[flux45]

The previous owner of my car was rear-ended at low speed, and recently it came back to bite me and water got in through the brake light and fried my amplifier. BMW says the cost out the door is $2200, which would set me back obviously, but not something that would be devastating to me.

Question is, WOULD I be able to have instance cover this and SHOULD I have insurance cover this? My deductible is $500 and I have zero accidents, claims, or even tickets on my driving record. Any estimate how much my premium would increase?

[NjPrince]

Just replace the parts yourself; that's an absurd amount to pay.

[flux45]

Originally Posted by Njprince0226

Just replace the parts yourself; that's an absurd amount to pay.

Well what do you expect from a stealership, but the amp alone retails for about $1300 and the lowest I have seen online is $950. I dont trust myself to do anything, let alone insuring the seals are water tight.

[galahad05]

Well you could save some bucks going to an indy, a nice reputable one in your area.

Disclaimer: I apparently have more money than sense, since (simply for convenience's sake really) I always get my car worked on at the dealership. Minus the small stuff (tire changes, wiper changes, etc.).

[ctuna]

There are places that repair those amps
Or you can get them on Ebay for 400 to 500 bucks
and they are basically plug and play.
You need to get that leak fixed though.

Repair resources
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=635672
http://www.bmwgm5.com/Logic7_6941681.htm


http://www.beckerautosound.com/BMW/index.html
http://www.bmwradiorepair.com/?gclid...FccbQgodIEn0Cg

[NormE91]

I don't see how you could put an accident that the previous owner had through your insurance policy, legally anyway.

[Bob Shiftright]

Originally Posted by flux45

BMW says the cost out the door is $2200, which would set me back obviously, but not something that would be devastating to me.

Does the $2200 include repairing the leak? The first thing I would do is find a good body shop to locate and fix the leak. Who is responsible? Who did the original repair?

My car has the base stereo (not the HK) and the amplifier list price from BMW was about $500 before discount. It's maybe 4 screws for the bracket and the amp itself is a plug in.

It's an incredibly dumb place for the BMW engineers to place electronics -- but they've been doing it for years, apparently, and it gets even worse further up the BMW model line. (If some day the owner doesn't slam the trunk completely shut and it rains, what will happen? Test for it, guys! This is simple design stuff!)

There are even a couple of class action lawsuits that have been filed against BMW about this in California.

[flux45]

Originally Posted by galahad05

Well you could save some bucks going to an indy, a nice reputable one in your area.

Disclaimer: I apparently have more money than sense, since (simply for convenience's sake really) I always get my car worked on at the dealership. Minus the small stuff (tire changes, wiper changes, etc.).

I am the same way.

Originally Posted by NormE91

I don't see how you could put an accident that the previous owner had through your insurance policy, legally anyway.

I'm not even mentioning the previous accident to the insurance unless they really yank it out of me, this would just be to cover the cost the repair I am doing.

Originally Posted by Bob Shiftright

Does the $2200 include repairing the leak? The first thing I would do is find a good body shop to locate and fix the leak. Who is responsible? Who did the original repair?

My car has the base stereo (not the HK) and the amplifier list price from BMW was about $500 before discount. It's maybe 4 screws for the bracket and the amp itself is a plug in.

It's an incredibly dumb place for the BMW engineers to place electronics -- but they've been doing it for years, apparently, and it gets even worse further up the BMW model line. (If some day the owner doesn't slam the trunk completely shut and it rains, what will happen? Test for it, guys! This is simple design stuff!)

There are even a couple of class action lawsuits that have been filed against BMW about this in California.

The $2200 does include repairing the leak. There is no body damage, it is all leaking through the left brake-light assembly. Unfortunately I am unable to locate the exact shop who did the original repair, but I do know it took place in Massachusetts (I am in Texas).
This is an L7 amp.

Anyone have any thoughts on the question at hand, pocket vs insurance?

[galahad05]

Do you have a $500 deductible?
And what would this fall under, for that matter? Comprehensive?

[flux45]

Originally Posted by galahad05

Do you have a $500 deductible?
And what would this fall under, for that matter? Comprehensive?

Yes $500 deductible.

I actually went ahead and started a claim with insurance today. I figure after 5 years of no claims, no accidents, and no tickets my rate shouldn't go up too much for such a relatively low amount. If it does, insurance is so competitive I could just go to another provider.

[NormE91]

Originally Posted by flux45

Yes $500 deductible.

I actually went ahead and started a claim with insurance today. I figure after 5 years of no claims, no accidents, and no tickets my rate shouldn't go up too much for such a relatively low amount. If it does, insurance is so competitive I could just go to another provider.

Again, and I'm just curious.... how do you start a claim on an accident that happened in the past, to the previous owner of the car? Your policy was not in effect on the car when the damage occurred, because you didn't own the car yet, so why would your policy cover it? Is there something I'm not understanding?

[flux45]

Originally Posted by NormE91

Again, and I'm just curious.... how do you start a claim on an accident that happened in the past, to the previous owner of the car? Your policy was not in effect on the car when the damage occurred, because you didn't own the car yet, so why would your policy cover it? Is there something I'm not understanding?

The insurance company has no knowledge of any past accident, to them it is just a failed seal in the brake light assembly. This is simply a claim to cover the cost of repairs.

[NormE91]

Originally Posted by flux45

The insurance company has no knowledge of any past accident, to them it is just a failed seal in the brake light assembly. This is simply a claim to cover the cost of repairs.

OK I had no idea you could put things like that on insurance. In fact, I guess I don't understand how you can. I mean, insurance isn't a warranty. Insurance is for accidents, theft, flooding, etc... not general repairs.

Good luck!

I don't understand why they wouldn't place all those electronic modules higher in the trunk like on the trunk roof or side not floor so they won't get damaged by rain leaks, trunk spills ect, its most likely the suspension guys fighting the electronic guys.

I had a scary incident with a detail spray bottle leaked near the amp area, got lucky on that one. I never put anything with substantial liquid in the trunk anymore.

Saab is worse they put the amp under the driver seat towards the driver door so if you spilled anything or left the window slightly open during rain boom no more turn signals.

[M.a.r.k.u.s]

your insurance shouldn't go up at all. It's a "not at fault" claim so they're just gonna cover it and your rate will stay the same

[AzureHaze]

Originally Posted by NormE91

OK I had no idea you could put things like that on insurance. In fact, I guess I don't understand how you can. I mean, insurance isn't a warranty. Insurance is for accidents, theft, flooding, etc... not general repairs.

Good luck!

I'm baffled by this too. Explain OP. I'm just being a curious monkey.

[flux45]

Originally Posted by AzureHaze

I'm baffled by this too. Explain OP. I'm just being a curious monkey.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't aware I could do this either. My SA was the one who suggested this route and when I contacted insurance they didn't seem to question it at all. Maybe they are just assuming that it was damaged in an accident?
I haven't actually heard back from the adjuster yet so I will keep all updated.