2014 M5 Car Accident - San Diego, LA Help Needed

[rampage76]

Originally Posted by Netwon

rampage76,

Engine Oil Cooler $636.30
Engine Oil Cooler Return hose (passenger side) $184.33

Sorry busy night at work didn't have time to look anything up earlier.

Thanks, I appreciate your help so much. The parts estimate came out to 5,578.08$ and total initial estimate at just under 11k. I was hoping that paying directly without insurance involvement would help me negotiate but it seems like there are only a few repair shops that are able to do the kind of quality work that needs to be done on a 2014 M5, and those high quality shops are in high demand (long lead times). I'm not complaining - this is my fault and I'm owning up to it. Or rather draining a nice piece of my savings account. It's not a big deal about the money... but I'm an idiot for getting into this kind of accident completely sober without a good excuse. Just glad it wasn't worse and no one (person) got hurt... including my engine/mechanical.

Need to figure out how to get around for 3 weeks while the repairs are getting done... Probably be using Uber a lot.

[Netwon]

Originally Posted by rampage76

Thanks, I appreciate your help so much. The parts estimate came out to 5,578.08$ and total initial estimate at just under 11k.

Hey Man it's Christmas. When I was rear ended I was super bummed but in the end a good body shop will have a wait list and take their time on the refinishing. A month or so from now you will be happy and glad you didn't cheap out.

Have a good New Year!

[rampage76]

Originally Posted by Netwon

Hey Man it's Christmas. When I was rear ended I was super bummed but in the end a good body shop will have a wait list and take their time on the refinishing. A month or so from now you will be happy and glad you didn't cheap out.

Have a good New Year!

Thanks buddy. I think I picked an excellent repair shop and they know exactly what happened to me and sympathize with my situation. They openly admit that I'm not getting discounted rates and they aren't going to be trying to save money by cutting corners on the repair. Everything brand new, full price, yes not the kind of shop to cheap out even if I asked them to. However, they do understand my situation and my advantage with them is that they will begin repairs soon and get my beautiful car back to perfection sooner than any other top-quality shop.

I love this forum. I can drive months without seeing another M5 on the road and I live in Santa Monica. It is awesome that we can all come on here and talk about topics that other car owners just can't relate to. Not to mention that I have purchased my last 3 BMW's from forum sponsors at great prices.

[6spdterror]

You need a new fender and front bumper.....thats not too expensive. Its the headlight assembly, sensers and whatever coolers and electronics u damaged underneath that will cost a lot. Please dont take it to just any bodyshop, make sure they have worked and know how to work on aluminum. I wish you were in NYC cuz i could take you to one of the bodyshops that do work for my dealership and they wouldve given me cost on everything. (Im a sales manager for a dealership in Queens so they do everything to keep my account!)
Bodyshops can take care of you if they want to, but theres too much profit and markup in their business not to mention theyre used to getting paid big $$ from the insurance company.

From what i see, youre looking at minimum, 4500 if you can get parts at dealer cost or close to it and the bodyshop doesnt try to screw you just because you drive a 100k car. At insurance company prices you looking at 10-12k.

for example.....this "highway mishap" only cost me $550. The reformed the aluminum instead of going the lazy mans route and getting a new door skin which wouldve cost 4 times the amount.
[IMG]Untitled by 6spdterror, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by 6spdterror, on Flickr[/IMG]

Then my wife decides to not pay attention and back into a pole. How do you back into a pole in a truck that has 4 cameras and backup sensors?!? This only cost me $1000
[IMG] by 6spdterror, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG] by 6spdterror, on Flickr[/IMG]

So like anything else its all in who you know. I wish you were local, i wouldve definitely helped out another ///M owner. Let me know what they tell you and have them give u estimates on everything "they say" is damaged. DO NOT leave your car overnight at any unknown bodyshop for them to assess damages because some of them get creative if you know what i mean.

[6spdterror]

Sorry dude didnt read the entire thread! Looks like i was on the money for the estimate. Hope you get her back soon!

