[JohnBucurE92]

I have a 2007 E92 335i. It's fully loaded but and was holding up great at 122,000 miles. It had AG wheels on with a few tasteful upgrades. Sadly, the other day I hit a curb, and from the outside of the car there was no body damage other than a crack in the wheel. Upon further examination, two of the control arms on the passenger front corner are bent, and my steering rack will need to be replaced. Looks like i'll need a new subframe too, do you think my car is totaled? I feel very very stupid.

[Wolf 335]

Cost to replace all components?

[JohnBucurE92]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Cost to replace all components?

I'm getting a quote today, but I sat for a while looking under my car and I don't think It'll be more than 4k for parts, not including labor. I'm hoping someone who's been in this situation can chime in as well, i've never been in a crash

[Wolf 335]

Ah damn, $4000 parts tag will carry additional $1-2K in labor.

Are you considering going through insurance? Your premium will go up, but in some cases not. It may be worth contacting an agent and inquiring.

[JohnBucurE92]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Ah damn, $4000 parts tag will carry additional $1-2K in labor.

Are you considering going through insurance? Your premium will go up, but in some cases not. It may be worth contacting an agent and inquiring.

ah yes i'm going through insurance, and am aware my premium will increase. I'm just trying to get an idea if the car will be totaled by an estimator or not.

[n55jb4]

Originally Posted by JohnBucurE92

I'm getting a quote today, but I sat for a while looking under my car and I don't think It'll be more than 4k for parts, not including labor. I'm hoping someone who's been in this situation can chime in as well, i've never been in a crash

I just hit the curb and I'm in Phoneix too (http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1357370). I know it sucks, but hang in there man.

Some advise: put car somewhere you can leave it on for a week or so, until you figure out everything. Don't trust shops telling you the price for parts and labor. Unfortunately in Phoenix no one has idea how to fix BMW as well as they tell you crazy prices. They told me $1000 for a control arm - that costs $40

Your best approach would be to order all your parts yourself from online and then find an indy shop that will replace them - this way you can save a ton

Go here for example: http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/b...trol+arm,10401
Both lower and upper control arms are $40 each. They ship anywhere in US within couple of days. I and many other forum members use them often and they never fail. They may not have all small parts sometimes, but have most of stuff cheaper than 99% of places online and MUCH cheaper than regular shops. Complete rack and pinion steering unit (re-manufactured BMW OEM) is $350 (with core return).
So for less than $500 you can have all parts. Replacement of control arms is NOT hard. Steering rack - can take some hours, but my bet is for $1000 all-in (parts and labor) you can fix your car. The only thing is frame will need to be checked and if possible straightened - many collision shops have equipment for this. Alternatively you can buy used sub-frame for $200 from here http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/1320631...&ul_noapp=true

So for $1500 with labor all included IMHO - you can your car up and running again.

Now I'm not sure if you'll go via insurance or not - I paid with cash and didn't bothered with insurance - main reason was to not let them increase my monthly premiums, but if you have first accident forgiveness you can try insurance, it's up to you

In any case main morale of story is to not let shops tell you crazy prices - apparently they have no experience with BMW in Arizona (except dealers) and will tell you unrealistic prices for parts and many won't allow you to bring your own parts - that's why you need to park the car in safe place at your driveway or garage using tow-truck and order everything first and then take it to indy shop who will agree to change everything using your parts. Tow-truck is $50 + miles traveled - so it will be under $200 for both trips anywhere in Phoenix. All in - you are looking at less than $2k for everything (parts + labor + alignment)! Good luck man and keep us posted

Also, order 1 AG rim from ebay or amazon - it will take several days for it to arrive anyway

[Wolf 335]

He is going through insurance, so cost is not a concern but rather or not the car will be deemed totaled by insurance estimator

Insurance will give you their preferred choice of repair facility. You may want to choose your own bmw certified location. It may drive the cost up and they may total it at that point.

[Indyeah]

In my experience it can be extremely difficult to anticipate what your insurance company will do because it is very difficult to predict what their 'cost to repair' will be. KBB value on your car with all packages in 'very good' condition is about 8k so you are cutting it close if you are expecting 6k in parts and labor. Also, unless you called up your insurance company when you added the mods and asked them to cover the mods, it is highly unlikely they will factor those into the value of the car. Good luck man sorry about the car. Shit happens. There have been other threads on here about how people have made the most out of a 'total loss' situation.

[JohnBucurE92]

Originally Posted by n55jb4

I just hit the curb and I'm in Phoneix too (http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1357370). I know it sucks, but hang in there man.

