[capt_slow]

I suppose after FaRKle! had his F31 rear-ended, it would only be a matter of time before my F31 had its turn. Welp! Today was the day!



Some kid in a Kia rear ended me. Thankfully it's just a fender bender and I looked underneath at the bumper and it looks OK. You can see the imprint of his license plate screw on my bumper, some damage where the tow hook cover is, and a scratch on the aftermarket diffuser. Going to let my insurance (AAA) figure it out with the other party's insurance (GEICO). Already have a BMW CCRC in mind as they did excellent work on my old F30 a few years ago and their work never showed up on that car's CarFax.

[Enabled]

Phew. I was expecting the worst - a cool wagon gone.

Glad it's minor. Hopefully it's repaired quickly!

[BMWILUVU]

Is this another texting rear-ender? One of my friends lost half of his Audi SUV when it folded up from a full speed rear-end by a young woman who was texting while driving and did not see the red light. Luckily he said noone was sitting in the back seats.

[cfm56d7b]

Glad to learn no one was hurt. The bumper damage appears to be minimal. Even if the bumper is replaced, the effort will not require a lot of time.

[capt_slow]

Originally Posted by BMWILUVU

Is this another texting rear-ender?

Nope. Some guy in a Civic cut me off and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. I didn't hit the Civic, but it was really close. Then the Kia hit me. My rear-facing dashcam caught the kid in the Kia, he wasnt texting. Unfortunately, the front-facing dash cam couldn't get license plate for the Civic.

Funny though, I've been helping friends and family over the summer navigate through their own rear-end collisions. I guess it's my turn.

[FaRKle!]

Wow, hope you're OK and don't have any lasting soreness!

That's good it sounds like you're going through your insurance rather than the at fault party's. I had trouble getting my at fault party's insurance (state farm) to respond in a timely manner, and kept getting the run around for approving other items (like getting the ppf and ceramic coating redone at the place of my choosing). I wished I had stuck with my onw insurance.

It's good that you're happy with the work your CCRC does. I went with BMW certified too, and while their work wasn't bad, it felt more like a "minimum acceptable standard" of work. After having a different shop nearby that's very well regarded in enthusiast circles paint some parts for me this year, I wish I had gone to them for the collision repair.

I guess now our twin wagons have twin scars now too, haha.

[capt_slow]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Wow, hope you're OK and don't have any lasting soreness!

That's good it sounds like you're going through your insurance rather than the at fault party's. I had trouble getting my at fault party's insurance (state farm) to respond in a timely manner, and kept getting the run around for approving other items (like getting the ppf and ceramic coating redone at the place of my choosing). I wished I had stuck with my onw insurance.

It's good that you're happy with the work your CCRC does. I went with BMW certified too, and while their work wasn't bad, it felt more like a "minimum acceptable standard" of work. After having a different shop nearby that's very well regarded in enthusiast circles paint some parts for me this year, I wish I had gone to them for the collision repair.

I guess now our twin wagons have twin scars now too, haha.

It was a very low speed collision, so I feel fine. Coincidentally, I'm visiting the chiro today too, so I may as well have myself checked out.

PPF and ceramic is going to be small fight with my own insurance, as I had to deal with something similar with a family car. I had AAA cover it no problem in the end though.

New Century BMW CCRC was the last shop I took my F30 to and it appears highly-regarded by the Bimmerpost community. Unfortunately, it looks like the advisor everyone recommends (and the guy who took care of me last time) left. The next shop on my list would be ICC in Santa Ana, which is Crevier BMW's CCRC.

[capt_slow]

Dropped off car at the CCRC. Advisor automatically got me a new bumper cover and diffuser. Working to get a rental, but if repairs are going to take 1-2 weeks then I can probably just use my i3.

Some clearer shots of the damage and underbody. Point of impact is right around where the harness is.

[capt_slow]

CCRC just sent over a revised estimate based on the tear down. Came out to around $3300 for a new bumper cover and impact bar, including paint and labor. Sounds about right.

[capt_slow]

I just picked up the car from the CCRC. Got a new bumper cover and impact bar. The thing is I'm not sure if color match is right, but bumper has a lighter shade of blue (or hue of purple) in the correct light when compared to the rear quarter:




I took the car to my detailer and they saw the difference too. He mentioned this is expected for metallic paint on plastic parts. CCRC said much the same. Thoughts?

On a unrelated note, I poked around the disturbed areas and aside from some improperly stowed harnesses and connectors, I also noticed some plastic fatigue along where the diffuser bolts on to the comfort access module. I suspect it's the result of the crash as this is where the point of impact was.

[FaRKle!]

My new bumper doesn't match either. This is one of the reasons I regret going to the BMW certified repair center instead of the place that painted my spoiler.

[capt_slow]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

My new bumper doesn't match either. This is one of the reasons I regret going to the BMW certified repair center instead of the place that painted my spoiler.

I met up with a BMW regional CCRC rep and they said the paint job was pretty good and the mismatch is for the same reasons everyone else has been saying. Alternative is to repaint the existing bumper or repaint half of the car to blend it in. All undesirable options.

I can try to have insurance pay for another bumper and repaint it, but that is probably a uphill battle.