M3 - minor accident - potentially large bill?

Possibly hitting a bus (broader impact) rather than going bumper to bumper with a smaller vehicle has made it look worse than it is cosmetically but still looks a bit more than minor damage.
 
I did the same but with a slightly smaller vehicle a few years ago with very similar damage and wasn't expecting much of a repair bill.

On my Honda Civic the bill came back to just shy of £5k. There was all other things people have already mentioned that I wouldn't have thought about such as headlights, re-spray blend ins etc.

We learn from our mistakes thats why we're human and pay for insurance. :)
 
pepsilol said:
Don't entertain anyone other than the dealer for this job. You want to be able to go back to someone as many times as you want to complain, and the person you complain to isn't going to be losing out on profit due to your complaint.

This is critical in the bodyshop arena.
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There are specialist body shops who are the very best out there with approvals from all manufacturers. I would take my car to one of these before a dealer, knowing that many dealers use them too!
 
I always try to use Shiltons in Epping for any bodywork. They are an approved Mercedes bodyshop but will if course work on other cars and I often see quite high end vehicles there. My little Golf is usually the cheapest thing there. Even though it is 1.5 hours drive for me, and they are not cheap, I am always very happy with their work. It is a higher standard than the official VW bodyshop I had to use for some warranty work recently.

I would always prefer to use my own preferred company than someone elses.
 
Housey said:
There are specialist body shops who are the very best out there with approvals from all manufacturers. I would take my car to one of these before a dealer, knowing that many dealers use them too!
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This.

When my 911 was marked, I repeat marked by recover truck collecting it after a flat tyre I informed the recovery company. Who sent out their manager who confirmed the marks and small crease in the bumper would have being caused when it was winched on the back of the truck.

To the eye there was no visible damage, just a faint crease in the bumper and two marks in the front splitter.

I insisted it went to the Porsche approved bodyshop who were also approved by BMW, Ferrari, Bentley for repairing cars.

What I thought would be low-cost turned out in a £5000+ bill as they replaced bumper and sprayed the entire front of the car and wings to ensure you could not tell it had being painted. The only way you can tell my car has being painted is with a depth gauge as the job is simply spotless.

I was lucky as it was not an insurance job for me but on the recovery firms insurance.

My point is that is probably £10,000 to put right to correct standards, get it to an approved bodyshop (ask your local BMW dealer who they use) and then leave it for them to sort out. :)
 
I no understand why the OP don't just let the insurance sort it out :confused:

Unless his only covered by third party or was not insured...Which on a high value car like that would be crazy
 
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TGM in Fleet. They fixed my DC5 when I smashed it up and have done many body shop jobs on my cars over the years, cannot fault there work. Approved repairer as well.
 
~>Dg<~ said:
lol

realistically 2-3 grand would fix it.

10,000 looool
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Porsche had no damage, just a mark on bumper, but to have it perfect meant new bumper and front splitter, plus paint and labour, total £5500.

This is easily £10,000 replacing all damaged parts with genuine and a good paint job done to BMW standards, which is exactly the minimum I'd want if it was my car.

It's not some old shed that mate with a body shop can beat panels back into shape and do a cheap paint job on.
 
Gibbo said:
Porsche had no damage, just a mark on bumper, but to have it perfect meant new bumper and front splitter, plus paint and labour, total £5500.

This is easily £10,000 replacing all damaged parts with genuine and a good paint job done to BMW standards, which is exactly the minimum I'd want if it was my car.

It's not some old shed that mate with a body shop can beat panels back into shape and do a cheap paint job on.
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First thing I was asked when I took my car to a specialist bodyshop that were used by Porsche was "is this going through the insurance?" I can only assume that it would have been is a bottomless pit if I said yes.
 
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