Some advise: put car somewhere you can leave it on for a week or so, until you figure out everything. Don't trust shops telling you the price for parts and labor. Unfortunately in Phoenix no one has idea how to fix BMW as well as they tell you crazy prices. They told me $1000 for a control arm - that costs $40

Your best approach would be to order all your parts yourself from online and then find an indy shop that will replace them - this way you can save a ton

Go here for example: http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/b...trol+arm,10401
Both lower and upper control arms are $40 each. They ship anywhere in US within couple of days. I and many other forum members use them often and they never fail. They may not have all small parts sometimes, but have most of stuff cheaper than 99% of places online and MUCH cheaper than regular shops. Complete rack and pinion steering unit (re-manufactured BMW OEM) is $350 (with core return).
So for less than $500 you can have all parts. Replacement of control arms is NOT hard. Steering rack - can take some hours, but my bet is for $1000 all-in (parts and labor) you can fix your car. The only thing is frame will need to be checked and if possible straightened - many collision shops have equipment for this. Alternatively you can buy used sub-frame for $200 from here http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/1320631...&ul_noapp=true

So for $1500 with labor all included IMHO - you can your car up and running again.

Now I'm not sure if you'll go via insurance or not - I paid with cash and didn't bothered with insurance - main reason was to not let them increase my monthly premiums, but if you have first accident forgiveness you can try insurance, it's up to you

In any case main morale of story is to not let shops tell you crazy prices - apparently they have no experience with BMW in Arizona (except dealers) and will tell you unrealistic prices for parts and many won't allow you to bring your own parts - that's why you need to park the car in safe place at your driveway or garage using tow-truck and order everything first and then take it to indy shop who will agree to change everything using your parts. Tow-truck is $50 + miles traveled - so it will be under $200 for both trips anywhere in Phoenix. All in - you are looking at less than $2k for everything (parts + labor + alignment)! Good luck man and keep us posted

my insurance does offer first accident forgiveness. Also, i've gotten work done at a very good shop and with a very knowledgeable owner who owns an M3 himself! It's called Desert Bavarian Service in northern Phoenix. He's pretty knowledgeable and hope to get an estimate from him today. If worst comes to worst it's totaled. That car was my baby but maybe it will be time to move on. Where do i go from there, ill try and look at other 335i's

[n55jb4]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

He is going through insurance, so cost is not a concern but rather or not the car will be deemed totaled by insurance estimator

Insurance will give you their preferred choice of repair facility. You may want to choose your own bmw certified location. It may drive the cost up and they may total it at that point.

Ok LOL. And there I was trying to save him money and time LOL. Fuck it. In that case, OP just prepare yourself for totaling your car. I'm 100% sure insurance companies will have exaggerated prices for all parts and labor - it will 100% will get totaled then via them, as price will be higher than 60% of car's cost currently

Sorry for your loss, but at least no one's hurt man

P.S. Have you already reported it to insurance? Realistically for $2K you can have your car like new and up running again - it may be better than totaling it for $7-8k max - you'll lose by totaling it much more than $2k. Buying some 2011 n55 e92 will cost you around $18k at least and f30 even more than that, not to mention MODS that you already have. I think you need to calculate all options carefully - to see how much you lose if you go that route man. Just saying

[Flyboy161]

My daughter ran headlong into an elevated sidewalk (about 12"") a little over a year ago. It's a 2011 328i. Total damage was $5000. My insurance did not raise my rates. Thank you accident forgiveness!

[n55jb4]

Originally Posted by Flyboy161

My daughter ran headlong into an elevated sidewalk (about 12"") a little over a year ago. It's a 2011 328i. Total damage was $5000. My insurance did not raise my rates. Thank you accident forgiveness!

Yes, but the thing is - he WILL lose money simply due to low resale market value of his 2007 e92. He will lose much more than what he can put to get it up and running again IF he will be smart about repairing and not reporting it (but I guess it's too late, as he already reported it to insurance). If that is the case - it's time to get ready to pay some $10k to add to whatever insurance will repay him for totaling the car - in order to buy some used 335. Peoples mentality is such that they are afraid of repairing cars and considering not reporting. They justify it that they will have a new car. However, total loss of their bank account WILL be much greater in that case

[JohnBucurE92]

Originally Posted by n55jb4

Ok LOL. And there I was trying to save him money and time LOL. Fuck it. In that case, OP just prepare yourself for totaling your car. I'm 100% sure insurance companies will have exaggerated prices for all parts and labor - it will 100% will get totaled then via them, as price will be higher than 60% of car's cost currently

Sorry for your loss, but at least no one's hurt man

P.S. Have you already reported it to insurance? Realistically for $2K you can have your car like new and up running again - it may be better than totaling it for $7-8k max - you'll lose by totaling it much more than $2k. Buying some 2011 n55 e92 will cost you around $18k at least and f30 even more than that, not to mention MODS that you already have. I think you need to calculate all options carefully - to see how much you lose if you go that route man. Just saying

i'm currently tryin to price out all parts, i know some work i can do myself and the subframe for sure will have to be done by a shop.

