[abg80m3]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and wanted to get some advice and thoughts from you guys.

I was recently involved in accident in my 2023 G80 M3. Long story short the cars ahead of me slammed their brakes due to an incident on the road leading me to hit my brakes as well. I was able to come to a stop in time but the person behind me was coming pretty fast and wasn't going to be able to stop in time so he swerved to the right and switched lanes and ended up swiping/hitting my passenger side front fender area. The way I see it is that he would have rear ended me if he didn't switch lanes. The police indicated that I would not be at fault as I was able to stop in time.

I've had the car for less than a year and am pretty pissed about the damage and whole situation. Everything should be covered by insurance but part of me wishes that the car just gets written off.

A shop hasn't looked at the damage yet but so far I'm probably going to need the following repairs:
- Replacing the front passenger side fender
- Replacing front bumper/sensors etc.
- Rim and axle damage (and possibly suspension?)
- 1 headlight
- Radiator/cooling system (radiator got damaged and was leaking coolant after the crash)

I'm concerned that since my rim got hit pretty hard and messed up the axle, the suspension and x-drive system might have gotten messed up too?

I'm also concerned about the paint matching with Dravit Grey that the shop will be able to do. The shop has indicated that all mechanical work will be done at a BMW dealership with OEM parts and all the body work will be done at a BMW certified collision centre so paint matching shouldn't be an issue.

Here are some pics of the damage - would love to get your guys' thoughts.

[Needsdecaf]

Damn, that sucks man. Sorry to hear.

Damage looks pretty repairable. Unless something weird happened like the driveshaft got pushed into the gearbox and ruined the transfer case or transmission, that doesn't look like a huge job.

Hopefully you have good insurance and so does the person who hit you, and they subrogate and take care of it quickly.

Best of luck.

[yaymitch]

Only thing I would add, is to make sure to file a diminished value claim once the repairs are complete. You’ll definitely have a hit when you try to resell. There are many good companies that can help you find an appropriate amount to ask for when you file. Just do a search on Dimished value claims. I paid $350 for a report that I used and it helped me recover $15k to compensate for the loss of value. Definitely worth that.

[Forzanerazzurri]

That's really not that bad. It's pretty minor damage for a modern car. Let the BMW dealer and collision center handle it, you'll be fine.

Glad you're not hurt.

[Juanero]

That's fixable. Sorry it happened.

[christianb5s4]

That definitely could have been much worse, thankfully you are OK and that's what matters.

[abg80m3]

Originally Posted by christianb5s4

That definitely could have been much worse, thankfully you are OK and that's what matters.

Thanks man appreciate it

[abg80m3]

Originally Posted by Forzanerazzurri

That's really not that bad. It's pretty minor damage for a modern car. Let the BMW dealer and collision center handle it, you'll be fine.

Glad you're not hurt.

thank you man

[abg80m3]

Originally Posted by yaymitch

Only thing I would add, is to make sure to file a diminished value claim once the repairs are complete. You’ll definitely have a hit when you try to resell. There are many good companies that can help you find an appropriate amount to ask for when you file. Just do a search on Dimished value claims. I paid $350 for a report that I used and it helped me recover $15k to compensate for the loss of value. Definitely worth that.

Thanks for the advice man, unfortunately I don't think Ontario (Canada) insurance policies do diminished value claims but I'll do some more research

[Berzerker]

Originally Posted by Forzanerazzurri

That's really not that bad. It's pretty minor damage for a modern car. Let the BMW dealer and collision center handle it, you'll be fine.

Glad you're not hurt.

I'm not sure what you consider "minor damage" but this looks very similar to the accident I was in earlier this year.



Mine seems a bit less "impactful" (no one was hurt) than OP's, but there was a lot here that was uncovered the more panels were removed.

Here's what it ended up looking like after everything was said and done:




All of this, including labor, ended up being close to $23k in damage. There were radiators that needed to be replaced, bent pieces of trim that needed to be replaced and painted, and the laser light also needed to be replaced. I can see a crack in OP's, so that's going to happen as well. The light itself is $5k from BMW, so that's your immediate low-end starting point.

I would expect something north of $12-15k for this, if there is truly not as much at play here, but I was surprised at the amount of damage from my accident, so I wouldn't be surprised if OP's ends up being similar.