[rampage76]

6spdterror - I wish I was in NYC right now for the first time in my life. I really dislike NYC, can't stand the cold... I'm spoiled by so-cal. But the damages you posted and the prices you paid are amazing. You definitely have some great hookups. I don't have any hookups like that. Everyone is trying to make money off me and I know it but there isn't much I can do about it. Also, if this shop is going to charge 11k, I might be able to find another shop that does the same quality for 10k but it might take them an extra 3-4 weeks to get my car done. Alternatively, I could find a decent body shop that aims to repair the car without unnecessarily wasting money. We can all agree that my hood doesn't need to be replaced.. it is barely damaged. They should be able to repair the hood. There are several parts that can be repaired and the quality will still be good. That might drop the cost of repairs down to 9k. Again, that shop would take 6 weeks or longer to complete the repair and there might be a very slight but noticeable difference in the quality of repairs. [I keep mentioning the time to repair because I will be paying for a rental car out of pocket. An extra 4 weeks to repair is potentially 30 days of rental car charges]. Also, my car is a lease and it will eventually become a CPO... it isn't really fair to others (the universe) to cheap out on the repairs on an M5. It is bad karma and it will catch up one day.

I still think that no matter what body shop I use, they will take advantage of the fact that I'm a direct customer, charge me more than normal, and that's just business - not dishonesty. At the end of the day, the important thing is that my car is repaired quickly and with the highest quality... but also to balance that by making sure that the body shop isn't charging me for completely unnecessary line items; such as left bracket repair when my car is damaged clearly on the right front headlight.

If the body shop is honest, they are still going to make a great margin on my repair and they have no hassle to deal with, no insurance adjuster to deal with, no third party involved. They will have full control over what repairs are done, the price of labor, the amount of labor for each repair. I have no control over any of that.

6spdterror - if I was in NYC, you could eliminate much of that risk because of your personal relationships with the repair shops. If I was going through insurance, the adjuster would make sure that $ weren't wasted because they would be reviewing the charges and would have expertise in how body shops operate. It would also be in their interest to minimize the cost. On the other hand, they wouldn't care how long the repair took and my 30 day rental @ 30$/day would be used up half way through the repair because parts were being ordered from all over to save an extra $500 on the repair. Meaning that I'm stuck paying 1000$/month for the rental car so the insurance company can save $500. And that is an honest insurance company just trying to save money on the repair. It isn't an insurance company's responsibility to get your car fixed ASAP, so that can double the repair time.

The most important thing about going through insurance is that if I was at a contracted facility, then there would be negotiated rates for labor and paint labor (labor). My facility of choice charges a rate of $58/hour for labor. I called a competitor and they charged $54/hour. I could keep calling and find lower rates since my area is so enormous (the entire southern california area from San Diego to Northern LA), but I did the math and I would only be saving $200-$800. It isn't worth it. On the other hand, insurance companies have contracts with repair shops that drop that same labor rate down to 36$/hour (40% discount off list rate). Now with 65 hours of labor for the repair, that difference would be around 1400$. Not to mention that there is another 1500$ in frame labor, paint supplies, body supplies, and "miscellaneous", assuming they keep that 40% discount it adds up to a saving of $2300. So, the difference in the repair cost for a contracted insurance facility and me paying directly might be approximately $2300. That is a substantial difference. 6spdterror could get the repairs done at cost, which might be an even better deal. It takes my repair from 11k to 9k. Still an expensive repair but a substantial savings.

If anyone has hookups like 6spdterror in the So-Cal area, please let me know. I would love to get the friends and family discount considering that my repair bill is so high and it includes 110.5 hours of labor. Doesn't that qualify for a volume discount? Maybe 48$/hour instead of 58$/hour. They don't have to deal with any adjuster or insurance company BS. But I guess that would also deincentivize them from getting all my repairs done in 3 weeks.

Anyways, I didn't mean to post so much. Please feel free to share any feedback about my ramblings. Watching this much after-tax money go to a repair for not hitting my break in time has kind of messed me up. But it'll work out.

[Netwon]

Unless you are own a body shop you aren't going to do much better on price. 3 stage paint takes time to repair. If you look at labour/parts it makes no sense to refinish a hood. The painting time is going to be the same but the repair and prep time is going to be much larger on the repair vs replace scenario.

If you take the repair route you can find some good deals. However body filler and a hammer is not generally an approved BMW repair procedure. Once a panel is hit and straighten it will not performance in the same way god forbid it is hit again, esp with plastic parts.

The BMW approved body shop I went through showed the insurance the required OEM repair procedures and broken parts were listed to be replaced and not repaired. Insurance didn't bat an eye.

