved out of line/place? For real?

If you read Jamie's post carefully you will notice that he has a FBO tuned car with huge additional power on tap. I have no doubt that he was going over 290-300 km/h real speeds, the kind of speeds which is really over the top for our lovely little brick called 1M

Just don't make this kill your enthusiasm for purchasing a 1M, otherwise you can never be too careful, that's for sure.

[Berra]

Originally Posted by ozinaldo

But I agree that this is a kind of a weak design from BMW, especially so for an M car which they build knowing well that most will be tuned sooner or later. But 'dealbreaker'? Not worse than lack of colors like a nice blue or front parking aids

You´re comparing hood problems which can actually kill you with colors and parking aids? Really?

It´s a terrible design and for me this is a problem as I visit Germany often but also do airfield runs, and my plan is/was to run atleast 500 hp in the 1M which will push the car over 186 mph. I don´t wanna sit there in the car doing 186+ mph and waiting for the hood to fly open...

Is there any way of fixing this?

[MDORPHN]

Originally Posted by Berra

Is there any way of fixing this?

As there are no accounts of 1-Series hoods flying open, I think this is an entirely bogus issue.

I'd be far more concerned about a tire blow-out or some other driver doing something stupid causing an incident.

However, if you're really concerned, it's very simple to install hood pins.

Neil

[ozinaldo]

Originally Posted by Berra

You´re comparing hood problems which can actually kill you with colors and parking aids? Really?

It´s a terrible design and for me this is a problem as I visit Germany often but also do airfield runs, and my plan is/was to run atleast 500 hp in the 1M which will push the car over 186 mph. I don´t wanna sit there in the car doing 186+ mph and waiting for the hood to fly open...

Is there any way of fixing this?

OK, don't we have hood latches for additional security?

With your plans in perspective, you might be right to make this sure first since there are no OEM related solutions that I am aware of.

This car is not designed/intended as a (very) high speed weapon on straights, that's for sure, just sayin.

[Berra]

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

As there are no accounts of 1-Series hoods flying open, I think this is an entirely bogus issue.

I'd be far more concerned about a tire blow-out or some other driver doing something stupid causing an incident.

However, if you're really concerned, it's very simple to install hood pins.

Neil

I do agree with you on this, one would think that there would be reports on flying hoods but there aren´t any, but as I said, I´ve seen what it can do to you and that´s why I´m a bit concerned. I never knew about this issue until I started hanging out on this forum.

Oh well, hood pins it is because I really love this car! I´ve been in Porsches, Ferraris, Lambos etc etc but this little pocket rocket sure is special!

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by octainejunkee

After a trip back from the ring with the speedo showing off the clock my bonnet looked like it was going to lift up. The panel gaps around the headlights and front wings is terrible now.
Our cars aren't very aerodynamic.

Originally Posted by ozinaldo

While I have no doubt it moves at speeds over 200 km/h, this is not enough to lift or leave some wider gap between hood and bumper/headlights.

See the pictures below: regular gap or a little out of scope ? Request the dealership to adjust the hood latch mechanism a bit so that it grasps more 'tightly' or, on the contrary, not touching it to avoid additional stress on that mechanical part (to limit the risk of the hood latch breaking at a certain speed) ?