Damn Deer!! (long)

[rockyfeller]

7AM drivin back home from parting in the city. Exhausted but alert, sobered up after a few drinks...light fog, sun is coming up. Winding country forest road. 1/2 mile from home; almost there, last curve...I'm drivin faster, just wanna hit that bed. Damn, EAT chip always makes going 60 in a 35 to easy..Hittin a blind hairpin..

Outta nowhere!

WHAP!!!

I see a deer tumbling in front of my car. No warning, no way to avoid it. I heard the sound of hitting it before I realized what I was seeing. Head on, no brakes, foot on the accelertor. The dang thing decided to prance across the road between some brush right when it saw my fog lights. Car blazed right through the poor thing, car didn't ever quiver for a second. I'm thinking....just a scratch on the bumper maybe? Hopefully? Wait I was going 60mph....Pull over....Daym! Whole front end is smoooshed above the bumper. Both headlights, grille, right edge of hood with some buckling. I guesstimate $3000 worth of damage. RIP Mr Deer, sorry!

Well...Here are the positives...I'm unscathed, I was right near my home, I didn't hit a human, no fender/bumper damage, airbags didn't deploy (Thank God!), no radiator damage, the car still runs perfect. I always did want those Euro headlights with built in angel eyes, good thing I didn't do that before....Anybody have these on their car yet? Anybody know how much I could get a hood for? I don't think salvaging this hood will be worth it. It was chipped/sandblasted from previous owners anyways. Anyone know where to get quality body parts cheap? BMA?

There's tons of shattered scrap plastic pieces everywhere! It seems complicated the way the car is put together. I must say in the end I definitely realize for the 100th time, this is such a quality car. I'm not sure how big this deer was but it was quite big....and I was flying. I hit it at 60mph and to only see this much damage is amazing this, dang car is made of iron. I'm a car fanatic carefully trying to maintain that my car has never had more than a scratch. So it's hard to look at my beautiful car and see what I did to it. I'll just have to get over it. I haven't had an accident in 12 yrs so if I was due for one, Thank God I don't have much to complain about!

[bahnstormer]

oh ****.
that's one of my worst nightmares...

a buddy hit one with his golf. the dam thing ram away after doing $1500 of damage

[Reidal]

Ouch. Thank goodness for the design and build quality.

Kangaroo's and Wombats are the things to avoid here in Aussie.

As you say, an opportunity to make those mods.

Good luck

Reid

[Jr ///M5]

Know exactly what you mean. About a year and a half ago, a deer tried to leap the M5 while traveling 65mph....The damage doesn't look that bad, but about 10 weeks later, the bill came close to $7000. My first guesstimate was $4500. Glad you are ok, these BMW's can sure take a whallop. On the bright side, you'll see your entire front end without a rock chip. :p Be careful of the insurance company trying to total it. Good luck, and glad you are unharmed.

Jrhttps://home.insightbb.com/~england31/Dscn1172.jpg

[winfred]

shoulda gone back and gotten em, dress em and fry em up, that'll teach the bastard and take care of brekfast

[mikemaster]

Deer-2, me-0

318....$4000 damage
535....$5200 damage

Unavoidable, they just run right into you.

[Tiger]

Check your bumper... push it in to see if your foams are still intact... By the way, did you take that deer home for big BBQ bash? Labor Day is coming up... ;)

[Tiger]

Get deer whistler

[callen]

I'd get factory hood.....and if Dealer too expensive buy a used one....have to paint it anyway.

[rockyfeller]

Here in CT sometime in your driving career you have high chances of hitting deer. I'm sure a lot of you or your friends have similar stories....Jr!! It's uncanny, Damage to my car looks nearly similar, except my hood isn't as buckled. No bumper/fender/corner damage either....So you're telling me the headights, grille and hood cost close to $7000????? Damn!! I guess I better claim through insurance rather than out of pocket. I can't afford that!! I was saving up for type 5 rims for the last 2 yrs without sucess. LOL!! I drove the car into town today...Paid my respects to Mr Deer, who still lays 15 ft off the road. (Yep the car actually deflected him off with that much force!) He is in early stages of decomposition with a number of scavenging creatures feasting so I don't think he's edible anymore. My parents told me I should have dragged him home. (accident was barely 1/2 mi away) but at that moment I was devasted about the car. It runs just fine, so it seems everything is just cosmetic. For insurance to junk this car would be absoultely absurd. What exactly was done on your car Jr?

[rockyfeller]

Bumper hit the legs, but the weight of the body smashed the headlights/grille/hood....Bumper is soo strong though it feels like the foams were very slightly indented I'm not too worried about it.. Rub strips popped out but I snapped them back.

[rockyfeller]

Always been my paranoia as well....Have had a few close calls before, and I thought, damn, it could happen to anybody, no matter how careful....it'll just be a matter of time before i hit one. They're reproducing in epidemic proportions. 10 yrs ago there weren't as many...people used to commonly hunt them, but not as much anymore. I was telling a friend the SAME exact day that when I drive, I drift swift but careful and I am on constant lookout for 2 things I'm always alert for.....Cops and deer....Maybe it's not a life-death situation when you run into trouble, but in my area, it's a little too easy for them to come out looking for you and ruin your day.

