[Yarbis]

Good morning everyone, I have some bad news... a few months ago, my e93 had a play date with a jersey barrier at 5:30 am on my way to work.


Sadly, there were 3 tractor trailers and a dump truck surrounding me, and it was POURING rain, my high wipers could barely keep up so I was going 60 in a 65. There was two tractor trailers in front of me, side by side, and a dump truck and tractor trailer side by side behind me, so I was surrounded. They were in the left and middle lane, and I was in the left as well. A right lane just opened up, and I really couldn't see due to the tractors in front of me, so I had the bright idea of maybe seeing a little better in the right lane with nobody in front of me. Well, the water ruts the tractors were making for me were the only thing keeping me straight and gripped. As soon as I merged, I felt the back end slip a little, so I let off the gas in 6th, and within a split second I started spinning. I did two full rotations, and managed to get the car straight, but the kinetic energy of the car was still headed to the jersey barrier. I then sat on the side of the road for an hour waiting for my dad to show up too grab me, and another half hour for the tow truck. For that whole hour I was holding a Mexican blanket (you know, the one with all the holes in it) trying to block the rain from coming in since my window was coiled up laying outside. The only air bag that popped was my driver's seat bolster out of the m3 seats I retrofitted. I believe most of my impact was on my wheel, but as you can see in the pictures, it hit where the headlight mounts above the wheel, and also the front of the door.

Anyways, I've been pretty heartbroken ever since, since this is the first BIG purchase I've made, just paid it off after 2 years, and have always modified my previous cars, but nothing like this car. I am IN LOVE with this platform and the N54. I really am not able to say goodbye to this car, for many reasons. The time and money I've put into it, and the time I've spent in this car. For the two years I owned it, I was watching emergency generators for eversource, and spent over 1400 hours a year just sitting in the driver's seat, only running the car when its unbearably hot or cold outside. On top of that, I put about 37,500 miles on it since I've owned it, so it is almost a second home to me, lol.

So this is what has brought me to ask for opinions- I didn't have collision on the car, as it was over 300$ a month for that insurance, and I am a decent driver. I drive fast, but I spend lots of money on tires and fit the widest I can, so anything that happens is on me, not the car. The irony is I replaced the front tires the week before my accident, and already ordered the rear tires but was picking them up the day after collision. I always put Continue DWS06's on, 275's in the rear all year round, and this car was a BEAST in the snow. Traction was insane for a RWD car, and never gave me issues no matter how much snow was on the ground. Just buy DWS's before the snow so they have the best snow-ability. Anyways- The car body looks pretty straight to me all around, gap wise. It's a little saggy on the front side, but until I put new control arms and such on, I wont really be able to tell 100%. I am willing to fix this car myself, as I've always done any repair myself, and I have a lift just to I knock that out of question. My main question is, what do you guys think? Is it worth fixing, or does it look too far gone? I'm going to pull the motor if it isn't worth my time, and slap it in an e30 or something, but I'd much rather keep this car. I want to buy a parts car for body panels and whatever else I need, but I can't decide myself if it's just too gone to fix, being a unibody.

Now, the bottom door mount is bent back a little, where the headlight mounts is bent in too, but just rolled downward. The scariest part is the bottom corner by the wheel and rocker, as I don't have a reference as to how crushed in that corner really is. It looks like its just the crush zone (the sheet metal) that's bent in, and the actual unibody is fine. The steering rack snapped, the control arms bent, my tie rod is MIA, and my oil plan cracked from the subframe (I believe). I'd either get a parts car or just upgrade all of the suspension, and grab used parts for the rest. I'm willing to put the time and money in, IF it is save-able in other's eyes. Thanks for looking!

[Yarbis]

Pics didn't post, working on it now.

[Yarbis]

Part two of pics.

[Yarbis]

Just a heads up, some pics are portrait, so If viewing on an iPad or computer you may need to scroll down. Let me know if you guys want more angles/ more underneath. It doesn't roll so I can't get it on the lift yet, but can jack it up.

[jsunma]

Sorry for your accident.

I don't have any informed opinions on what it would cost to fix this or if it would be worthwhile, but just a few questions which might expedite other more knowledgeable folks offering opinions...

1) This is a 2010?

2) I take it this is chalked up to being a "single vehicle accident", and hence you have chosen (up to this point) not to deal with insurance?

3) Was there a police report, and if so, do you have a copy?

I ask because you may not want to totally give up on making an insurance claim, if you can. I don't know IF you can, but having some kind of official report on the accident would help if that was something you wanted to do.

