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Car Care

How to fix your bmw after hail damage

Something is relaxing about a stormy day. You can watch the rain with a warm drink in your hand, and enjoy how things seem to slow down. Of course, all of that relaxation goes out the window when the skies open up and start dropping hail on your home and, worse, your BMW. Hail can range in size from little pebbles to softball-sized rocks that can do some serious and expensive damage. What steps can you take to fix your car after hail damage?

Assess the Damage

Wait for the storm to pass. Don’t try to get to your car or fix anything while there are still chunks of ice falling from the sky. You’ve already seen the damage that hail can do to your vehicle. With this precipitation able to fall at more than 100 miles per hour, imagine what it could do if it hit you. 

Once the storm has passed, and it’s safe to be outdoors again, head outside and assess the damage. Depending on the size of the hailstones, these issues could include anything from paint chips and cracked glass to a shattered windshield and fender dents. If there are any broken windows, take the time to cover them with tarps or plastic to prevent water from getting into the interior. 

Fix Broken Glass

While repairing dents and paint damage is important, fixing any cracked or broken glass should be your priority after a hail storm. These problems make your car impossible to drive, so you may need to put in a call to your local repair service that offers house calls. Cost will be determined by the model of the car, size and complexity of the windshield.

Windows can be complicated, partially because most of the companies that replace windshields don’t handle window glass. Plus, unlike the laminated windshield glass, which spiderwebs when cracked, windows tend to shatter into a ton of small pieces. As a result, you have to clean out the debris before you can fix anything.

If you have a sunroof on your vehicle, a severe hailstorm might damage or destroy that too, and you may need to go to a dealership or to a specialty shop to get it repaired or replaced. Either way, make broken glass your priority. 

Remember the Dents

Once the car is drivable again, you can start thinking about exterior damage that needs attention, including dents and scratches or chips in the paint. Removing hailstone dents is no different than removing any other dings if only one or two stones struck your vehicle. If your hood or fenders have tons of little pockmarks from a barrage of ice crystals, however, you may need to employ the skills of a professional body shop.

Hailstone damage tends to be clustered on the surface of your car, making it more difficult to remove the dents because, with standard DIY tools, it’s impossible to get a good seal. You can get under the fender and start hammering the dents out. Still, if you’re not skilled at bodywork, you risk causing more issues. If this is your first BMW, you might get a shock to find that repair is going to be more expensive than your old beater, so use caution.

Dents and paint chips might not seem like a priority. However, if they’re left alone, water will come into contact with the body’s unprotected metal, allowing it to rust. Over time, this oxidation eats away at the metal and makes it weaker. It can also cause parts to stick together, making repairs trickier. 

Try to Park Inside

If you live in an area that’s prone to hail storms or other weather-related disasters like hurricanes or tornadoes, the best advice is to park your car indoors or under some type of covering. Even parking under a large tree can help mitigate the damage caused by ice chunks, though it isn’t a good solution for hurricanes or tornadoes. You can also consider renting a garage space between the beginning of June and the end of November when 97% of Atlantic hurricanes occur.

If you get caught out in a hail storm, try your best to take shelter. Hail can cause some serious and expensive damage to any vehicle unlucky enough to be caught in it. Plus, if you’re driving while the glass shatters, you can get in an accident or injured.

Fixing Your Car After a Hail Storm

No one links having to fix their car, especially when it’s your BMW that you’ve been saving up for and finally have. Still, the inevitable can happen, especially if it’s an unpredictable storm. If your vehicle sees damage after a hail storm, follow the advice above.

Images: Bimmerfest

Car Care

How to Repair a Water-Damaged BMW

Your garage or street was sunk by a flood or storm — and now that the waters have receded, you can see that your car has sustained some serious water damage. Water damage is one of the worst things that can happen to a vehicle — often damaging every part of the car or effectively totaling it.

However, water damage isn’t necessarily a death sentence for your car. Often, it’s possible to repair or reduce the effects of even serious water damage. 

Below, we’ll cover the steps you can take to repair a water-damaged BMW.

Dealing With BMW Water Damage

Start by flushing the water out of the engine and fuel system. Do this by flushing the oil, cranking the engine with spark plugs removed and draining the gas tank if there is any water inside. Then, change the oil and test the engine with the spark plugs in. If the engine runs, and the oil doesn’t look cloudy or watery, the engine will probably be functional in the short run — however, you may need to repair or replace it in the near future.

Fuse boxes, control modules and other electrical equipment will likely need to be replaced. Some of these components may even work for a time after the flooding, but flood damage is almost always going to irreparably shorten their lifespans. Even if you can’t or don’t want to replace those components right away, you should plan to replace them in the future.

Next, you’ll need to air out the car and clean the interior as well as you can. This will take some time, and you’ll probably need some heavy-duty fans or shop vacs. You may need to remove the parts of the interior that have been water-damaged and cut out a significant amount — or all — of the interior carpeting or leather.

Any part of the car that relies on fluid — brake fluid or power-steering fluid — may have been compromised by the flooding and should be inspected.

If your car was soaked by saltwater, these steps probably won’t be effective. Saltwater flooding will generally wreak havoc on sensitive electronics and cause your car to rust rapidly after the fact. While freshwater damage can be mitigated or repaired completely, saltwater flooding is likely to damage a car beyond repair — especially if it relies on a lot of electrical and computer components, as BMWs often do.

You should also know that many mechanics won’t work with flooded vehicles due to liability issues, and the amount of work it can take to get a flooded car road-ready. However, depending on the extent of the damage and the value of the car, you may find your mechanic or dealership willing to help you out.

Avoiding Flood Damage

There are also steps that you can take in the future to make sure that your BMW won’t be water damaged again. These can be especially useful if you live in an area that’s flood-prone.

If you have control over where you park, try to avoid parking in low-lying or flood-prone areas. If you don’t, you can use water-resistant materials to help make sure that your garage or car storage space is water- or flood-proof. 

If you know that a flood is coming and you can’t move your car, you can seal it as best as you can. Keep windows and doors tightly closed. Repair any cracks or damage to rubber seals if possible. You can also disconnect your battery, which can help save sensitive electric components. 

Try to keep your car out of water. If you have to drive during a flood, avoid puddles and other drivers, as they can create waves and expose more of your car to floodwater. Keep the engine revving whenever your car is partially submerged.

Saving a BMW From Water Damage

It’s not always possible to rescue a car from flood damage, but it is possible some of the time. If you want to try to repair flood damage, you should start by checking the engine and any car systems that rely on fluids — like the oil, power steering and brakes. 

In the future, you can also take steps to avoid flood damage — like not driving through water, moving your car out of areas that might flood and keeping your garage or car storage space as water-proof as possible.