accident repair, dealer or trusted local shop

[afanaras]

Got into an accident yesterday, I don't get drivers stopping and waving people to cross two lanes without looking if another car is coming!!
I have KW suspension and aftermarket air intake. I bet the dealer will give me hard time for the upgrades (did it before)
Should I take it to them for repairs? insurance will pay for everything, or a shop I am comfortable? I am not sure how competent they are with such damage. Any thoughts?

[MBoss_F86]

Find the best local body shop. They will deal with insurance. You dont have to go through dealer for accident repairs. I did the same for my previous X6 E71.

[Yuille36]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I agree....Find yourself a 5 -Star Repair Shop to do the work.

[jab23]

Ouch. Hope everyone was okay. That looks like a lot of damage. You mentioned KWs.
Is there suspension damage? Curious if there is any chance they will total it. I doubt it given the cars value is still pretty high, but if there is a lot of underlying damage could be a big repair bill.

[Blue By You]

Originally Posted by afanaras

Got into an accident yesterday, I don't get drivers stopping and waving people to cross two lanes without looking if another car is coming!!
I have KW suspension and aftermarket air intake. I bet the dealer will give me hard time for the upgrades (did it before)
Should I take it to them for repairs? insurance will pay for everything, or a shop I am comfortable? I am not sure how competent they are with such damage. Any thoughts?

That sucks, sorry man...

DO NOT GO TO THE DEALER! Chances are decent that they have a body shop that hacks repair jobs to get them done for the minor/sales related stuff they need. And you want to avoid any bad habits they might have.

You're going through insurance. So you want the ULTIMATE body shop to work on your vehicle and ideally build in whatever they can to hopefully even get some more enhancements out of the claim, because you're paying full premiums and full deductible. Go for yours on this one!

(I recently submitted a claim for salt damage to my front end and my body shop worked with my insurance company to replace headlights, fog lights, windshield, and maximized the rest of my paint claim to pay for much more than I anticipated.

Get at least 3 estimates from the best shops around. If you tell me where you're located, I'm happy to look with you to make sure you're choosing the right place. You ideally want a super high-end shop that is run by enthusiasts who can make little suggestions to enhance the outcome.

For instance, building in some PPF on the front end. Or matching your front reflectors to body color. Or grabbing some carbon bits if that's your thing. Little things like that can make a world of difference with things that you may never think of or take the time to do on your own.

Where are you located?

[Blue By You]

Originally Posted by jab23

Ouch. Hope everyone was okay. That looks like a lot of damage. You mentioned KWs.
Is there suspension damage? Curious if there is any chance they will total it. I doubt it given the cars value is still pretty high, but if there is a lot of underlying damage could be a big repair bill.

Working with the right shop will help you determine if this thing is totaled or not. It looks like a pretty hard front end hit.

Some shops will simply want the business and work on a nice vehicle like yours. But the right shops will be honest and want to avoid a headache later if they repair a vehicle that should have been totaled.

[nishfish87]

Bmw has certified repair shops. Check the bmwusa site for it.

[Blue By You]

Originally Posted by nishfish87

Bmw has certified repair shops. Check the bmwusa site for it.

Not to dispute this at all. Good point. You still need the "right" body shop even if they're BMW certified.

[Abstracted]

Originally Posted by afanaras

Got into an accident yesterday, I don't get drivers stopping and waving people to cross two lanes without looking if another car is coming!![/IMG]

So sorry this happened. It really hurts to see.

This "polite" practice should be outlawed.

I've seen so many close calls and accidents caused by people trying to be polite by stopping and allowing cars to cross lanes in front of them. They inevitably don't see the third lane's car coming up fast to their position and BAM!

I always waive people to move forward and not wait for me to cross the lanes. And I purposely fill open space in lanes so that people aren't tempted to cross in front of the other lanes when making a turn. I do this just so an accident doesn't occur.

[afanaras]

I am in Riverview 48193 zip code.
The engine was still working, no liquids on the ground, and was able to drive to the parking lot from the street, things were rubbing but at least it moved. Surprisingly no airbag was deployed.
The dealer sent me to a high-end shop they are working with and checked the reviews, a nice shop

Automark Collision Center
24750 N Industrial Dr, Farmington Hills, MI

But still at the towing lot as of yesterday. Any suggestions are welcomed.
Thank you

[Blue By You]

Originally Posted by afanaras

I am in Riverview 48193 zip code.
The engine was still working, no liquids on the ground, and was able to drive to the parking lot from the street, things were rubbing but at least it moved. Surprisingly no airbag was deployed.
The dealer sent me to a high-end shop they are working with and checked the reviews, a nice shop

Automark Collision Center
24750 N Industrial Dr, Farmington Hills, MI

But still at the towing lot as of yesterday. Any suggestions are welcomed.
Thank you

At first glance this place looks great.

