So I hit a deer with my 2007 X3....

**e83onstick** · 11-30-2017, 12:39 AM

There I am, minding my business, Just driving along on a country road. It's about 5PM in the mountains, so it's pretty dark. I am rehabbing my ski house, and hence I need to commute to and fro much more often than normal. Anxious to get back to the city, and with no cars on the road, I get a little happy, so I am going about 65mph.

Out of nowhere a 200lb buck comes at me from the bushes. I have exactly 4 seconds to think of how to handle this. 3 passengers plus me in the car, and some stuff in the back. I hit the brakes...and realize there's no way I am braking on time to avoid the collision. I get down to about 45, react fast, and try to swerve around him...and into the oncoming traffic lane (I now know you attempt to go opposite the direction which the deer is facing). He comes at me some more. Mother******

I go around him some more - mind you this is a two-lane country road, there's not much shoulder on either side, drainage sloping downwards on both edges of the road. I went into the oncoming shoulder and hit him with my passenger side front, BOOM. My life flashed before my eyes. All of a sudden I feel like I just went over a massive speed bump. I ran him over, he slid the whole way under the car (keep your underside plastics in good shape, if for this reason alone) and I kept moving. Assembling my faculties, I pulled over. I didn't pull over right away, I wanted to make sure there were no cars before I came to a complete stop. Got out to inspect. My wife is crying, she's an animal lover. I love animals too, but damnit I love my car more...

Right away I noticed leakage....but it wasn't what I expected. I thought coolant, but it was only wiper fluid. I pulled apart the trim to find the source of the leak, it is the where the wiper fluid line meets the passenger headlight washer. I've been scouring realoem for hours and can't find this part. It is white three way elbow, cracked right down the middle. Can anyone help me? Please find attached photo.

If I had still been behind the wheel of anything but a German vehicle I am almost certain such an outcome would not be possible. Even pickup trucks today get tremendous body damage from giant deer like that.

Short story long, no frame damage, no coolant leaks, alignment is fine, no hood or fender damage. Nothing but some trim and a headlight. Can you believe every single light worked just fine after such a hit! Angel eyes, HID, fog, high beams and even turn signal (shout out to weisslicht LED turn signals...it's worth every damn penny). I was able to make the 120 mile drive home without the lens on the headlight, leaving exposed the projector lens which was face down with a broken bezel. And it all was just fine. A testament to German engineering.

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