[Jimmy535i]

Fit-Rite Body Parts Inc
55 Shepherd Ln
Totowa, NJ 07512
(973) 389-8200

Prices are very good and parts fit good too.

I have a new bumper cover and a new right front fender for e34.
If anyone is interested email me.

[bahnstormer]

does that deer whistle **** actually work?

[DueyT]

Bahn, yes...I'm convinced! I have them on both my Jetta and 540. The most I've gotten from deer is a stupid look from the side of the road. They definitely heard me, turned to watch me go by. I'd highly recommend them to anybody!

Cheers,
Duey

[Jr ///M5]

The damage the M5 sustained was, radiator/condensor/R-12 refrigerant. Hood, lights, grill, radiator support, water pump, fan, fan shroud, fan clutch. Then there was re-finishing and painting. They refinished the lower bumper cover, and painted. It all adds up to quite a sum, especially since the radiator and condensor alone was close to $900, there was $400 worth of R12 pumped back into the system. The hood was $500!!! Do keep in mind this was the prices that BMW charged the insurance company. You should go get some estimates. If your car is still driveable, you're ahead.

Jr

[SharkmanBMW]

My parents live 2 hrs from montreal in the country where deer are everywhere, everyone that lives out there have them.
The only people ever hitting deer are tourists!
They don't make your car look any better but will save you some trouble!
Glad you are ok Rockyfeller.... thank God it was not a moose!

[rockyfeller]

Wow OK I can see how that all added up....So as it seemed cosmetically the damage looks similar, it seems your damage was more extensive. There was a piece of the fan-shroud hitting the fan. The passenger low beam blew into and touched my open K&N without damaging it. I was hoping no radiator/AC damage but I ran the car with no problem/leaks/smells. My main concern is the hood....If the dealer charges $500 that's better than I expected. Hood hinges/mounts/latches all look fine. I am concerned about a quality paint job and alignment of the whole job to make it look like nothing had happened. Your car always looks like brand new....One of the best E34s in the country for sure. Is it because BMW did the work? Was it worth it?

[rockyfeller]

Yeah guys I'm not hurt because I drive the almighty made of iron E34...but I must say my "I'm a good driver with a perfect record" ego and my "Ultra car fanatic" heart is also hurt..I'll get over it once it's back in 1 piece. I had deer alerts on my old Caddy, but they were in style back then and today they'd seem unsightly. I'll mount them this time but what would be a good location...I'm thinking I could stealthily mount them low down somewhere out of sight...BTW at work, I was joke of the day...everything was linked to a deer joke!! They all know I'm just as crazy about my car as you guys are.

[rockyfeller]

What kind of deer alerts work? I'm assuming you guyes are talking about the electronic ones and not the passive "Air-operated" whistlers

[632 Regal]

http://www.ibmwr.org/prodreview/deerwsle.html

[DueyT]

Rocky, nope...mine are the plastic passive ones...I think they're made by BEL, the maker of bike accesories and other gadgets. I'll take a piccie of them on the 540...mounted down low by the front tow hook cover.

Cheers,
Duey

[rockyfeller]

Maybe I'll mount them on the bumper in front of the headlight to make them look like headlight washers Canadian style! :P

[Elekta]

http://www.americanhornet.com/products.php

http://www.sav-a-life.com/Deeralert_intro.htm

http://www.homeproductsnmore.com/deer-whistles/deer-whistle2.htm

rebuttal
http://www.news.uconn.edu/2002/nov2002/rel02112.htm

http://lutra.tamu.edu/klr/hearing.htm

[DueyT]

Maybe I'll mount them on the bumper in front of the headlight to make them look like headlight washers Canadian style! :P
Rocky, don't you have headlight washers? I have them for my fogs too! :p ...;)

Cheers
Duey

[rockyfeller]

As I've said before Duey, I envy your car the most. Black 540i like me. You have the EAT chip like me. You got that staggered type 5 setup and lowered the way I've always planned my car to look before I even bought it. (I'm still dreaming on that but it'll happen soon, unless I get the new job I want and then I'll skip on to buy my E39 M5!) But you lucky dog you got those sport seats too! Sorry buddy, I'm gonna copycat your car, hope you don't mind. :) OK maybe not the headlight/foglight washers....stop rubbing it in! Your car is hott!

[DueyT]

Thanks Rocky...I did well by the car...aside from the tinted windows and clears on the rear (got to get sides and front turns in clear) what you see is what I bought. Funny story...Mark D'Sylva had looked at the car too before I bought it, but only had a few grainy picks from the guys selling it. Mark assessed that the guy made the pics fuzzy for a reason and decided to take a pass on it. It wasn't until he and I got together to discuss his beta 540i/6 chip and the conversation happened to stumble onto where I got my car. He couldn't believe that my car was the same one that the seller had sent fuzzy pics of to him. Mind you...Mark did score a very nice black '93 M5, so he's not overly upset...now! :p

Maybe I'll have to take a trip down I-81 and come visit ya...even if next spring. Did that with my TDI (actually down to D.C.) for all of about $35 Cdn in diesel. I figure the 540i would eat more, although I do get 28-30mpg (Imp, about 24.5-26mpg US) at about 100 km/h / 65mph. Not bad for a 300hp+ car that does....er..."decently"...at speed. ;)

Funny about the washers, eh? Oh yeah...they're heated too! :P

Cheers,
Duey