Front End Damage

[128ACM1899]

As stated in the title, I have some front end damage to my e82 after a low speed collision. I'll be taking into a body shop to determine the extent of the damage, but from what I can tell, it's mainly to the area around the grille, and the front bumper.

Any idea what I should expect in terms of the cost to repair this? I've been told that the bumper may not be worth repairing since it's aluminum, but the damage doesn't look that bad to me.

If anyone has any insight here, it would be greatly appreciated. This is my first BMW, and the first major problem I've had so I'm not really sure what to expect here.

[olds350]

Originally Posted by 128ACM1899

As stated in the title, I have some front end damage to my e82 after a low speed collision. I'll be taking into a body shop to determine the extent of the damage, but from what I can tell, it's mainly to the area around the grille, and the front bumper.

Any idea what I should expect in terms of the cost to repair this? I've been told that the bumper may not be worth repairing since it's aluminum, but the damage doesn't look that bad to me.

If anyone has any insight here, it would be greatly appreciated. This is my first BMW, and the first major problem I've had so I'm not really sure what to expect here.

I'm thinking that pic doesn't show the full extent of the damage, so it's hard to offer a guess. You said the bumper is aluminum? You referring the crash bar behind the plastic cover? Correct, that's a one time use item.

It's so hard to tell any details from this one pic. Doesn't show full extent of the damage and we can't see under the hood to be able to inspect any support damage.

[128ACM1899]

Originally Posted by olds350

I'm thinking that pic doesn't show the full extent of the damage, so it's hard to offer a guess. You said the bumper is aluminum? You referring the crash bar behind the plastic cover? Correct, that's a one time use item.

It's so hard to tell any details from this one pic. Doesn't show full extent of the damage and we can't see under the hood to be able to inspect any support damage.

Looking under the hood, there doesn't seem to be anything to note.

Sorry I meant the hood, not the bumper. Bumper is fine aside from a couple of cracks close to the grille.

all the damage is in this one area in the picture.

Don't recall what the part is called, but the plastic cover that goes over the radiator fan seems to be damaged, the grille is shattered, and the very edge of the hood is bent downwards, though the hood opens and closes normally.

I'm thinking of having the autobody shop try to bend the hood back into shape, since it's a very small part of the hood; it seems like it would be a big waste to throw away the hood and pay for a new one to be installed.

Total cost for everything was quoted at just under $500 if I have them bend the edge of the hood back into shape. I can get that cost down more if I buy and install a new pair of grilles myself - they are charging 93$/kidney grille. Any idea if e90 kidney grilles will fit on my car?

[thibb001]

e90 grilles wont fit, just get a pair off ebay or amazon those look good.

[swunder]

Its ok to say it - 'I crashed into the person in front of me'!

[N54Yankee]

Sorry to hear about your accident. The part you're not sure of the name is the fan shroud. Do you have a good insurance company? That goes a long way to to mitigate headaches. They'll help you walk through it. Try to insist on an authorized BMW body shop that only uses OE parts and check them out to see if they're well respected in the business. You'll be back on the road soon enough. Good luck.

[iminhell1]

Hood is steel

[NorthernDancer]

Your location? Ontario Canada or California? Anyways there are 1 series in junk yards where you can pull all the parts you need, possible even the correct colour. Many of us here have the ability to do simple mechanical repairs. Otherwise, joining the local BMW club gives you access to many club members who are more than willing to help.
A friend recently ran his Honda Fit off the "trail" and into the trees. Broke his mirror right off, damaged his fender and also severely damaged his "A" pillar (windshield is OK). No easy way to repair "A" pillar so touch up paint to prevent rust & leave it as is (it's a 2009). New eBay mirror for $45 w/o cap. A very good fender from junk yard in correct colour was $36. Friend had another cap so other than the "A" pillar, everything was fixed for less than $100. Body shop estimate was over $4000.00 w/o guarantee there may be more money for hidden damage. Needless to say friend is extremely happy. I told him insurance company would have most likely written off the car [and it is his 1st car than he loves so much].

[JimVonBaden]

Without a picture of the whole front, not just zoomed in, any guesses would be pointless.

[128ACM1899]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

Your location? Ontario Canada or California? Anyways there are 1 series in junk yards where you can pull all the parts you need, possible even the correct colour. Many of us here have the ability to do simple mechanical repairs. Otherwise, joining the local BMW club gives you access to many club members who are more than willing to help.
A friend recently ran his Honda Fit off the "trail" and into the trees. Broke his mirror right off, damaged his fender and also severely damaged his "A" pillar (windshield is OK). No easy way to repair "A" pillar so touch up paint to prevent rust & leave it as is (it's a 2009). New eBay mirror for $45 w/o cap. A very good fender from junk yard in correct colour was $36. Friend had another cap so other than the "A" pillar, everything was fixed for less than $100. Body shop estimate was over $4000.00 w/o guarantee there may be more money for hidden damage. Needless to say friend is extremely happy. I told him insurance company would have most likely written off the car [and it is his 1st car than he loves so much].

I'm in Ontario, Canada. I've been looking into some junkyards, but really, I don't have much experience when it comes to this stuff. Luckily the damage to my car isn't too bad. I'm mostly trying to find a replacement grille now. I've got an appointment to have the worst of the damage fixed early next week, so I want to find the parts I need by then to get the car back in shape asap.

Do you know of any place where I might be able to get a replacement grille?

[NorthernDancer]

1. Sonshine Auto Parts, aka LKQ Canada Auto parts
2104 Dunning Road Cumberland
1-800-267-8212 or 800-555-5555
If they don't have it, they can get it within a day or two.