At minimum, I'd get the car to a body shop for an estimate and (more important) for them to check out whether the car is still straight or just how far out of straight it is. That could make all of the difference in terms of whether it's reasonable to fix (and would be what insurance would do first). No one online can do anything other than guess as to what real damage might exist. You need to get someone professional to really check it out.

Good luck!!

(I was once pinned in my car as a sandwich between a jersey barrier and the wheels of a giant box truck...the result of road conditions on the Jersey Turnpike much as you describe your accident. That car...a VW Golf...actually got fixed and carried on. Of course, that was a straight squishing and didn't involve any tweaking or twisting)

[3PedalJake]

Ugh thats a heartbreaker. I don't think there's any way to know if it's too far gone by looking at it, it looks like it needs a trip to a collision shop and put on a rack to see if anything is bent. The front subframe must have taken a good whack to break the tie rod and bend the control arm like that. Hopefully they absorbed the impact but I'd have that checked and the unibody there by the A pillar. I would fix it if the body is straight, you can't buy anything like that new and it's a MT, those are always worth saving. Even if the subframe is bent you can pick up a used one on ebay for a couple hundred, even a complete M3 subframe with all the suspension attached goes pretty cheap on there. As long as the body isn't bent too bad you can save it, I hope you do.

[Twix]

I’m gonna say with the value of the car and the extent of that damage that she’s a write off.

I’d skip the insurance and start looking for a replacement

[tlow98]

We need some facts:

Year
Mileage

90% likely if it’s over >75k miles in the car it’s a write-off. If it were just that front end maybe worth reviving, but then you have the rear plus suspension plus oil pan plus door plus door striker plus rocker plus plus plus.

[CTinline-six]

Sorry that's totaled.

[Buug959]

First of all I don't think there is any doubt that this car would be written off by most any insurance company. I don't think that is the OP's question though. He is asking if the car is repairable. The best way to determine that is to have it checked by a body shop on a frame rack as mentioned by others. If the car is straight and you know the engine isn't ruined due to oil starvation from the broken oil pan then the next thing I would do is find a donor car for parts. Once you have a good donor car it's just a matter of swapping in the good parts for the damaged ones. It will be a lot of work but, as OP says, he loves his car so it'll be a labour of love.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by LemansE90335xi

First of all I don't think there is any doubt that this car would be written off by most any insurance company. I don't think that is the OP's question though. He is asking if the car is repairable. The best way to determine that is to have it checked by a body shop on a frame rack as mentioned by others. If the car is straight and you know the engine isn't ruined due to oil starvation from the broken oil pan then the next thing I would do is find a donor car for parts. Once you have a good donor car it's just a matter of swapping in the good parts for the damaged ones. It will be a lot of work but, as OP says, he loves his car so it'll be a labour of love.

Agree 100% with your advice.

OP, based on how the door doesn't line up at all, the left frame is probably FUBAR and will require being cut out and replaced by a straight part. You need a qualified body shop who can measure the unibody to BMW specs. It's possible a body shop can pull the frame straight, but it's expensive if it's possible. If the frame is not straight, you'll never get the panels to line up and it to track straight. The body straightness is critical for roof alignment; I doubt you'd get the roof to work again.

Find a similar E93 and start over. Running 275's, regardless of tire tread depth, made it easy for the car to hydroplane with all the various forces acting on it.

[Yarbis]

Originally Posted by jsunma

Sorry for your accident.

I don't have any informed opinions on what it would cost to fix this or if it would be worthwhile, but just a few questions which might expedite other more knowledgeable folks offering opinions...

1) This is a 2010?

2) I take it this is chalked up to being a "single vehicle accident", and hence you have chosen (up to this point) not to deal with insurance?

3) Was there a police report, and if so, do you have a copy?

I ask because you may not want to totally give up on making an insurance claim, if you can. I don't know IF you can, but having some kind of official report on the accident would help if that was something you wanted to do.

At minimum, I'd get the car to a body shop for an estimate and (more important) for them to check out whether the car is still straight or just how far out of straight it is. That could make all of the difference in terms of whether it's reasonable to fix (and would be what insurance would do first). No one online can do anything other than guess as to what real damage might exist. You need to get someone professional to really check it out.

Good luck!!

(I was once pinned in my car as a sandwich between a jersey barrier and the wheels of a giant box truck...the result of road conditions on the Jersey Turnpike much as you describe your accident. That car...a VW Golf...actually got fixed and carried on. Of course, that was a straight squishing and didn't involve any tweaking or twisting)

1-Yes it is a 2010
2&3- 3 state troopers passed and didn't come back, so no police report or insurance contacted since I don't have collision. I was very lucky in that respect.

