[magicmerlin]

F31 330D - got hit by a tanker, a few days ago.. insurance said after its been assessed, it would go to one of their repairers who will use original parts. Should i push for an authorised dealer/repairer?

I havent seen the car, as partner was driving, but everyone is fine. Looks pretty bad, door is not lined up, and theres damage to the wing mirror too.

[dopper99]

Blooming heck, that looks nasty. I hope everyone was ok? That’s the main thing.

[Rbrown]

Nightmare. Glad everybody is OK.

If other driver's fault - definitely demand BMW bodyshop. They may pass you on to their preferred bodyshop - don't accept it!

[Abrek]

Originally Posted by Rbrown

Nightmare. Glad everybody is OK.

If other driver's fault - definitely demand BMW bodyshop. They may pass you on to their preferred bodyshop - don't accept it!

Agree, if it’s third party fault you have options and go through BMW for peace of mind/warranty

[evdok]

5k job I reckon.

[J306TD]

Originally Posted by Rbrown

Nightmare. Glad everybody is OK.

If other driver's fault - definitely demand BMW bodyshop. They may pass you on to their preferred bodyshop - don't accept it!

Just because it's a BMW body shop doesn't mean its always better workmanship. I used to work for a main dealer with 5 different franchises on 1 site. They body shop was horrendous dust in paint and over spray.

If you have had good experiences elsewhere or know someone who has I'd use them. They still have to use BMW parts and when it comes to disassembly and reassembly they will use same information source as BMW

[ioannisG]

Had a prang on my 718s recently. Standing still at a traffic light when an idiot decided he could fit between me and the other car next to me and ended up scratching my alloy and hitting my rear bumper.

The insurers (admiral) used auxillis to facilitate the repair and hire car booking. They recommended me a garage close to my house that was not an approved Porsche repairer- I refused to accept and was presented with two options. Take the car where I liked and pay the excess on the insurance and reclaim it back once the repair was completed and the claim settled with the other insurance company, or use one of their Porsche approved repairers in Northampton (about 2 hours drive from my house). Went for the latter.

The repair was faultless, bumper replaced and repainted without any visible variance in colour, alloy replaced instead of being refurbished and 2 tyres replaced instead of the one that was hit. Hire car also sorted with them.

However it was not perfect by any means. They did not fit the badges on the bumper, instead they had them in an envelope in the boot - actually that might be a good thing!!. Also fitted an older spec tyres (N0 instead of N1). Minor niggles considering that that little prang cost about 5.5k to fix and the car had failed it’s alignment check resulting in new suspension components being needed. Doubt a non Porsche body shop would have gone through the effort of replacing the suspension arms as they were not visibly bent and toe in was out by only a fraction.

[magicmerlin]

thanks all, received a test from insurance that car is likely repairable, but will push for BMW repairers.

thanks

[Wolverine]

I had a work vehicle go into the side of mine last week while they were perfoming a prohibited manoeuvre. My insurance declared it a non-fault and tried to get me to use their approved agent, but I have received an estimate from BMW which looks like it will be accepted for the repair. So I would 100% push for BMW to repair.
I am having a new near side front and rear door, rear wheel, repair to the rear side panel, repair to the bumper and paint to the whole nearside of the car (and associated work). Total estimate came in at just under £4.5k which isn't horrendous given the extent of the repair. That's then for the company's insurance to swallow as the party liable for the collision.

[tjlees]

Originally Posted by J306TD

Just because it's a BMW body shop doesn't mean its always better workmanship. I used to work for a main dealer with 5 different franchises on 1 site. They body shop was horrendous dust in paint and over spray.

If you have had good experiences elsewhere or know someone who has I'd use them. They still have to use BMW parts and when it comes to disassembly and reassembly they will use same information source as BMW

+1

wouldnt use bmw unless good rep from specific stealer.

recommended directline bodyshop was far better. excellent paint match,no overstay, no dust, no fattened runs, paint depth spot on. so far paint ok.

all much better than the three times I've been to the bmw bodyshop.

insurer by law will allow another bodyshop. I use an indy that is very good and has proper filtered paint booth with a couple of guys that look older than 17.

whatever you do, it's worth looking round the bodyshop before committing to see people doing the work, standard and facilities in use

[magicmerlin]

Originally Posted by tjlees

+1

wouldnt use bmw unless good rep from specific stealer.

recommended directline bodyshop was far better. excellent paint match,no overstay, no dust, no fattened runs, paint depth spot on. so far paint ok.

all much better than the three times I've been to the bmw bodyshop.

insurer by law will allow another bodyshop. I use an indy that is very good and has proper filtered paint booth with a couple of guys that look older than 17.

whatever you do, it's worth looking round the bodyshop before committing to see people doing the work, standard and facilities in use

Can anyone recommend a bodyshop near ME14 - BMW would be Aylesford or Ashford or a indy. Insurance has given me the choice or got with their ones nationwide (dws)
Thanks

[tjlees]

worth doing a bit of research as well ..

[bmwbaltimorem5]

Glad you are Okay! Cars can be repaired. Our body, health not

[Watsey]

Definitely do your research. I insisted tat the my car was repaired by BMW (so that it is warranted) but the job was not perfect.

Even though the repair included a new bonnet, and it's been adjusted again by BMW since, it still requires a proper drop-slam to shut it and sometimes doesn't latch first time on one side.

The bonnet lacquer also had a feather (imperfection, not literal) which was spotted by the detailer.

Overall : expensive (not a problem in itself - the other party was liable), good customer service, but not perfect. As the repair was done by the supplying dealer it does make any follow-up far easier.