Carfax ended up reporting this as "minor-to-moderate" with it being closer to moderate based on the $ value of damage done.

OP: Glad that everyone is ok. Cars can be replaced, you can't. Just a quick look, I highly doubt you had any meaningful frame/suspension damage, but of course, nothing will be certain until the shop can look at it and take apart the pieces.

[abg80m3]

Damn, thank you for sharing man. Glad you are okay after your incident.

Did you notice any difference in the car (in driving or appearance) after all of your repairs were done? Was the shop able to paint match your dravit grey perfectly?

[Greer]

To Op, glad you are ok. If the car had hit you from behind you would have sustained a lot more damage to your M and your health. This will be fixable and like new in no time.

[turbojg]

A lot depends on the type of use of the car, the mileage, and how the car was taken care of. I would definitely file for diminished value regardless. If the car is a 3 season Sunday driver that was in showroom condition I would then get it repaired and sell the car or trade it in and get a new one. You will probably have to add money but you will have a year newer vehicle and piece of mind. The way I take care of my cars that is what I would do.

[Berzerker]

Originally Posted by abg80m3

Damn, thank you for sharing man. Glad you are okay after your incident.

Did you notice any difference in the car (in driving or appearance) after all of your repairs were done? Was the shop able to paint match your dravit grey perfectly?

No idea, I sold it before the repairs were done

However I did see it after it was done and it looked pretty good. I looked for a good few minutes and I couldn't really find any obvious issues. They did quite a good job. If I didn't have another on order in my weird situation I probably would have just taken it back and accepted it. They used all OEM parts and were a BMW-certified shop that works closely with the dealer in my area. I wouldn't have been concerned.

[Forzanerazzurri]

Originally Posted by Berzerker

I'm not sure what you consider "minor damage" but this looks very similar to the accident I was in earlier this year.



Mine seems a bit less "impactful" (no one was hurt) than OP's, but there was a lot here that was uncovered the more panels were removed.

Here's what it ended up looking like after everything was said and done:




All of this, including labor, ended up being close to $23k in damage. There were radiators that needed to be replaced, bent pieces of trim that needed to be replaced and painted, and the laser light also needed to be replaced. I can see a crack in OP's, so that's going to happen as well. The light itself is $5k from BMW, so that's your immediate low-end starting point.

I would expect something north of $12-15k for this, if there is truly not as much at play here, but I was surprised at the amount of damage from my accident, so I wouldn't be surprised if OP's ends up being similar.

Carfax ended up reporting this as "minor-to-moderate" with it being closer to moderate based on the $ value of damage done.

OP: Glad that everyone is ok. Cars can be replaced, you can't. Just a quick look, I highly doubt you had any meaningful frame/suspension damage, but of course, nothing will be certain until the shop can look at it and take apart the pieces.

In modern cars you go from minor to major pretty quickly. I would say if it's fixable and will not affect the way the car looks or drives going forward (Ie no major body work, etc.) then that's pretty minor. The cost is is going to be crazy no matter what with these cars and it I wasn't really taking that into account.

[rollingegg]

this happened to me too this month, except i was rear ended by a prado, don't trust your eyes, get a full examination.at first i thought I only got a bent trunk lid, broken bumper, 2 exploded air bags, after my m3 got towed to my dealer, i can't believe my radiator mount got wrecked too, and that plastic cover on my engine was also broken, it leaves a dint on my hood. Oh, those disgusting fold mark on my head lining, after this accient, i will always check my rear view mirror before hitting brake

[turbojg]

Originally Posted by rollingegg

...i will always check my rear view mirror before hitting brake

That just cost you critical seconds in your ability to stop in time. Only works when you have plenty of time to stop (which , btw wouldn't require you to hit the brakes abruptly anyway) It's more important that you stop in time and keep enough space between you and the car ahead of you so you don't get pushed into it if you are hit from behind. After that - what happens, happens. Your looking in the mirror isn't going to prevent that if the guy behind you is already on your bumper.

If I have someone driving on my rear bumper I try to get rid of them by changing lanes or pulling off to the side of the road because I know what is going to happen if I have to stop quick. Prevention is the best action. I waited to long to take delivery of my car to have it in the body shop.