Repair or replace...?

Well, it had to happen

After only 6,000 miles, a woman had to back onto my car and damage my 2012's 535 front fascia.

I was parked FAR AWAY from all other cars, and she still managed to back up all the way to my car... Arghhhhh!!!!

At least she was decent enough to go inside the store and "page the owner of a black BMW..."

After I took the car to a body shop, the insurance adjuster said that they would REPAIR the bumper and repaint.

I threw a fit. Big time. I had to end up calling up the ladder and got a very nice claims manager who said that since I also had the same insurance as the person who hit me, and it was a new vehicle and wanted to keep me as a customer, they would do an exception and replace the bumper instead of just repairing it.

The question is: did I over reacted? What would you have done?

I don't think you over-reacted. While sometimes people do when it comes to bodywork, I wouldn't really want filler on a flexible bumper. Too hard to get the filler right leading to issues later.

Originally Posted by alex_c

Well, it had to happen

After only 6,000 miles, a woman had to back onto my car and damage my 2012's 535 front fascia.

I was parked FAR AWAY from all other cars, and she still managed to back up all the way to my car... Arghhhhh!!!!

At least she was decent enough to go inside the store and "page the owner of a black BMW..."

After I took the car to a body shop, the insurance adjuster said that they would REPAIR the bumper and repaint.

I threw a fit. Big time. I had to end up calling up the ladder and got a very nice claims manager who said that since I also had the same insurance as the person who hit me, and it was a new vehicle and wanted to keep me as a customer, they would do an exception and replace the bumper instead of just repairing it.

The question is: did I over reacted? What would you have done?

Attachment 315894

I would have replaced the bumper. I would also take actions to keep it off the carfax and if it goes on the car fax, I would claim diminished value.

What action can you take to keep it off CarFax? I'm not sure how the process works. I would assume that the body shop or insurance company would provide the info to CarFax??

Originally Posted by jjscott

What action can you take to keep it off CarFax? I'm not sure how the process works. I would assume that the body shop or insurance company would provide the info to CarFax??

I am not sure.

But someone rear ended our Lexus about a year ago. The other parties insurance company called me and told me they would cover the damages. I told them that I wanted it fixed by a factory certified Lexus facility, and that I wanted it unreported on the carfax. I also told them that if it goes on the carfax I wanted diminished value compensation in the amount of $5000 and my dealer was ready to sign a valuation to support this.

They agreed to the terms, and so far it has not shown up on the Carfax. My sense is that insurance companies are only required to report claims of large values. The claim I refer to was about $1200 to replace the bumper with a new one, and remount the sensors.

These situations confirm my inclination to take a real long and hard look at leasing this vehicle (550i). Still undecided, but leaning in that direction.

It looks like minor damage. Unfortunately, either way, it's going to be a painted bumper and will be susceptible to cracking and/or peeling compared with the original part. I'm sure it will look good in the meantime -- good luck! I might have worked with the repair shop to see if it was possible to base coat only the damaged area and then re-clear. At least then it looks like 95% of the bumper would be original impregnated finish and wouldn't peel.

Alex,
You've got my sympathy. I've had far worse done to my cars (in Houston) without any notice by the perpatrators. I don't think asking for a replacement of the bumper cover is overreacting given the age of the car. At least the driver was good enough to seek you out and let you know she damaged your car and take care of it. Kudos to her. Don't we wish everyone were as honest and good hearted (even if possibly lacking driving/parking skills). Good luck with the repair. To say thanks to her for her good deed, perhaps you should direct her to the one or our BMW CCA or PCA car control schools...

tough call. You don't know if there is any internal damage to the headlight washers, or sensors, unless you remove the bumper. It looks repairable, but I would have to see it in person. Metallic black is not an easy color to match. Be very careful in the bodyshop you select. BMW authorized and BMW certified are two very different things. Caveat emptor.

repair my A$$ !
dropp em if they balk!
not acceptable!
Nickle and diming u.... to them!

gosh im taking this thread awfully seriously!....lol

: Just a thought, if you like the M style bumpers this could be a opportunity to have a M front bumper installed.

Thank you all for your support and kind comments and support. At least now I am glad that they are doing a full bumper replacement. By the way, my car has the M-Sport package, so I already had the M-Bumper... And the color is Carbon Black.

Also, this body shop is the best there is in Houston (IMHO). I've had a couple of BMW's and Audi's repaired there and they were absolutely perfect. They are BMW Authorized AND factory trained.

For tose in Houston they are Hanley Bros. Let's hope this is one more of their great work.

Question, why wouldn't their paint be as durable as the original factory paint?

Originally Posted by alex_c

Question, why wouldn't their paint be as durable as the original factory paint?

I might be wrong, but I thought original equipment bumpers have the color somehow impregnated in the material rather than simply being sprayed. Replacement parts are black base material that has to be painted. Over the years I've noticed many repainted bumpers peeling, perhaps due to a bad paint job, but I thought I've read that the paint material is not as resilient as the original that I described. Remembering back though, I did have a repair done to a plastic bumper cover on an '88 GM car by a very good body shop in my area, and I never had trouble afterwards.