A bonus will be if you can somehow get in good with the owners. See if they'll work with you on getting some additional items covered like PPF or ceramic, and/or some things I mentioned before. Some shops will do that, and even if they won't build in too much for you, at least it gets done while in the shop vs. doing it later and you can hopefully save money doing it because it's part of the bigger job.

Either way, that's rough... Good luck with everything!

[F30metrix]

Originally Posted by afanaras

Got into an accident yesterday, I don't get drivers stopping and waving people to cross two lanes without looking if another car is coming!!
I have KW suspension and aftermarket air intake. I bet the dealer will give me hard time for the upgrades (did it before)
Should I take it to them for repairs? insurance will pay for everything, or a shop I am comfortable? I am not sure how competent they are with such damage. Any thoughts?


[IMG]https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/pi...ictureid=81970[/IMG]

How is this not totaled? I would ask for it to be a write off

And no airbags deployed?? Wow yea totally write off for me. Death trap right here

[SupersixM]

I' totally agree with Blue by You.

Rule #1.
Never ever NOT get something extra for bringing business to a shop.

These shops deal with big money claims all the time. Always walk away with something extra. But don't go overboard. That's easily a $25k claim and they'll bank at least $15K of that.

Things you an easily get done are like PPF front end, a full ceramic coating , CF trims , Spoilers and or wheel refinishing. Not all but definitely 1 maybe 2 off the list.

If you have any mods you want to do, NOW IS THE TIME.. Unfortunate, but this is your silver lining.

Look for where the authorized high end luxury shops are and make your request. Don't be shy and don't be timid. Your walking in with $25k+ and they want that money. Remember, there is more than 20 great shops out there. Get what YOU want.

Rule #2
Never beg a shop or anybody for that matter, to take YOUR money.

Good luck. And NO DEDUCTIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!

[SupersixM]

Or you can find a shop that will total it out. Tell the insurance company you really love the car and willing to buy the "salvage" title out right for I think 25% of value, fix it yourself and it's yours.

[afanaras]

Thank you all for your suggestions, Ideally getting the car totaled is my best bet, and as SupersixM said go back and buy it and fix it myself. How do I convince the insurance to total it though? when I talked to them they said since no bags were deployed it's repairable!!
And if not, I would love to get the extra as you guys say. The RK intake carbon is smashed, can I ask them to replace it? it's not OEM. I guess never dealt with such damage and not sure how to approach the shop.

[SupersixM]

Originally Posted by afanaras

Thank you all for your suggestions, Ideally getting the car totaled is my best bet, and as SupersixM said go back and buy it and fix it myself. How do I convince the insurance to total it though? when I talked to them they said since no bags were deployed it's repairable!!
And if not, I would love to get the extra as you guys say. The RK intake carbon is smashed, can I ask them to replace it? it's not OEM. I guess never dealt with such damage and not sure how to approach the shop.

Another rule.
Never send your insurance company pictures, let the body shop of choice do it. The insurance company is not your friend at all. They're just obligated to fulfill they're end of a contract and make you whole. If you send them or tell them exactly what damage, it isn't alot of wiggle room left. ALL shops have a "special kick back " relationship with the adjusters. And they know how to fool or trick them into seeing what they don't see. .

If you want to total it, find a body shop to do it. The only thing about that is they won't make money off it except for storage fees. A shady shop will report structural damage and engine failure. Engine failure means new/rebuilt engine AND structure and body work. Theoritically, your now over the sweet spot.

As for intake, a new OEM one from BMW can come close to the cost of aftermarket if not exceed it. Don't ask insurance company. Tell the body shop how much each cost and negotiate the difference.

The best thing to do is approach a tow truck driver / accident chaser from a high end shop and tell him what you wanna do. He knows all the who's what's and where and is always looking to get paid.

It's a shady world out there.

I have a friend that told his insurance company he hydrolocked his M5. They salvaged it and he bought it back for 25%. of value with a salvage title. Nothing was ever wrong with the car, shop just disabled the engine and that's all it took. During Covid, ALL claims was done through ZOOM. 😂😂😂

[afanaras]

The insurance estimate came back $31,000. Waiting on the shop's estimate now.