[n55jb4]

Originally Posted by JohnBucurE92

i'm currently tryin to price out all parts, i know some work i can do myself and the subframe for sure will have to be done by a shop.

Ok I got you. Just try to price all parts yourself online man, because Bavarian Desert shop (I'm sure is a descent shop) will price it including their own profit - which in some cases in Phoenix is way too high imho

[K.M]

I was hit in a parking lot a few months ago. 2009 335i X-drive E92, 13x,xxx miles, had to replace fender, wheel, bumper, front left suspension, refinish door, steering rack, the whole shabang. $8-$9k in damages, and just missed the mark for a total. Don't be too optimistic. Depends on your insurance company's policy for percentage value in repairs for a total.

[JohnBucurE92]

Originally Posted by K.M

I was hit in a parking lot a few months ago. 2009 335i X-drive E92, 13x,xxx miles, had to replace fender, wheel, bumper, front left suspension, refinish door, steering rack, the whole shabang. $8-$9k in damages, and just missed the mark for a total. Don't be too optimistic. Depends on your insurance company's policy for percentage value in repairs for a total.

this sounds exactly like mine! minus all the body damage, so what you're saying is that there is a chance my car won't be totaled?

[K.M]

Originally Posted by JohnBucurE92

this sounds exactly like mine! minus all the body damage, so what you're saying is that there is a chance my car won't be totaled?

Yeah, there's certainly a chance it isn't. I didn't read about your situation completely, but the fact that you have no body damage doesn't mean much because I think both sides of your front suspension need help which more or less cancels out the lack of body damage. Repairs will probably cost more than you think. What's your deductible? If you take the car to get a repair estimate at the collision center at the nearest BMW dealer, you'll probably get a higher number for the repairs, meaning more likely to be totaled. They told me every shop, dealer or not, uses the same software to total up damages, but I'm still skeptical.

[n55jb4]

Originally Posted by JohnBucurE92

this sounds exactly like mine! minus all the body damage, so what you're saying is that there is a chance my car won't be totaled?

His car is 2 years younger and it was a year ago. That makes it 3 years difference to your situation. And imho - when you have sub-frame involved - it will outweigh bumper and door refinishing (at least for insurance repair procedures/standards)
The bottom line is he paid $9K - I highly doubt your insurance will price 2007 e92 with 122k miles higher. I wish I'm wrong tho

[JohnBucurE92]

Originally Posted by n55jb4

His car is 2 years younger and it was a year ago. That makes it 3 years difference to your situation. And imho - when you have sub-frame involved - it will outweigh bumper and door refinishing (at least for insurance repair procedures/standards)
The bottom line is he paid $9K - I highly doubt your insurance will price 2007 e92 with 122k miles higher. I wish I'm wrong tho

you're right, guess i'll just have to wait and see! hope for the best

[K.M]

Originally Posted by n55jb4

His car is 2 years younger and it was a year ago. That makes it 3 years difference to your situation. And imho - when you have sub-frame involved - it will outweigh bumper and door refinishing (at least for insurance repair procedures/standards)
The bottom line is he paid $9K - I highly doubt your insurance will price 2007 e92 with 122k miles higher. I wish I'm wrong tho

Oh, frame damage. Yeah frame damage is a pretty decent candidate for a totaled E92. Will probably end up costing much more than body damage.

What's your insurance's policy for your compensation for a totaled car? Hope it isn't just straight up KBB or something similar... we all know KBB undervalues the selling price of older 3 series.

[JohnBucurE92]

Originally Posted by K.M

Oh, frame damage. Yeah frame damage is a pretty decent candidate for a totaled E92. Will probably end up costing much more than body damage.

What's your insurance's policy for your compensation for a totaled car? Hope it isn't just straight up KBB or something similar... we all know KBB undervalues the selling price of older 3 series.

My insurance uses an online estimator like some others, this could include KBB, but hopefully not.

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by K.M

Oh, frame damage. Yeah frame damage is a pretty decent candidate for a totaled E92. Will probably end up costing much more than body damage.

What's your insurance's policy for your compensation for a totaled car? Hope it isn't just straight up KBB or something similar... we all know KBB undervalues the selling price of older 3 series.

Sub-frame, not body frame