2. Sam in Laval PQ. 514-677-4776
3. Piece d'auto La Roche 514-777-7770
4. Stan again in Laval 514-910-0247 or 514-910-2886

Search BMW 128 in Kijiji, Vehicles, Parts, Tires and Accessories in all of Greater Montreal. Sam [#2.] is showing a black 128 convertible with what looks like a good black hood. No grills tho.

[128ACM1899]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

1. Sonshine Auto Parts, aka LKQ Canada Auto parts
2104 Dunning Road Cumberland
1-800-267-8212 or 800-555-5555
If they don't have it, they can get it within a day or two.

2. Sam in Laval PQ. 514-677-4776
3. Piece d'auto La Roche 514-777-7770
4. Stan again in Laval 514-910-0247 or 514-910-2886

Search BMW 128 in Kijiji, Vehicles, Parts, Tires and Accessories in all of Greater Montreal. Sam [#2.] is showing a black 128 convertible with what looks like a good black hood. No grills tho.

Thanks alot, I will look into this tomorrow morning. I really appreciate your help.

[128ACM1899]

Originally Posted by JimVonBaden

Without a picture of the whole front, not just zoomed in, any guesses would be pointless.

Can't provide any better pictures at the moment, but really there isn't a whole lot to see in terms of exterior damage aside from the section in the picture I've attached. I have no leaks, the car runs smooth, and there doesn't seem to be any damage other the cosmetic damage up front.

Really my main concern was about the hood, because I really wasn't keen on the undoubtedly expensive possibility of finding a new hood, painting it and mounting it simply over what looks like a minor bend at the edge.

Thanks to iminhell1, I now know that the hood is steel so repairing the damage shouldn't be an issue.

I'm taking in to an autobody shop with a good reputation next week so I guess I'll find out then if there is some hidden damage that I don't know about yet. In the mean time I'm going to see if I can get the parts myself though to bring costs down.

[zx10guy]

Your hood looks to be about the same damage as mine when I hit a deer. The body shop I used was able to straighten out the damage without replacing the hood. And you'd be hard pressed to tell me where the damage was as the guy they put on my car is one of their perfectionist body guys. Helps that I've used this shop on a number of different occasions for other projects and they know I'm a stickler for details.

Since the damage from what I can see is similar to my deer hit, the overall estimate for my repair ended up to be about $6500US. A big chunk of the cost was due to replacing both head lights which are the adaptive xenons. So your repair cost will most likely be a significant amount cheaper. But you want to have the shop check the mounting tabs on the headlights to make sure they're not cracked. The passenger assembly on my car looked fine except when the guys took a closer look and found a cracked mounting tab. There is a repair kit to fix this from BMW but since my insurance was covering the repairs, the body shop got new headlights approved. Other things replaced on the car was the bumper cover, radiator core support which was found to be cracked, and the A/C condensor coils.

You don't need to go to an authorized BMW body shop. The shop I used is not an authorized shop. But they do very good work. On one of my visits I saw a Bentley being repaired due to a wreck and they were not only repairing the immediate damage but fixing the botched job another shop had done on another repair. This shop also knows how to work with insurance companies. They got my insurance company to pay for all OE (not just OEM) parts except the A/C condensor which I'm ok with.

[JimVonBaden]

I think you may be underestimating the amount of damage. The unseen damage can often be far worse than it "looks" like.

[128ACM1899]

Originally Posted by JimVonBaden

I think you may be underestimating the amount of damage. The unseen damage can often be far worse than it "looks" like.

I hope not, but I'll found out soon enough.

[128ACM1899]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Your hood looks to be about the same damage as mine when I hit a deer. The body shop I used was able to straighten out the damage without replacing the hood. And you'd be hard pressed to tell me where the damage was as the guy they put on my car is one of their perfectionist body guys. Helps that I've used this shop on a number of different occasions for other projects and they know I'm a stickler for details.

Since the damage from what I can see is similar to my deer hit, the overall estimate for my repair ended up to be about $6500US. A big chunk of the cost was due to replacing both head lights which are the adaptive xenons. So your repair cost will most likely be a significant amount cheaper. But you want to have the shop check the mounting tabs on the headlights to make sure they're not cracked. The passenger assembly on my car looked fine except when the guys took a closer look and found a cracked mounting tab. There is a repair kit to fix this from BMW but since my insurance was covering the repairs, the body shop got new headlights approved. Other things replaced on the car was the bumper cover, radiator core support which was found to be cracked, and the A/C condensor coils.

You don't need to go to an authorized BMW body shop. The shop I used is not an authorized shop. But they do very good work. On one of my visits I saw a Bentley being repaired due to a wreck and they were not only repairing the immediate damage but fixing the botched job another shop had done on another repair. This shop also knows how to work with insurance companies. They got my insurance company to pay for all OE (not just OEM) parts except the A/C condensor which I'm ok with.

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by 128ACM1899

I hope not, but I'll found out soon enough.

I hope not too. I have seen damage that looked similar to yours total a car.

[Matticus91]

I had a 10mph collision that ended up being $9k in damage.

Really depends how far the damage went into the front mechanics, belt/pulley area gets expensive really freaking fast. Mind you mine is a 135i so I also needed the parts you won't have to worry about, oil cooler intercooler etc

[Droptop986]

I have a pair of halogen headlights and also a pair of chrome grills

[Happy Jose]

The hood and grill are going to be expensive. I did a rough check, and they'll cost the better part of a grand. That doesn't include paint work and any additional body work you'll likely need.

With the low value these cars have, it doesn't take much damage to total them from the point of view of the insurance companies.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by 128ACM1899

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

What I'd suggest OP is to talk to your insurance company and find a good repair shop that will work with you.

I specifically told my insurance company that I did not want my car totaled out from the accident I had, and then worked with my dealership to make sure the quote for repair wasn't too high. This meant requesting the use of specific OEM but not genuine-BMW parts, which in the end saved me a TON of money.