Sweetheart's at the shop with $5300 of damage...

[Robin-535im]

Had an accident, broke my headlights. I'm thinking of replacing the stock, non-ellipsoid headlights with ellipsoids. Anyone know how much I have to swap over? Just the bucket/insert or do I have to do the whole "supporting frame" as ETK calls it?

Thanks,

Robin
91 535im


BTW - If you're interested... here's the accident story:
Five weeks ago I got a huge door ding in my passenger front fender. $800 of damage, $500 of that out of my pocket b/c of my deductible. I paid the body shop an extra $300 and they shot the hood too, even took the hood all the way down to the metal. The car looked superb - whole front end was perfect, bumper, grille, hood, fenders.

Then last week some guy ran a stop sign last week and hit my front end. When the guy ran the stop sign he totaled all the great work done by the body shop, and caused $5300 in damage (initial estimate, they still have to pull it apart).

We called the police but they said since they didn't see the guy run the sign, we didn't need to have an officer there, just had to file a report when we got a chance. Days later the guy's insurance tells me he isn't going to accept liability and I'll have to cover %50 of the cost.

So I take tons of pictures of the car and the scene and prepare the whole argument as to how the damage couldn't have been caused any other way than if he had run the sign...

And it turns out his insurance company agrees with me, so they cut a check for the $5300 and we're all set. Unfortunately I'll have a DOT-R sticker on the hood and fender, which really sucks, but it's too much stress to worry about keeping a daily driver "perfect" in every way. As long as it drives like a BMW - I want it. If there's a moral to this long post - assume the roads are filled with idiots and carry a camera with you everywhere!

- Robin

[Jr ///M5]

Sorry to hear about your "sweetheart"....to answer your question, you can install the low beam ellipsoids into your existing buckets. You can use a heat gun to soften the little bastard of an attaching grommet some engineer dreamed up, so they can be pulled free of the bucket, or you can break them and buy new ones. The headlights are about $95 each from BMA, you won't find them any cheaper. New adjusters and the attaching plastic grommets should be replaced as the old ones will be brittle and difficult to work with unless you are patient. It would also be a good time to do the 9005 bulb conversion while everything is apart.

Good luck with your car Robin, I'm sure they will fix everything to your satisfaction. The important thing is that you are ok... Post if you need a hand with the ellipsoid conversion.

Jr

[AllanS]

I've got a shitload of DOTRs on my front end- fender, hood... I've had professionals not be able to tell the difference. I wouldn't worry about it. And frankly, 99% of the people out there who would be looking to buy your car (if you ever sell it, god forbid that should happen) will have no idea what that sticker means.

[Robin-535im]

I've got a shitload of DOTRs on my front end- fender, hood... I've had professionals not be able to tell the difference. I wouldn't worry about it. And frankly, 99% of the people out there who would be looking to buy your car (if you ever sell it, god forbid that should happen) will have no idea what that sticker means.

You're right - most people don't know to look, and I guess it doesn't really bother that much as long as it drives straight.

Not to mention, I've been drooling over Martin's torque curve and thinking seriously about saving $$ for Bruno's MAF conversion. Maybe I should have the shop install carbon fiber fenders and hood instead...

- Robin

[andyman32]

Not to mention, I've been drooling over Martin's torque curve and thinking seriously about saving $$ for Bruno's MAF conversion. Maybe I should have the shop install carbon fiber fenders and hood instead...


Maybe you should have the shop install front-end rocket launchers instead.
:D

Sorry, lame joke. Sorry to hear about your car. 3 months after I bought my last BMW, the '97 528i (black on tan, perfect body), some old folks in a Taurus just decided to change lanes without signalling or looking. There was my BMW to pay the price of incompetence... more specifically, my driver's side door. Crunched the door and took off the side stripping. I think the total was $2800, but their insurance covered it.

Are our cars magnets for atrociously irresponsible drivers or are we just incredibly unlucky?

[gale]

Robin, sorry to hear you got scruntched. Which body shop did you take it to, Manny's? Hope they do a good job. I have near misses with mine almost every week, seems the drivers in Albuquerque have gone nuts lately, moreso than usual.

Guess this means you'll miss the trip down to Lincoln on Sunday. Shoot me an e-mail if you'd like to drive down in mine.

Regards,

gale

[gale]

I forgot to add: you can get ellipsoids at Eurasian for $84 ea, good outfit to deal with & usually have great prices.

http://www.eap4parts.com

[hdaemon]

I've got a shitload of DOTRs on my front end- fender, hood... I've had professionals not be able to tell the difference. I wouldn't worry about it. And frankly, 99% of the people out there who would be looking to buy your car (if you ever sell it, god forbid that should happen) will have no idea what that sticker means.

Pardon my ignorance, but what are DOTRs? I'm presuming they're a sticker applied to rebuild body parts. What are the requirements for them to be put on? And what do they look like/where are they placed?

[Jr ///M5]

They are on genuine BMW replacement panels instead of the small sticker that bears the VIN of the car that indicates it's an original panel. They come with the new panels from BMW. Easy way to tell if the car has been involved in an accident. After 10-15 years, chances are pretty good that something has happened along the way.....like a deer out of nowhere...=)

[Robin-535im]

Robin, sorry to hear you got scruntched. Which body shop did you take it to, Manny's? Hope they do a good job. I have near misses with mine almost every week, seems the drivers in Albuquerque have gone nuts lately, moreso than usual.


Yep - Manny's got it in the bay right now. It's a relief to find a shop that isn't crummy! So many places I've gone to in the past were only marginal at best, but the stuff Manny turns out looks pretty good.

The accident was right at Girard and Santa Clara, the first stop sign north of Gibson. The guy didn't even know I was there until he felt the crunch.

- Robin

[Robin-535im]

The frame is too far gone to pull, so they have to yank the engine to get to it and do it right. That will probably total the car. :(

Any advice from the board on how to negotiate a higher value with the insurance company when they try to get me to settle with a low / blue book value?

My plan is to look at Autotrader and demonstrate that all the cars owned by enthusiasts sell for high book + and all the cars owned by normal schmos sell for low book. High book on my car is $8800, low is $7600, and I'm obviously an enthusiast from the shape of my car ( well, the shape it was in 3 weeks ago...)

Someone wanna give me a ride home?

Robin