Hydroplaned and wrecked my E39

[scyrusurcys]

Hydroplaned going down a mountain into a turn at 55mph during a hard rain (speed limit was 65mph), hit the car in the lane next to me and spun around, hitting the guardrail with the back bumper. Luckily no one was injured. I go in to the towing company tomorrow to analyze the damage. Any damage will be out of pocket as I can only afford the liability rates through my insurance ):

Hopefully it'll be back on the road soon. Wish me luck with assessing the damage

[auaq]

It should ____ right out!!

Front end damage doesn't look that bad. It's pretty diy fixable. Rear end depends ...

[JaxPlanet]

Oh, sit! That sucks but you live to drive again just a little slower on the wet corners
Would you like M bumpers with your repair, sir?

[BimmerNoob2000]

Sorry to hear of the wreck! That poor E39 definitely needs some medical attention. The rear bumper does not look as bad as the wrong. They can weld the rear back on without issue but the front is gonna need extra TLC. Hopefully this ends up being an affordable repair!

[scyrusurcys]

Gore pics! Front passenger-side frame is bent about 10" behind the front impact absorber. It's cocked towards the middle of the car at about a 20 degree angle. Any advice on realigning the impact absorber to be parallel with the other so that the bumper can be reinstalled without it looking ridiculous? Beating it with a hammer is futile.

Bonus pic of my K9 mechanic assesing the damage from a more accessible angle.



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[JimLev]

A frame shop could straighten it or cut it off and weld on a new piece.
Both would be $$$ to do.
I think I'd look for another 540 that needed work so you could use your cars good parts.

[scyrusurcys]

A frame shop could straighten it or cut it off and weld on a new piece.
Both would be $$$ to do.
I think I'd look for another 540 that needed work so you could use your cars good parts.

I see what you mean, but frankly I've done so much work to make this 200k mile car seem like a 50k mile car. It's hard for me to part with this one.. I may check into a frame shop, another used car would only mean purchase $$ + more $$ to keep it in reliable condition.

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[computiNATEor]

At the very least, go to a junkyard and slice out a generous section of frame with a reciprocating saw and have it replaced.

I'd find another shell. IMO, that one is toast.

Take a look at some of Arthur Tussik's videos on YouTube. He repaired the frame rails on a trashed BMW 7-series.

[geargrinder]

LOL. Your dog is a nut. Never seen a dog in an engine bay, however my dog has a dog-friend who has huge vertical and loves to jump up on anything randomly. He'd be very likely to do something weird like that - just jump up on the engine because everybody was looking at it.

[justinca540i]

I had a similar crash in mine 2 years ago. There should be a thread somewhere. But i basically trashed mine and sold it as a parts car. The rear quarter panel has to be cut and a new one has to be welded in if you want to replace it, plus you at least have to fix where the rear bumper mounts. My total came out to $3k before paint or labor.