[doggiedog]

My young son was asking me today. He saw some show on TV and how you're supposed to roll down the windows and not open the door if the car fell into water. Since they are electric he was wondering if they would work. Otherwise, you'd have to wait until the car filled up with water until you tried to open the doors.

Anyone know?

[dhidalgo]

You should assume they wont work. I saw somewhere a while ago some kind of spring loaded plug that shatters glass thru a button click. Was advertised as a safety item in case of a submersion . Just cant recall where I saw it. ....

[Tag]

He must have been watching Mythbusters.

[fdriller9]

Do any electronics work when under water?

[cotmfk]

I would say... probably not.

[Coolieman1220]

break it! or crack it to help equalize pressure

[BayMoWe335]

They work for maybe a few seconds.

[Kevin Harney]

If you watched the whole mythbusters show they had the under water electric stuff. Everything worked under water just fine UNTIL the water pressure was too much and held the window in place. As long as the doors werre just sitting in water they opened fine(electric or crank) but when submerged to any depth and the pressure kept them closed. So yes roll them down right away or break them. Also using a key or something to break them did not work but those special window breaking devises worked perfectly everytime as advertised.

[r3dbimmer89]

this is random but I visited New Orleans after Katrina and every car that was submerged under water all had their windows rolled down and the trunks were open....maybe there is sort of safety mechanism in newer cars?? I'm not sure though.

[fdsasdasdf]

It takes a pretty good amount of time for the water to get into the ECU and short-circuit it, along with other electronic components. They'll usually work for a good 5-9 minutes after being submerged, along with many other systems.

[John 070]

I've heard that rice will work when a cell phone has fallen into the toilet. It's kinda odd how many friends have had this experience and say that the rice trick is not a myth. Perhaps BMW should have exploding rice bags that deploy if the car should become submerged.

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by John 070

I've heard that rice will work when a cell phone has fallen into the toilet. It's kinda odd how many friends have had this experience and say that the rice trick is not a myth. Perhaps BMW should have exploding rice bags that deploy if the car should become submerged.

That would totally suffocate you as rice expands when moisture is absorbed.....I'm asian I know.