M52 318is wrecked opinions

[DirtyThurty]

First off all not sure where to put this so please move as necessary.

So front of my e30 met the back of a tractor trailer yesterday pic attached.

Issue is i just wanted to see what yall would do in this situation. Only have liability so gotta pay out of pocket. Basically pushed in the upper core support/radiator into engine busted up radiator/hood/fenders/twisted part of the valance. Still is easily driveable except for the radiator. Ran great.

Options
-Cut out upper core support weld in new one and new valance replace all parts painted
-Part it out
-Sell as is

Quick list of mods:
-91 318is
-M52B28 (S52 cams)
-Getrag 240
-3.73 lsd
-Chipped 413
-Clean tan leather interior

[Northern]

parts car, transplant rad support/straighten surroundings, transfer body panels, paint.

[2mAn]

Pull off the broken parts and see how bad it really is. that looks like it can be fixed

edit: side note, how did you like your setup? mine will be very similar except I will be a lot lighter than you, but powerwise we are almost exactly the same

[dereliiict]

parts car, transplant rad support/straighten surroundings, transfer body panels, paint.

Agreed. Look on here for parts or go to your local u pull it.

Looks like a pretty easy fix.

[Cephas]

Fix it.

[10Toes]

Fix it.

This, it dosen't look that bad.

[10Toes]

Pull off the broken parts and see how bad it really is. that looks like it can be fixed

edit: side note, how did you like your setup? mine will be very similar except I will be a lot lighter than you, but powerwise we are almost exactly the same

About 2% less weight over the whole car isn't that big of a difference you won't wouldn't even feel the difference if you added 50 lbs into the engine bay.

[DesertBMW]

Only have liability so gotta pay out of pocket.

Did you get a citation on 'failure to avoid impact'?

I would fix it.

[illest318i]

It ain't even that bad tho!




On a more serious note, looks like it's fixable. Good luck.

[mr2peak]

If you were in SF I'd buy your swap

[willworkfore30s]

Sell as is. To me

[nando]

Looks like the same damage i had. Its not that bad.

[travis816]

First off all not sure where to put this so please move as necessary.

So front of my e30 met the back of a tractor trailer yesterday pic attached.

Issue is i just wanted to see what yall would do in this situation. Only have liability so gotta pay out of pocket. Basically pushed in the upper core support/radiator into engine busted up radiator/hood/fenders/twisted part of the valance. Still is easily driveable except for the radiator. Ran great.

Options
-Cut out upper core support weld in new one and new valance replace all parts painted
-Part it out
-Sell as is

Quick list of mods:
-91 318is
-M52B28 (S52 cams)
-Getrag 240
-3.73 lsd
-Chipped 413
-Clean tan leather interior

Please don't throw this car away. It is not a terrible bad crash, I Have seen and fixed way worse. These cars cant all get thrown away!

[DirtyThurty]

Ok thanks a bunch guys just wanted to make sure I know how much these cars can go for with nice swaps which it was very cleanly done. Will be keeping an eye out a pull-a-part and craigslist

[charlie2309]

looks like you rear ended a trailer truck, based on how high the hit was on your car. You completely missed the bumper. The best kind of front end hit! You completely missed the frame rails. You can fix this car with simple hand tools in an afternoon.
So, you need a hood, both fenders/sidemarkers, headlights, grills & kidneys, and possibly radiator support. The radiator and condenser themselves you will have to see if they're punctured/ damaged. If so, those too.
What you want to do is take the time to find a matching red car for the donor. junkyards usually sell hoods between 50-60. Fenders usually 40-45.
Grills, headlights and kidneys should run anywhere from 40-100. depending on yard.The radiator support, (if you can't bend it back into shape) will be 40-60. Radiators are usually a little pricey because of the copper and aluminum, they have value as scrap. But 65. will usually get you a rad., slightly less for condenser. So use that as a reference for whether you'd be better off buying a whole parts car, keeping the bits you need or wish to sell her on r3v, and then running whats left over the scales for scrap, selling to junkyard. You will need a title to do that, so make sure if you buy a parts car, it has a good title. Around here cars the size of e30's are bringing between 250-325. in scrap, less depending how much weight you remove.
But again, if you find a car that is the same red as your car, its a one day bolt on affair in your driveway and you are done. Not to mention the car will not look to be repaired from a wreck. The way it will be if you have the front cap painted at a body shop. Bmw paint is very good quality. I find their single stage paints to be very consistent from one car to the next, and can usually be buffed back into shine, even when badly oxidized. I have taken many panels off one e30 to put on another, and they matched perfectly.
But you need to check the colormatch before you seal the deal. You don't know if the donor car (or yours for that matter) has been resprayed at some point in its life, in which case the panels will not match, no matter what you do.
If you do elect to have the front cap painted, if you do the prepwork yourself (scuff, mask, trim and light removal, any filler work) you should be able to get a good front cap respray for around 300.

Of course if you just drop the car off to a body shop and ask them to do a turnkey repair- ITS TOTALED!

So your best bet is get aquainted with a matching red clean e30 with a bad motor/ trans. Strip your front cap off, making notes of how everything is arranged, and replace them with the straight panels from your donor.
Good luck!