[Loft23]

A rate of $54/hr is really cheap, I mean too good to be true. In SF, witht the discounted insurance rate, cheapest I was able to find is $70-76/hr for labor. Close to $100+ for non insurance rate. Maybe in SoCal the rates are that much cheaper, but I would advise you to be careful. Body shops are competitive and will do anything to get you in the door. Hopefully $11k is a good ball park and won't cost you too much more.

When the repairs are done, pay very close attention to the paint. Body shops aren't necessarily detailers. They will wet sand and polish your paint, but no matter how good they are, the Orange peeling will never be as good as factory. Human controlled spraying will never compare to computer controlled robots. The problem I had when my door was repainted to repair a ding was how the paint didn't have the same pop. I had to spend another $250 for my professional detailer to color correct (wet sand, Polish, and wax) to make it look as good as adjacent panels. Dark cars are especially difficult and these body shop guys aren't as skilled.

Did you take a tour of their paint booth and facilities? If the Mexican insurance co is covering, I would go for the best.

[NlckyBlack]

Originally Posted by Tylerstar

I hate that feature, people become to dependent on it. Bmw really needs a feature or some type of noise to let you know when your car is starting to roll. Same thing happened to me except I only ended up with a scratch on my front bumper. Hope you get it fixed asap, those pics are disturbing.

So the car actually moving isn't enough warning for you?

[rampage76]

Originally Posted by Loft23

A rate of $54/hr is really cheap, I mean too good to be true. In SF, witht the discounted insurance rate, cheapest I was able to find is $70-76/hr for labor. Close to $100+ for non insurance rate. Maybe in SoCal the rates are that much cheaper, but I would advise you to be careful. Body shops are competitive and will do anything to get you in the door. Hopefully $11k is a good ball park and won't cost you too much more.

Did you take a tour of their paint booth and facilities? If the Mexican insurance co is covering, I would go for the best.

The problem is that you are in SF where everything costs 2x-3x as much for the same thing. The prices down here are all in the 50-60$/hr range.

The Mexican insurance company is going to use mexican labor rates and "mexican procedures" to figure out the damages. The repair shop already told me that it isn't going to be anything like a US body shop repair. So, maybe they will cover 30-40% mostly in parts. The rest is coming from my pocket. It isn't that bad, but who knows how it will turn out once the repairs begin.

[alvinabed]

Looking at the pictures, I think the damages require few new parts.

1. Front new bumper
2. Side fender
3. new hood
4. There is an intercooler on that side I think that should be replaced
5. an under-car plastic cover
6. new LED headlight (around $1K i believe)

Looking at the cost you will pay on your own pocket, I think you should reconsider about using insurance to get the car fixed. I think the numbers, which RPIM5 mentioned above is right. Looking at about 10K to get those fixed. Sorry to hear about this, hope you get a good repair ASAP.

And don't drive it anymore

[VintageFerrari]

Originally Posted by rampage76

That was the last recommendation but I wrote it down (the name) incorrectly and couldn't find it online. Have you heard good things about Chapparone Auto Body & Painting. They seem really decent (above and beyond) and the reviews are fantastic.

Don't know much about them, other than they're located on Balboa Ave., just across the street from where Penske Automotive/Mercedes-Benz of San Diego has their own dedicated bodyshop.

[greentrbo95gst]

Sorry to hear about your accident. I recently had a small accident on my car and if you are still looking for a good auto shop, I always take my cars to ICC
3131 S Standard Ave
Santa Ana, CA 92705
888-894-4079 phone
Also when it comes to rental cars check your credit cards. I was pretty shocked to find out my credit card covered my rental expense as well as other expenses.
Good luck.

[Palomequet]

The Mexican insurance company is going to use mexican labor rates and "mexican procedures" to figure out the damages. The repair shop already told me that it isn't going to be anything like a US body shop repair. So, maybe they will cover 30-40% mostly in parts. The rest is coming from my pocket. It isn't that bad, but who knows how it will turn out once the repairs begin.[/QUOTE]



I think you are misinformed, in Tijuana you can have certified full service for your M5 in the authorized BMW dealership "ESHER BMW of Baja" located in Paseo de Los Heroes 11110 as good as any CS in the US It seems to me that what you are looking for is to cut corners in the reparation not really avoid the use of "Mexican procedures" as you call them.

