E60 Rear Ended - Advice

[lib]

Will post photos in a moment. I need to take different pics as the ones I took at the time of the accident have a lot of reflections that look like additional damage.

I have written the complete story for anyone who is bored enough to read it. But let me get to the point first: I have been given an initial estimate for repairs from the responsible party's insurance company.

BMW of North Haven gave me this estimate:
Bumper: $453.50
Painting: $490.00
Labour: $236.00
Misc Parts: $50.00
TOTAL: $1229.00 (dont ask me how they got this math, doesn't include tax)

The insurance company of course references some other repair company, but the numbers are:
Labour: $363.40
Parts: $459.00 (this includes paint material which is $84 and the bumper)
Gross total: $871.74

The bumper cover part number seems to be 51127077939.

Any advice on how to proceed? What I'm concerned about is if I have the BMW dealer do this, what if the process takes much longer? Can't then end up charging me another several hundred for labour?

As for the price difference, I will be going back to the insurance company to request the additional $450 (that covers the difference and taxes) I guess...


I was in stop and go traffic on I-95 southbound in Fairfield, CT on Wednesday morning. I'm used to LA traffic, and this is something else. I think this stretch of freeway is some of the worst in the country. LA might be consistently slower, but that's what makes it better: consistency.

Just before 8am, I heard a boom behind me, looked up in the rear view mirror in time to see the car behind me get slammed into mine.

I immediately hit the SOS button, and the lady called the state police for me. I stuck my head out the door to see there were three other cars involved, and they were moving off to the shoulder, which I did as well. I gathered up my insurance info, notepad and camera and stepped out to exchange information.

The older guy on the back end (VW Jetta) looked liked he was going to cry. He had hit a new Mazda 3, which hit a 1-2 year old Toyota Tacoma which had the big metal cage on the front end that hit my 2007 E60. Jetta man did what I was always told never to do, and started telling everyone how sorry he was. Anyway, to make a long story short, the Jetta was cited and took all responsibility for the accident.


As far as these photographs go, it's not super clear but the damage is contained on the bumper only. When I get home tonight, I will take another picture without reflections all over the place (and the car has since been cleaned).

[Kzang]

Usually an estimate is considered a contract as soon as you accept it.
I don't think any bodyshop would charge you extra labor hours unless it is alot. But if a bodyshop can't give you an accurate estimate then they have issues and I would consider going to someone else.

[DSXMachina]

You take it to the BMW dealer for the repair. He will be paid by YOUR insurance company and if he estimates wrong he works it out with YOUR insurance company. If he makes an estimateing error you are not caught in the middle. You pay the deductible. YOU then file a CLAIM against the VW guys' insurance company for your deductible. You get paid directly by HIS insurance company.
No insurance company can tell you where to get your car fixed. That is against the law!

You may have to file a claim with the insurance company of the guy who actually hit you even though it was not his fault. It may depend on whether the VW guy got a ticket or not and whether the police report specifically states that the Taco had stopped in time and was then pushed into you.

[Digitally]

When I had to deal w/ this, my insurance basically would not pay more than what their estimate guy said it would cost to fix it, and they offered a place which would fix it for that amount. I ended up taking it to another place which was slightly more expensive and paying the difference because I had a good referral vs what my insurance company wanted me to take it to, who probably is just low-balling their estimate and desperate to get the business and would do a crappy job. You have to talk to your Ins Co, they may come up on what they will pay, but I would be surprised if they did. Also the dealer may come down if he wants your business and you tell him your ins co wont budge, And you can always have the Dealer talk to the ins co estimator and maybe they can each adjust (maybe the ins co didn't consider some parts) which lowers or eliminates completely (if they agree on a price) the amount you pay extra. Also, since then I have heard some people say that they claimed 'reduced value' and sometimes actually received it from the ins co, but I have been fortunate enough not to have some drunk jackass plow into the back of my parked truck in the middle of the night and flee the scene again since then, so I havn't gotten to try this one out myself :)

Edited to add:
I am in CA too, and the cops told me that you actually go after the insurance company of the guy directly behind you, and they turn around and pass those damages to the guy behind him, etc. to the guy who started it who pays for everything.

Oh and for anyone else reading this, be sure to get the plate or a partial if you get hit by a hit and run driver or you probably cant claim uninsured driver waiver of collision deductable.. I learned this the hard way, on a $1k deductable. :mad:

[330ximd]

You take it to the BMW dealer for the repair. He will be paid by YOUR insurance company and if he estimates wrong he works it out with YOUR insurance company. If he makes an estimateing error you are not caught in the middle. You pay the deductible. YOU then file a CLAIM against the VW guys' insurance company for your deductible. You get paid directly by HIS insurance company.
No insurance company can tell you where to get your car fixed. That is against the law!

You may have to file a claim with the insurance company of the guy who actually hit you even though it was not his fault. It may depend on whether the VW guy got a ticket or not and whether the police report specifically states that the Taco had stopped in time and was then pushed into you.

+1, or similar thing happened to me, and the other guy's insurance company was low balling me. I just called up my insurance company, had them deal w/ his insurance, went through the body shop of MY choice, and no deductable, no penalty, and no 'bad luck' insurance increase, b/c it was all the other guy's fault for hitting my rear bumper. Go through your insurance, you will not have to deal w/ any hassles. Also, take your car to YOUR body shop, and have your insurance guy go there for the estimate, so he works w/ your body shop. I've been bumped a few times unfortunately, so I know the drill, nothing ever major, just new bumper cover every time. Fun stuff, but speaking from experience, what I've stated is the most hassle free and monetary free. Best of luck.

[vern]

You take it to the BMW dealer for the repair. He will be paid by YOUR insurance company and if he estimates wrong he works it out with YOUR insurance company. If he makes an estimateing error you are not caught in the middle. You pay the deductible. YOU then file a CLAIM against the VW guys' insurance company for your deductible. You get paid directly by HIS insurance company.
No insurance company can tell you where to get your car fixed. That is against the law!

You may have to file a claim with the insurance company of the guy who actually hit you even though it was not his fault. It may depend on whether the VW guy got a ticket or not and whether the police report specifically states that the Taco had stopped in time and was then pushed into you.
+1 I had the same kind of accident. IMO only take it to a certified BMW Body Shop.
The estimate was around $1800 and after they opened it up they had to get the State Farm estimator to ok the additional damage which came to almost $3000. I did everything through State Farm. They told me that any correspondence from the other guys insurance should be forwarded to them so they could handle it. It took me 5 months to get my $500 deductable.
cheers
vern

[robj213]

From my 2 accident experiences (neither were my fault), I've taken my car to the BMW dealership both times. In both instances, the initial estimates were lower than what the final bill came out to be. This is because the insurance adjuster only look at the damages he / she can see without taking the car apart. So, after the initial estimate has been written, the shop proceeds to do the repair and start taking the car apart and than finds out that more things were damaged than what was listed on the first estimate. That's when the shop calls the adjuster out again to see the additional damages and the adjuster ok's them and writes a supplemental estimate, and the process continues until the whole car is fixed. Of course this depends on the insurance company.. from both of my experiences I didn't have any problem getting them to ok the additional items. Hope this helps!