I went to Bimmerfest 09 and came home with this

My wife and I went to Bimmerfest 2009 (our third Bimmerfest). We had fun (except for the caravan up, but that's another thread for another time), saw a lot of cool cars, cool parts and cool people. My compliments to the organizers on the new venue! It's much better than Earl Warren was.

After Bimmerfest, we drove up north to visit my family members.

Then this happened:









When THIS decided to change lanes into me. (I was in front of him, his front wheel struck me where you see)


I was pretty bummed for awhile. But fortunately, noone was hurt. He admitted full fault, got all his company, license and insurance information and went on my way. I went to my sister's house and clearanced the rubbing tire with a baseball bat, NASCAR style. Then made the drive back to Sandy Eggo without further incident. Cars can be fixed, even my E46 that I bought just a week ago. People can't.

Marshall

o man that sucks im so sorry

A little Zaino and a ROB should take that right out...but if it can't, highly recommend Phil Thearles in SD. He did a couple of my BMW's a few years ago and they were perfect....

ouch, sorry to hear that. At least it will be taken care of, and it wasn't worse than it is. Considering an 80,000lb truck scraped a 3000lb car the damage isn't that bad.

Originally Posted by 04SSHD

ouch, sorry to hear that. At least it will be taken care of, and it wasn't worse than it is. Considering an 80,000lb truck scraped a 3000lb car the damage isn't that bad.

It was pretty hairy. It threw me slideways and I almost hit a parked SUV. Dove down a side street to get away from him, flipped a U and went and chased him down. Seemed like he wasn't gonna stop, but he did so I'll let that go.

Marshall

I'm so sad this happened. We've had the car a week!

We were in the right lane, the truck was passing us in the left lane. Being the passenger, I never saw the truck. I just heard the loud bang (I thought we blew a tire) and next thing I knew we were sideways, headed for a parked car. If I hand been driving, I'm not sure I could have saved it and not hit the car. But, DHs dirt track experience came in handy and he pulled out of the skid and got the car turned around.

The truck driver DID NOT stop. I personally think he was hoping we'd stop to look at the car and he'd lose us. DH went after him flashing his lights and the truck driver finally pulled over. His excuse was that he didn't see us which would be pretty difficult considering we were in front of him and had been for about 1/2 a mile.

I'm bummed that the new car is already injured, but very thankful that we're both okay and that we didn't hurt anybody else's property.

Originally Posted by BobbiOh

But, DHs dirt track experience came in handy and he pulled out of the skid and got the car turned around.

Awww shucks!

Marshall

Sorry to hear about your car ManicMechanic - but now I dont feel AS BAD about my 2 week old 2009 E92 M3 getting a rock chip right in the center of my window! I made it almost all the way home back to NorCal before getting smacked with a rock. Guess I will have to get a replacement! That fill in stuff just doesnt cut it. Wish you the best on your repairs!

Have you tried buffing it out?

The whole fender is torn up and it's gouged down to the white primer and metal from the guy's lug nuts. It's pretty ugly close up.

However, my consolation was that I saw a woman in brand new Honda on my way to work this morning. Her hood was wadded up. I thought to myself, "Damn, she had a worse weekend than I did."

that really sucks... I got a scrape in my rear bumper when someone hit me from behind. Not bad though, just a scratch. He may pay for the fix but yeah it sucks.

Yowch. That just hurts to look at. All things considered I guess it could be worse, but ouch.


Just wanted to second Phil Thearle's. They're in Santee just off 52. Phil was a great guy and looked at my car and took me on a tour of the whole facilities (which are very nice, big, and CLEAN ) - and I was coming in for a very minor repair. It impressed me that he took his time to spend on a $1600 repair when there were a lot bigger fishes in there. Also, they work with AAA so that's a benefit. They even took care of another problem near the same area. Oh, last thing, they've got a Hertz branch in the office. Drop the car off, leave in a rental. The whole thing was painless and I couldn't be happier.

Ouch, my mishap was unfortunate, but not nearly as harrowing or ugly. Good luck with the repairs.

This deal happened on Sunday morning at 0830AM (On our way to my sister's house in Santa Maria for homemade biscuits & gravy) Since that time, I've been dealing with Progressive insurance and their adjusters. (Who officially suck) They wrote an estimate that included repairing (not replacing) my bumper cover, repairing (not replacing) my quarter panel, repairing (not replacing) my wheel. It came to a tick over $1700. I looked the guy straight in the eye and said, "That looks repairable to you?" He said, "Oh yes, you'd be surprised what can be repaired." I answered, (with visions of thick bondo smeared all over my car) "There's NO way you guys or your body shop will EVER touch my car."

I ended up taking it to GA Coachworks in Pt. Loma. (Many thanks to those who suggested Phil Thearle, he looks like he has an awesome shop and has a great reputation) But I manage an auto repair shop and I believe in doing business with those who do business with me. George at GA Coachworks does great work and I can trust him. He brings cars to us regularly for mechanical work. His estimate, including REPLACING, not repairing the quarter panel, bumper cover and wheel & tire, came to $4597.00.

I got the call yesterday afternoon that the driver of the Peterbilt admitted full fault and Progressive insurance has accepted full liability. (They still suck)

I'm grateful nobody was hurt. I'm grateful my wife thinks I'm a rock god for my evasive driving after he hit me. I'm grateful it's going to be repaired without me having to pay a deductible. In spite of the fact that we're all in love with our "Ultimate Driving Machine" (me included), they're just material things and they can be repaired.

Marshall

Yeah congrats on getting the replacements. I would never want a repaired quarter panel. You can always tell it's been hit.

I lost a pivot bolt in the soft top on my Z3 on the way back. Probably not real expensive, but locating one will be a pain for sure!!!

Originally Posted by Bmwcat

I lost a pivot bolt in the soft top on my Z3 on the way back. Probably not real expensive, but locating one will be a pain for sure!!!

Contact http://www.bmrparts.com/ down in Rancho Cordova. I would bet they have one.

ManicMechanic, Glad to hear that it's getting worked out.

Stopped by the bodyshop today:

I laud you for a very positive attitude that more people around here should have. Good luck with the fix and make sure you get some sort of diminished value payment out of the insurance company.

Originally Posted by ffej

I laud you for a very positive attitude that more people around here should have. Good luck with the fix and make sure you get some sort of diminished value payment out of the insurance company.

Thanks. I'm trying to stay positive and remember that material things are not what is important in life. I have the diminished value thing in mind, but haven't approached the insurance company with it until we get a finalized cost of repair.

Marshall

To put a close to this thread, we got our car back last week and it looks beautiful. I'm very pleased with the work done by the body shop. I still haven't worked out the diminished value with the insurance company, hoping that won't be too much of a PITA.

Marshall