Matt S B

Yes I think there is something in the foot positioning aspect, my tendancy is to have my right foot positioned closer to the accelerator pedal, there is another factor that may have affected my foot positioning in that I have mostly only ever driven manual vehicles and only recently started driving automatic vehicles. My observattions are that manual vehicles tend to have smaller pedals with slightly greater spacing, however with the changes I have made to the pedals this has made me move my foot actively. Believe me I'm not sure what car you drive but I used to be able to hit those two pedals both together at the same time and have talked to others who have done this, It may be a question of foot position and something I will be very aware of in future, thanks for your comment.

B****R Hope things did not go to badly for you Pretty scary when it,s happening tho' aye

Yes thanks Andrew,this was an option we seriously considered as had noted on manual BMW's that the break pedal was much smaller, however my mechanic did a fantastic job and was very quick to add that this was not his first lot of pedal surgery he had done on an auto BMW and he did not need to replace the exsisting break pedal, however it would still remain an alternate option I think to look at using a manual break pedal.

Hi Folks I have read with pleasure alll your feedback re the pedal issue and and have come to a number of comclusions Thanks for your input it has raised some interesting points There does seem to be a problem with BMW accelerator/ break pedals being too close together for those of us who have an "E" type foot in Autos ( E type for the uninitiated is a broad toed shoe) I can't wear narrow shoes. I have to go with Andrew re his comments on Left foot breaking, this is generally an unnnatural reaction especially if you have been trainning your Right foot to break and accelerate for 25 years, I think this would addle my addled brain further, however I understand it may be useful for those in the car racing business. I will never drive a Fiat under any circumstance AS it it is put "Noobs" just neeed to learn some of the finer points of owning a BMW, especially the big footed variety. In all my years of driving I have never had this type of problem before as I have owned mostly Jap cars. However I would not trade my BMW in for any thing, the adjustment the mechanic has made to my break and accelerator pedals has made a huge difference in my foot movement between the pedals and would reccomend it to anyone experiencing this problem. Also thanks to those who were appreciative of the fact that there was no damage to any other vehicle and very minmal to me I was hugely relieved at this also as there was the potential for some major carnage Cheers to all of you who responded, this is a great forum and website Matt 320 Ps any further feeedback is alsways welcome

Hi Folks , just wanted to know if any one has had any trouble with the gap between the accelerator pedal and break pedal on their Bimmer??? I have owned a lovely 95' e320i for 3 months and it has been mostly faultless in every other respect, however I had a nasty prang in it the other day. The problem seemed to stem from the short distance between the accelerator pedal and the break pedal on the Auto. Apart from having a big hoof I have noticed several times in the last 3 months that my foot did jam at times. The accident that occurred was coming out of a roundabout at 40 to 50 km and the car accelerated out of control with my foot also firmly jammed on the break pedal and ? accelerator.After desperately attempting to control the car it spun round at 180 degrees and careened off the median crash barrier, At the point my brain engaged and I removed my foot from the pedals and jammed the car into neutral. Having sat stunned for several minutes in the resulting mayhem I was grateful that I had neither hit any other vehicle or damaged my self to any degree. I must admit my surprise that not one car stopped to see if I was okay as the event must have been pretty spectacular to watch and there was plenty of traffic around, someone did have the prescence of mind to phone the police as one of the boys in blue cruised up a few minutes later. After the usual 'how fast were you going and breath testing' with nil results for either a tow truck was called. $5200.00 worth of insurance covered damage repairs later. my BMW is like new. How ever I spoke with the panel beaters who say that this has been a regular problem that they have customers complain about re inadequate space between the pedals of some european cars. My Wife rang the local BMW dealership who said that this problem was a load of bunkum and could not possibly occur, ( strange that they would make a comment like that.) I then spoke with my local mechanic who also confirmed that he has problems such as this particularly with european cars and has had to alter the pedals all the time. I had the Break and accelerator pedal modified to widen the gap between them at a cost of $84.00 which has made a significant difference my foot shift between the two pedals. I would be interested to know if any one else has had this problem and suggest that if they have, the cost of getting it modified is peanuts compared to the potential life threatening positon they may place themselves and others in. I would be grateful for all comments on this matter Matt320