Accident; Need help and advice.

[bonoz]

I will spare you all the details of how the crash happenned. Thankfully no other car was involved, it was just me running over a curb on the highway and hitting a sign. I thought there would a lot more damage, but thankfully I was lucky that I and my friend survived unscathed, and the car was not broken into pieces. I must have been going 50 mph when this happenned.

No doubt this is a very tough, depressing time for me. It is a terrible heart ache knowing my car was crashed, but thankfully the damages are minimal, unnoticed even. I am usually a very responsible driver but it only takes a moment of carelessness for things like these to happen.

I would like your opinion on what to do: Should I fix it myself or get the insurance to fix it? I'm under 21, so no doubt my insurance will go up after this. But if I fix it I might have to get a few body parts replaced and get everything checked out by a mechanic. Essentially, I could just leave it since everything "works". I probably would have left it alone if I didn't love my car, but since I do I have to get it fixed.

Most of the damage was done on the driver's side of the car. There's a dent on my hood, headlight is scratched and chipped, the nose-panel and the front bumper is scratched and chipped. I'm not sure about my foglight holder whether it's broken or not but my foglight is okay but it did come out. There is a slight gap between my headlight and the bottom panel which suggests the headlight was pushed in.

Also, the car drives fine but I have no idea if anything is damaged under the car or not. I wouldn't know if the car has been in an accident just by driving the car. Must say, these cars are very strong and durable; I seriously thought I had damaged the axle or shocks or even bent my rim but thank God I was very lucky. I guess I can get this checked out by a mechanic.

So I'm wondering if you guys could estimate what, in your opinion, would need replacing and how much it could cost if I were to do it myself. Here are the pics:

221261

221262

221263

221264

221265

Many thanks for helping me out. Lessons most certainly learned.

[noise boy]

If it appears that all of the body panels still line up properly, fix it yourself. You should be able to get a used hood and bumper cover in black, as well as the foglight stuff.

Robert

[bonoz]

Can I get some more help please? thanks.

[E36Gurl325i]

imo fix it yourself! there dosent seem to be any bad bad damage just cosmatic. I'd get it checked out tho! BMW dealerships offer the 100$'ish prepurchase checkup, just use that and see what they think. Or pull up to a independent mechanic that knows BMWs!

But, you're in luck someone here is selling a black hood for 80$, and headlights are around 40-60$. And a nose panel is being sold for 75 in primer!

[afizidris]

i say dont bother with insurance, too little damage for so much drama. like gurl said, have it checked by some one that knows bm's (just to be safe) and you should be good.

[speedvision]

I wouldn't even go that far. I would bring it to a reputable shop and have the suspension checked out. I'd order the missing bumper strip from Bavauto or Pelican, and ScratchX the rest. It may not be perfect but you did leave the road for some undisclosed reason and hit a sign. J/K on the sign part...

[bonoz]

Maybe I could get an estimate on it?

[kchaturv]

nailing a curb at 50MPH and still have the car in the situation it is, is nothing less then miracle... As someone said above, check the suspension.
My strong suggestion would be to get the car on a lift and check the underside for bent arms,springs etc... if its all good there, consider yourself very very lucky..

[HellRot Roundel]

Definately get it on a lift and have it checked out, curbs are very unforgiving. I was with my friend when he hit a curb at maybe 35-40. He bent the lower control arm, broke a sway bar endlink, and a minor bent to the frame, let alone a cracked wheel. GTI's FTL. haha. the body stuff doesnt seem too bad, just pick up some used parts on the board. Good luck, pray the suspension gods rule in your favor.

[bonoz]

I think the curb's designed in/around minor highways or roads where speed limit is 45-55mph, they are designed in a sort of a slanted shape so the car if it hits it goes over the curve nice and easily, and the signs are very light and flappy so they just disintegrate upon impact. Indeed this could have been so much worse.