[rampage76]

Originally Posted by Palomequet

The Mexican insurance company is going to use mexican labor rates and "mexican procedures" to figure out the damages. The repair shop already told me that it isn't going to be anything like a US body shop repair. So, maybe they will cover 30-40% mostly in parts. The rest is coming from my pocket. It isn't that bad, but who knows how it will turn out once the repairs begin.

I think you are misinformed, in Tijuana you can have certified full service for your M5 in the authorized BMW dealership "ESHER BMW of Baja" located in Paseo de Los Heroes 11110 as good as any CS in the US It seems to me that what you are looking for is to cut corners in the reparation not really avoid the use of "Mexican procedures" as you call them.[/QUOTE]

Right, cutting corners is taking the entire repair out of pocket. You aren't the brightest crayon in the box are you?

I got the mexican estimate today when I went to the Qualitas body shop, and it was for 600$ USD. My deductible is for $500 so that leaves me with a net of $100 for this repair. I don't know what the hell you are talking about... please elaborate on what corners that I am cutting.

[rampage76]

It is also worth noting that there are a very few number of good body shops in Mexico/Tijuana area but insurance companies refuse to work with them since they won't give deep discounts and follow the mexican procedures... they follow the correct certified procedures and that's why Qualitas and most insurance companies won't work with them. I hate it when people try to act smart and tell someone in a really crappy situation that they are looking to cut corners when everything they have done is to do the "right thing". Screw you dude.

[rampage76]

Originally Posted by VintageFerrari

Don't know much about them, other than they're located on Balboa Ave., just across the street from where Penske Automotive/Mercedes-Benz of San Diego has their own dedicated bodyshop.

I've heard good things about Chapporone but I will post a full review for everyone when I have more experience with them.

My insurance contract with Qualitas, says that I am entitled to US labor rates if I submit estimates from 2 body shops of my choosing. They have set their Mexican labor rates to 150 pesos/hour or 10.20$/hour with the current exchange rate. As discussed earlier, any body shop will charge a minimum of 58$ USD per hour, dealers can go into 70-100+ $/hr. The only thing that I might have going for me is that they did not include the parts in the quote. They said that the parts were being marked up by the body shop and that every insurance company can get them at a discount. So, they will not include parts in their estimate, it was purely the labor. But still 600$ vs. $5000 actual labor costs is a huge difference.

[Palomequet]

Originally Posted by rampage76

It is also worth noting that there are a very few number of good body shops in Mexico/Tijuana area but insurance companies refuse to work with them since they won't give deep discounts and follow the mexican procedures... they follow the correct certified procedures and that's why Qualitas and most insurance companies won't work with them. I hate it when people try to act smart and tell someone in a really crappy situation that they are looking to cut corners when everything they have done is to do the "right thing". Screw you dude.

What part of "Certified BMW service of ESHER dealership" was not understood?

[X5M_DA]

op go to Chapparone they just fixed my x5m had >20k damage I'm local to SD and can vouch for their work

[mjr24]

So they are saying they will repair that whole thing for $600 labor...in Mexico?

I understand you are trying to save money but, wow.....wouldn't want to be the next buyer of this car.

Is the other accident the only thing on your record? Your insurance might not go up that much and they certainly won't drop you unless there is obviously other stuff on there (meaning DUI accident/vehicular manslaughter, etc).

You might want to look at Progressive....they keep accidents on for 5 years but it only affects your rate for 3 years. I can attest to this. You shouldn't ever be afraid to use your insurance on something major (I can understand if it were a door ding).

[Loft23]

I think the OP mentioned something happening to him earlier in the year and wanted to avoid insurance. He didn't mention what though.

[greentrbo95gst]

Originally Posted by rampage76

I've heard good things about Chapporone but I will post a full review for everyone when I have more experience with them.

My insurance contract with Qualitas, says that I am entitled to US labor rates if I submit estimates from 2 body shops of my choosing. They have set their Mexican labor rates to 150 pesos/hour or 10.20$/hour with the current exchange rate. As discussed earlier, any body shop will charge a minimum of 58$ USD per hour, dealers can go into 70-100+ $/hr. The only thing that I might have going for me is that they did not include the parts in the quote. They said that the parts were being marked up by the body shop and that every insurance company can get them at a discount. So, they will not include parts in their estimate, it was purely the labor. But still 600$ vs. $5000 actual labor costs is a huge difference.

Originally Posted by Palomequet

What part of "Certified BMW service of ESHER dealership" was not understood?

Why dont you two hug it out, give yourself a virtual kiss and move on?