I originally had it at a body shop, they stopped at 10g's, however they used all new oem parts. The only issue I have with that is I can get used parts for MUCH less. I.E.- a new oil pan is 1g, but on eBay they go for around 200. Obviously bigger parts are at a smaller fraction of a cost, but I wouldn't be scared throwing a few g's in it, to regain my investment. I'll have to call them and see if they still have a report on the measurements, but thank you, Ill have to I get it rollable and have it towed to a collision shop just to really see.

ps- I'm in a mk7 git for the time being, bought it with only 18k miles and its a 2015... That must've been wild walking away looking at how the car must've been, since there's almost no car to it!

[Yarbis]

Originally Posted by 3PedalJake

Ugh thats a heartbreaker. I don't think there's any way to know if it's too far gone by looking at it, it looks like it needs a trip to a collision shop and put on a rack to see if anything is bent. The front subframe must have taken a good whack to break the tie rod and bend the control arm like that. Hopefully they absorbed the impact but I'd have that checked and the unibody there by the A pillar. I would fix it if the body is straight, you can't buy anything like that new and it's a MT, those are always worth saving. Even if the subframe is bent you can pick up a used one on ebay for a couple hundred, even a complete M3 subframe with all the suspension attached goes pretty cheap on there. As long as the body isn't bent too bad you can save it, I hope you do.

Definitely a heart breaker. I'll have to bring it back to a collision shop and have it re-measured, but yeah the fact it's a unibody is the worst part being they always get screwed up in accidents. Good point about the MT too, and you are right on the M3 subframes, thank you for that idea! Thanks man.

[Yarbis]

Originally Posted by Twix

I'm gonna say with the value of the car and the extent of that damage that she's a write off.

I'd skip the insurance and start looking for a replacement

Definitely skipping insurance, since I have no police report or collision on it, but I do agree that an insurance company would write it off. I have a feeling that just finding a new one is my best bet, just sucks since I've done so much to this thing.

Originally Posted by tlow98

We need some facts:

Year
Mileage

90% likely if it's over >75k miles in the car it's a write-off. If it were just that front end maybe worth reviving, but then you have the rear plus suspension plus oil pan plus door plus door striker plus rocker plus plus plus.

2010, and 130K. I definitely agree its a write off if I went through insurance. The rear is untouched, except for the side bumper and that small piece of fender though, so its really only damage to that front drivers wheel and suspension there, I would hope to think. But good input, thank you!

[Yarbis]

Originally Posted by LemansE90335xi

First of all I don't think there is any doubt that this car would be written off by most any insurance company. I don't think that is the OP's question though. He is asking if the car is repairable. The best way to determine that is to have it checked by a body shop on a frame rack as mentioned by others. If the car is straight and you know the engine isn't ruined due to oil starvation from the broken oil pan then the next thing I would do is find a donor car for parts. Once you have a good donor car it's just a matter of swapping in the good parts for the damaged ones. It will be a lot of work but, as OP says, he loves his car so it'll be a labour of love.

Perfectly said. My next move is to bring it somewhere, and get it remeasured if they don't still have my report at the initial shop. The engine turned off immediately, and the battery died in a mater of a few minutes, which was weird. I did try to turn it back on, but it didn't turn over, or sound like it tried to. Don't know if that has anything to do with ROPS being deployed though, maybe needs some codes cleared or something stupid. Thank you for your input and clarifying for everyone!

[Yarbis]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Agree 100% with your advice.

OP, based on how the door doesn't line up at all, the left frame is probably FUBAR and will require being cut out and replaced by a straight part. You need a qualified body shop who can measure the unibody to BMW specs. It's possible a body shop can pull the frame straight, but it's expensive if it's possible. If the frame is not straight, you'll never get the panels to line up and it to track straight. The body straightness is critical for roof alignment; I doubt you'd get the roof to work again.

Find a similar E93 and start over. Running 275's, regardless of tire tread depth, made it easy for the car to hydroplane with all the various forces acting on it.

So with the door, I believe it only isn't lining up because the door got hit in the VERY front, and the bottom door mount is bent towards the rear a little bit. It looks tilted upward, I know the picture isn't the best to determine that. You are totally right about the body being straight and that if it isn't, it's a lost cause since nothing will be like it was before. At that point I would just swallow getting another e93. I know measurements tell much more than the eye, however my roof is straight and sealed normally everywhere, at least it looks like to me.


And that's for sure with the 275's in that kind of rain, which I have never driven in any rain like that before with that car. However, it's always been a champ even in heavy rain, but the culprit was for sure that I had P-Zeros that were on their way out in the back. The DWS's grip insane in any condition, but you are right that skinnier tires cut through better in any rain/snow setting. Less surface area= more weight on a smaller surface, which cuts through instead of packs down, like a wide tire, is what I think you're getting at right?

Ty for the input!