Hit Deer :(

    Hi Guys,


    Not posted here in a while. Mainly because I have been enjoying every minute driving my beautiful 840. Sad news though as last night whilst driving home from playing a round of golf, out of nowhere.........a huge deer and the car collided at about 60mph.


    This was on a main and fairly busy road just on the outskirts of the city. Literally came out of nowhere and hit the poor deer side on and full force. After pulling over to assess the damage, it isnt good. The entire front bumper is destroyed along with basically all of the plastic air ducts and bit of bobs behind. Washer jets have disappeared and the front end is in about 15 pieces. Only a small dent on the bonnet though as luckily the thing never went over it. Doesnt look as though the radiator has taken any major damage but need to check it over better today. Absolutely gutted.


    Called the AA and got it taken home on the back of a truck (was only about 1 mile from the house!). Just awaiting a call back from the insurance company to log the claim and start the no doubt horrendous process of getting my prode and joy back on the road.


    I was curious if you guys had any advice on dealing with the insurance company? I really hope they dont try to write it off, although the damage can fairly mount up. The only dealing I have ever had with the girlfriends Mini wasnt ideal as they fitted non OEM parts (new bonnet) and it doesnt fit right to this day.


    Car is a 99 840Ci sport with 60k on the clock. Basically immaculate all round....until now


    The other worry is the availability of all the parts I will need? Is there anything around the front end area that is no longer made by BMW? I guess the only upside is that there shouldnt be too many people making aftermarket parts for these?


    Oh well, way she goes sometimes I suppose. Jusy hope she is back on the road again soon :(


    All advice welcome!

    Sorry to hear your unfortunate news.


    I would reccdommend getting an independent quote for the repair from whoever you use to maintain your car. It's your car, so I think it's up to you where you have it repaired. The insurance will no doubt take it to BMW where the parts and labour bill would be astronomical. A new Mtech nose, plus all the numerous bits of trim that always fly out of the front on impact are pretty expensive.


    I had a small prang a couple of years ago and my insurance company had no problem with me taking the car to the garage of my choice. Doing this waived my entitlement to a courtesy car and I was responsible for delivery and collection of the vehicle.

    Really sorry to hear that - but on a '99 you should be fine with that much damage as far as insurance goes. I did very similar to my '97 but including a wing and front suspension on one side. I had bits of air boxes everywhere, the csi spoiler was in so many pieces it fitted in the boot!


    The great news is that you end up with a brand-new front end with no stone-chips. I provided adverts from Pistonheads and other sources showing the value of the car to be around 10k - they were happy to do the work.

    You will be perfectly fine and have a much cleaner front-end afterwards. I had quite a few more mangled bits, horns, auxiliary fan, radiator mount (old one had to be cut out and new one welded in), offside wing.






    A few days later it looked like new:



    .....all that from going over a kerb (sideways)!

    Sorry for the accident. It's good that you are not hurt and that the damage is fairly local.


    If you keep your bonnet (it's not just a dent, it is bent upwards) and let it fixed, take care that the underside where the rubber lip sits gets a proper paint job.
    There is always dirt and water between the lip and the bonnet. The lip also moves a lot (when you open the bonnet or when the car runs on uneven pavement) and so the paint is scratched up in no time and rust does the rest.
    That's how I had on both of my 840s even on the one which is only driven in the summer.


    Good luck with the insurance and the repair.

    Ok folks bit of an update. The car is still being repaired as there were a few delays here and there with delivery of wrong parts to the garage but fingers crossed it should be completed by around the end of next week. The garage sent me a few pics of the progress. I must admit I was quite surprised to see how extensive the work looks especially as I only expected a few touch ups here and there.


    I asked them to sort all the rust around the arches whilst in so maybe that explains it? It looks like the whole thing has been re-sprayed! Is that just the blending process to match the existing paint? Can anyone maybe explain the pics in a bit of detail at all? Cant wait to get her back all nice and shiny, and hopefully be the same colour!


    Pics:










    Thanks!

    Progress is looking good!
    If insurance covers this kind of respray - good for you!


    Did they order the nose cone from new or did you find a pre-loved one?
    In case you did not notice: no headlight washers for you anymore!


    Keeping my fingers crossed that she comes out better than before :top:


    Reinhard

    Thanks for the reply Reinhard.


    Yes this is being covered under insurance although I am paying for the rust removal work on the arches. The picture is of the wrong bumper that they have re-ordered (and received already I believe) as the first one they got didn't have the headlight washers. Sounds like they are doing a thorough job as I'm surprised they didn't just drill holes for the washers! They have been ordering all parts as new from BMW which is great.


    Doesnt the respray look a bit more extensive than required? They didn't say a full respray was being done, just that the blending of the arches and bumper/bonnet would be done.


    Cant wait to see it finished!

    Door handles, rear lights, upper part of the bonnet and even the rubber lip Steve was talking about were not removed... :-/


    And I find it quite surprising that they decided to respray the whole body. Anyway, hope the work will be fine and that you will get your car soon. ;)

    Just seen this, looks like you will come out of this ok. Not a full respray, no roof/boot, but considering you needed the bonnet, bumper, arches painting, not much left to blend in.



    When I first saw this my initial reaction was to say DO NOT LET THEM TAKE IT AWAY. Once the insurers have the car you lose all control. I had the same on a special, a few years ago. You can request that the assessor comes and inspects the car at your property (or where ever the car is). If they take it away and write it off you may never see it again, even if you contest it and win. Once the car enters the murky waters of salvage it can easily disappear.


    Remember the car is your property, not the insurers. Only once you accept the cheque, do you lose any rights to the car.



    Thankfully it seems you are ok in this case, but if the car can be recovered to your property, it's always best practice. Good luck :~)


    Well everyone I finally have an update on the car. I went to pick it up on Thursday and all I can say is I am absolutely delighted. The car looks nothing short of incredible and better than she has ever looked. Brand new nose fitted and both sides of the car along with the bonnet has been fully resprayed and blended. The colour match is perfect and completely unnoticeable that any work has been done. All the little imperfections I used to have (except on the boot lid and roof) are 100% gone and the car looks brand new. The nose even has that little rubber protective strip underneath which my car never even had when I bought it!


    Kind of a blessing in disguise really hitting that deer as my old nose had some chipping in the laquer and quite a few stone chips. It really needed resprayed anyway. What a joy it is cleaning her now and not finding ANY little marks :)


    Seriously blown away by the work the guys have done. They also fixed the rust on my back arches which now look fantastic. All it costs was my £400 excess and £600 for the rust repair and paint. Worth every penny and Im chuffed. I am thinking about sending her back to fix the tiny rust bubble on the roof and respray the boot lid and back bumper. Then she really will be 100% sorted.


    Sorry for the bad pic it was taken at work today. Ill try to get some more soon.


    Happy chappy!


    Great, it seems they did a very good job! My rubber strip is still in place (I replaced it two years ago), although it often rubs the ground. :laugh:

    Couple more pics for you guys as prmoised. Still not great ones though so apologies.


    I cant tell you all how happy I am with the work. The car looks brand new, I cant stop myself smiling when looking at it. Safe to say I love it even more. It feels so great driving one of these classics that is in such great condition. Almost an honour :)




    Seeing those photos will make everyone who has followed this thread very happy.
    I've sometimes wondered how exactly i'd repair the car in the event of a full-frontal impact etc. *touches wood*
    I won't despair even if that did happen.
    I will dust myself down, & repair the car no matter what.
    Well played sir

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