Had a little boo-boo...

[AZ_Matt]

Guys

Had a little accident in traffic today. I was having a poor day at work - couldn't get a program working right - took a late lunch, but had code on my mind. Looked down at the clock to check the time and ended up not being able to stop in time to avoid the traffic in front of me that had come to an emergency stop...

Doh!!!

The good news is that it was a very slow speed hit. Probably another two feet and I would have been fine. Guh. The bitch is that my bumper slid *under* the bumper of the car in front of me and the HOOD took the brunt of the damage... The Chrysler Concorde I hit had a couple scratches in the paint. My hood buckled pretty good. Or bad, as the case may be.

The moral of this story - always pay attention to what you're doing, kiddies. Don't code and drive.

Anyway, I'll be needing a new hood and front bumper. I'm going to call up TC Kliene and see what the lead time is on the carbon-fiber hoods. What is the general consensus on putting an M Coupe airdam on a Z3 Coupe? Would that make me a poseur? I'm pretty fond of the Z3 airdam anyway, and will probably stick with that, but figured I'd check the 'net for some second opinions... And if anyone has any nice, close-up shots of the M Coupe airdam to help me decide, that would be much appreciated.

[Stockman]

sorry to hear it..

I have to laugh at the dont code and drive remark though.. lol

putting ///M parts on your car doesnt make it posing unless you start badging it ///M

good luck

[Dark Helmet]

dude, matt, that sucks.

good call of the carbon-fober hood, and I like both front dams... and stockman is right re: the badging... just keep calling it what it is.

[Ox///M]

A carbon fiber hood would be a GREAT choice. I understand that it was about 50 pounds in weight savings from some other folks on bimmer.org.

As for the front air damn.. go for the M. With the new 3.0i Z3 Coupe that front air damn if I remember correctly looks just like the M Coupe air damn. I didn't look at it closely... but I think it could have been the same part #.

Sorry about the accident... good luck with the repairs.

[AZ_Matt]

Well, the word from TC Kleine is that the CF hood takes 60 days - they are individually hand-made to order. Doh! Guy I spoke with (forget his name, though) was really nice, and even suggested that I drive around with the damage while the hood is on order. While that's very tempting - and an opportunity like this to get the CF hood partially paid for by insurance doesn't come up every day - I'm gonna have to pass. My car is driveable, but I don't think keeping it like this for 60 days is a good idea. Basically, the hood is toast, and as the guy at the body shop said "Once we open that hood, it's never gonna shut again." I don't know that I can go that long without checking my oil, etc. Oh, and my first maintenance is right around the corner - just waiting for that last damned green light to go out and the yellow to turn on...

Guh.

After looking at some pictures at www.carpoint.com (and others), there is a definite difference between the M Coupe/Roadster and Z3 Coupe/Roadster airdams. Personally, I think I like the Z3 better... It has a bigger main opening, and to me it's just screaming out for a front mounted intercooler... (If you're gonna dream, dream big - right?)

I'll snap some shots of the damage this weekend and post them for all the interested morbid souls out there. Seeing as how it's not digital, it might take a week or so to get them developed and online, but I'll keep everyone posted...

The car is going into the shop Monday morning. Expected time to complete was given to me as "about a week and a half." Don't know if I can live that long without my baby!

[Dark Helmet]

good luck dude, and i hope it only takes that week and a half... I'd be going through serious withdrawl.

[Ox///M]

Let us know what you do. You might be able to find a used CF hood from a guy on bimmer.org that had a CF hood for sale. It was Estoril Blue.

[AZ_Matt]

Originally posted by Ox///M
Let us know what you do. You might be able to find a used CF hood from a guy on bimmer.org that had a CF hood for sale. It was Estoril Blue.

OX///M:

Let me know how interested this guy is in selling his hood and how much he wants for it - email me at az_matt@yahoo.com

Thanks for the info... maybe I can get this carbon hood to happen afterall! Might be creepin' up into 99-00 M Coupe fast range soon.