Got lightly T-boned over the weekend In the 99 M Roadster...

[saber63]

SO was driving down to see the parents. Took some backroads, Cause man, So many fender benders on the freeway!

Was taking a left off a "hwy" onto a side road. The person to my left (where i'm headed) at a stop sign, just, goes, for, it.... And tags the door and rear quarter.

Turns our She has the same insurance company as Me (statefarm) And admitted full fault. (Not much of anything I could have done due to ditches/other cars etc...). Shit happens, No ill will. We even chatted about what work will need to be done to both cars.

And the comedy that she was driving A FRS. We bought the Z3M from a toyota dealer over and FRS after beating the... er... Test driving it...

Got the first quote today from a "state farm approved" place (Hinshaws Auto Body in auburn). $1900 for OEM BMW parts (door, rocker, quarter). and $1700 for labor and paint. The parts seems right. But the labor/ paint seemed on the low side to me? (17hrs body, 12hrs paint, 2hrs mech, and 12rs paint supplies)

They are painting the new parts, but also painting/blending the hood, trunk, front fender, and some of the body. That all seems about right?

They will also check for a bent wheel/ rear end stuff (and cover) ounce it was up on a rack. there is even a bit of front bumper foam stuck in the wheel/tire after 100miles!

Will be getting another quote from the BMW certified dealer later in the week. (metro auto rebuild in seattle)

I've attached some pictures.IMG_5863-edit.jpgIMG_5866-edit-2.jpg

Anything I'm over looking or should have done while this work is being done?

Thanks for letting me rant a bit

-Levi

[Matt Day]

I don't think there is any non-OEM sheet metal for our cars, so the labor/paint is the only thing at issue. I would assume that State Farm has a lifetime guarantee on their recommended shops, so I wouldn't hesitate to use one.

[Tim95M3]

Doesn't look too terrible. I see it got the wheel a bit... Hope it didn't tweak the rear trailing arm at all... That would add a lot to the repair bill.

[Randy Forbes]

Looks familiar; the 01 that I ordered and waited nine (>9) months for, just five (5) weeks after we got it. An 86 yo woman made a left turn into us as I was driving past her. Wheel, trailing arm, suspension carrier, shock, bumper, fender and door replaced.

[wrench13]

Randy, looks almost identical to what happened to the 2001 coupe, only mine was chewed up by a 18 wheeler drifting onto my lane, and had those lug nut extensions that look like they came from Road Warrior movies. But found a great shop and now looks better then new.

Could you please advise on my new thread on the DSC light? You da man.

[saber63]

OH MAN!

Well i certainly feel better after looking at those pics!

The Shop/Insurance adjuster stated that the trailing arm/wheel etc... would be checked out on the lift.
The car does have adjustable camber/toe, so if it's a very slight tweak its probably not an issue?

still need to get a second/third quote, but not a huge rush.

Thanks guys!

[saber63]

UPDATE TIME!

So I ended up taking the car to Hindshaw auto body, as they were the prefered StateFarm shop. THey also had the cleanest, nicest, and most professional looking shop. THey had also stated they had worked on the e36/7 platform before (a red coupe).

After ~1 week, it was brought to my attention that they can't listen, and did an alignment different than I requested. Also, they were unable to corner balance the car. They agreed to contact statefarm to have them cover the alignment from the same shop that did the last one (Tru-Line seattle). Perfect.

I get a call Friday after close that the car is ready for pick up saturday any time. Score!

However... while the car looks great, at first. On the drive home it was obvious that there was a door seal issue (See this thread) and once home, the extent of the sealing issue was found. It practical funnels water into the driver seat/door card!

On further inspection....
The engine bay has paint overspray all over it. Which started burning off? by the time we got home. joy
They left large pieces of masking tape stuck to the underside of thehood.
The door gap is horrible, it was better aligned in its wrecked shape. they didn't even bother to fix the latch alignment that got put out of whack in the wreck.
They masked the rear bumper right along the wheel side, so it has a horrible paint line in plane sight.
They managed to fill the trunk gutter? (area by the trunk strut) and the trunk floor with metal shaving/swarf. And did not place wiring back in its holders.
The trim by the door latch is not properly attached to the body of the car, it flops around, rattles, and will catch on cloths.
The rear trunk lid plate cover thing, now has a chip of paint taken out of it, showing black plastic under.
And the kicker, they did not provided the information to the adjuster properly in regards to the alignment, as it was stated car doesn't have capacity for special alignment. The full DA TCKline suspension, and receipt for said alignment says otherwise

They stated, and it's obvious they washed the car. Which means they KNEW the window leaked. Did they assume this was a sunny weather only car? The wind noise through it becomes painfully obvious above 30mph.

My Wife and I are INSULTED that they felt the car was acceptable to be returned to us in this condition. The car is now LESS functional than when dropped off to them, Because it can't be driven in the rain. And it misses 2 autocross events because of this... JOY.

Now because of the extent of the complete lack of attention to detail. Or ability to follow instructions. The possible damage to the door cards and floor from water during their washing... I have scheduled a none Hinshaw affiliated, StaeFarm adjuster to look at the car, with me being present. As I would like all the issues fixed, and the car back to the way it was before the accident. And the work to be done by anyone BUT Hinshaw Autobody.

Sorry for the rant, and thanks for letting me vent. Some serious regret in my choice of shops now. Live and learn I guess.

-Levi

[4Driver4]

Never go with the shop the insurance company prefers. Find one you prefer.
Wish I saw this thread sooner. Sorry for you troubles. Be persistent.

[328 Power 04]

Ya, insurance preferred shop will always have conflict of interest.

[Terry F.]

IDK, we had a good experience with a captive GEICO shop for our daughter's Fit but I agree, in general. That shop is just a joke no matter who's paying. Good luck. Get it close but at this point, perfection might give you a heart attack first. They seem inept!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-blah blah blah using Tapatalk

[saber63]

More or less the last update.

They wanted me to bring the car back around to look it over, we were in the area, so sure, why not. They agreed to let me watch/take pictures etc... As they pulled the door card and inspections for water damage were made.

They were also very understanding why I was pissed. They agreed the car should not have left the shop in that shape, apologized, and accepted fault for all the issues but one.(more on that later) They also showed me the pictures from all the work they did. And it did appear that this was mainly an issue with final detail work. As all the important stuff you can't really see. was handled very well.

We also checked, and they did not paint the bumper, so the crappy mask line must have been from a prior paint job. I apologized to them for assigning blame to them.

They are a production shop, and it was a case of "last unit on friday afternoon" which is a common problem in ALL production environments.

They pulled the 2-3 techs over and had them fix all the problems on the spot while I watched. Door alignment, which required grabbing some shims off the old door. Than adjusting the window, fixed up the trim issues, cleaned the stuff that needed it, and all that stuff. We all than went over to the wash area and housed the car down, a few drips. The tech made a quick change of a door shim and all was well.

The tech did say at that point the window and door were pretty much shimmed/adjusted as far as it could go to make a better seal, without making the door gap look crap. And suggested that if there was any leak issues, that a new door seal should be ordered (as part of the claim). Not sure I buy that. But the damn thing seals now. So out the door we went.

While I'm far from happy about it all. They did a good job to calm me down, put up with me being a bit of an asshole, show me they didn't screw up what I can't see, and got all the issues fixed it as fast as possible. I'm 50/50 on if I would have them work on my stuff again...

They are also still being supportive about getting Statefarm to cover the proper alignment. That one is more of a paperwork issue.

Thanks again for letting me vent and rant.