Originally Posted by alex_c

Also, this body shop is the best there is in Houston (IMHO). I've had a couple of BMW's and Audi's repaired there and they were absolutely perfect. They are BMW Authorized AND factory trained.

Color matching is somewhat of an art. Simply having the same coded paint is not a guarantee of a perfect match. There are 2 body shops in my area that do excellent matching, I've seen samples of their work. One problem is the way paint is applied in the field -- it just cannot match the process used at the factory. A lot is due to the way the metallic flakes settle with the longer drying times. Since you have experience with this paint shop, your results will probably be excellent, like you've had before. Best of luck with the repair.

Originally Posted by markl53

I might be wrong, but I thought original equipment bumpers have the color somehow impregnated in the material rather than simply being sprayed. Replacement parts are black base material that has to be painted.

Wrong. The color is not "impregnated", the bumper is painted using paint with flex agents added. Typically bumpers, mirrors, and other trim pieces are painted at facilities other than the final assembly plant of the vehicle. They are shipped painted and assembled to vehicle. I know. I worked in an auto assembly plant years ago.

Why you see bumpers peeling. Simple, poor paint prep, and not using adding the correct amount of flex agent to the paint.

For the OP, Metropolitan Collision in the Heights does great work.

Originally Posted by snj1013

Wrong. The color is not "impregnated", the bumper is painted using paint with flex agents added. Typically bumpers, mirrors, and other trim pieces are painted at facilities other than the final assembly plant of the vehicle. They are shipped painted and assembled to vehicle. I know. I worked in an auto assembly plant years ago.

Thanks for correcting my error. I knew the bumpers and other trim parts weren't painted at the same time -- for a lot of cars in various colors, the trim pieces aren't a perfect match. We had an '05 Acura TL, their version of "diamond white", and the bumpers on every TL of that color I saw were pretty far off as far as color match to the body.

The Diamond White was most likely a tri-coat (base coat, pearl coat, clear coat). Tri-coats are tough to match. The film thickness of the pearl coat really can throw the overall color off.

The same thing happened to my Cadillac CTS the first week I got her. Some ********* hit the side of my rear bumper when my car was parked in the parking lot and decided to flee the scene. I took the car to the Cadillac dealer and they fixed it for me.







I know how you feel though, people are seriously idiots. No one has no respect for other peoples stuff any more.

What I suggest you do is repaint it because getting a whole new front bumper is very costly and these things are going to continue to happen, as long as we still have idiots living on this planet.

Originally Posted by azray7

: Just a thought, if you like the M style bumpers this could be a opportunity to have a M front bumper installed.

Isn't his car already an M-Sport model?

Not sure how insurance works in Texas, but if I was the woman who hit you, I would have wrote you a check outside of insurance and this would also keep it off car fax. It looks minor. I am not sure I would have even fixed it yet. It's going to bumped up some more over time, so I would have just waited a year or so and then I would just have it sprayed. I would have pocketed the check. We also get surcharged like hell in MA, so between her deductible and possible surcharges, she should have had you get an estimate and wrote you a check.

I think you are overreacting to wanting a new bumper cover/fascia. Now you have to worry about alignment and paint match.

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW

... I am not sure I would have even fixed it yet. It's going to bumped up some more over time, so I would have just waited a year or so and then I would just have it sprayed.

I like to keep my cars looking 100% perfect all the time. I've had kept them that way for over 30 years. Not a single scratch, dent, ding, etc. I get sick to my stomach just to look at my cart with something like that.

Of course they happen, but when they do, I have them fixed within 48 hours. Yes, call me OCD, but I hate driving something that starts to look like a clunker...

By the way, I had my former E92 (space gray) bumper repainted by the same shop and it was a perfect match. According to the shop, it is much harder to match a light color than a dark color...

I hear you. I used to be that way too, but I came to grips with my owner profile. I am someone who hangs onto a car three years max and I know that a perfect car vs. a car with a few scuffs on the bumper will result in the same trade in value.

This is why I decided to start leasing. Drive it, keep it clean, dump it back to the dealer and drive out in a new one. I used to be OCD about my cars, I guess the novelty is wearing off and unlike you, I can't keep it perfect.

Good luck with the repair.

Great news: I just picked up my car from the body shop. They replaced the front bumper and the paint job was PERFECT. No way to tell it was replaced. The color match was spot on.

Just the way I expected from one of the best body shops I know and trust!

Originally Posted by alex_c

Great news: I just picked up my car from the body shop. They replaced the front bumper and the paint job was PERFECT. No way to tell it was replaced. The color match was spot on.

Just the way I expected from one of the best body shops I know and trust!

Glad it worked out the way you wanted! I hope I don't need body work, but based on some examples in my area, I know where I'd get mine fixed.

I drive to work on a small road not far from my home. A few years back, I passed a business in that area where someone had a brand new Maxima, diamond white. A few months later, I saw it had suffered some body damage in the front. Couple weeks after that, I saw it parked again, totally fixed -- you simply could not discern that the fender and bumper had been painted. I told myself if I ever saw the guy who owned the car, I'd stop and ask him who did the work. Sure enough, one day I was driving by and saw the guy, so I pulled over and talked to him. Got the name of the local body shop -- he said his family had used them for years. (Zamora, in case anyone in Rockville/Gaithersburg is reading ).

Congrats!