Collision Damage Help + Reminder to Drive Safe.

[BaconMafia]

Hey guys...

Unfortunately, I managed to crash my 89 325is yesterday. I was on a two landed highway interchange on ramp and right where the onramp merged, the rear end of the car suddenly kicked out and spun across 4 lanes hitting a concrete barrier. I tried my hardest to correct it but ultimately failed. I was just going the normal speed I hit that interchange at numerous times before in 4th or 5th gear, road was wet but no standing water and the tires have good tread. Looking back, I have no clue why the car rotated like that. Only thing I can think of was that there was an oil spot or just sheer bad luck.

I brought it to a local collision shop and the guy, who seemed sad to see it wrecked as he is a fellow vintage European car lover, said that the back panel, quarter panel and trunk lid need replacing and if I just gave it to him, it would cost $4800 to fix. That price includes OEM panels, paint and labor. Good news is that there seems to be no frame damage and he said that he could make it perfect and only charge for labor if I got him the parts. I also don't notice any difference in how the car handles.

Anyways, to all the other E30 owners and vintage car owners, please take good care of your car. They are all special and deserve to be taken care of whether its a $500 eta or M3. It pains me to see them crashed and pains me to share this so please, please, please make sure you have good tires and drive safe.

If any of you have any insight in how screwed I am with the damage, how I should fix it, places to get body panels or have any recommendations for body shops located in the Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee or South Carolina region, I would love to hear from you guys.

I promise I will get her back and I will start a build thread when I start the process. Sorry for bringing bad news.

[mariano_is_my_hero]

sheer bad luck lol

physics has nothing to do with an accident it always is just plain bad luck. congrats the price of the few really nice e30's left just went up

[BaconMafia]

I know... I claim full responsibility for what happened. Trust me, I hate myself a ton right now for letting it happen an endangering others.

[moatilliatta]

How much rear toe are you running?

Once these cars get proper alignment and tires, they feel wonderful in dry or rain or snow..

Sorry for your loss.

[twright]

Check the condition of the rear subframe bushings. The back end of my car was really squirrelly when mine needed to be replaced.

[BaconMafia]

I have no idea how much toe there is or the alignment. I did a rear subframe refresh back in April with oem rubber bushings, bilstein heavy duties and h&r oe sport springs. I'll take a look to see the condition of the bushings. I thought that the stock e30 subframe didn't allow for camber/toe adjustment other than lowering it or welding adjustment plates. Is that true?

[Pro1914]

Aw man, I'm so saddened to see this. I really hope things work out and you can get it fixed and back on the road!

[MrBurgundy]

lets see those tires

[roguetoaster]

lets see those tires

+ 1,000,000

[BaconMafia]

They are meh 185 all seasons. Look, I know why I crashed. I should have put on new tires when I bought it but good tires in 14 inch rims are hard to come by. I wanted to get a set of 15's before I bought good sticky tires and the tires on it worked good enough. They were predictable, gave plenty of warning before they broke loose and did the job for a car with a tired stock m20 and not racing it.

I know I crashed because the tires aren't the best, road was wet, kinda cold and maybe I was going too fast and had a random twitch on the steering wheel. I take 100% responsibility for this. If I had good tires and was a better driver, I would have not crashed and potentially become minced meat on the highway.

Go ahead and roast me for it but I thought they worked good enough as I didn't plan on driving it hard on the twisties or mod it yet. It has just been my get to work car and I've hit that exact on ramp at faster speeds before in the same exact conditions. I was just doing my normal routine when the car spun out.

I am super pissed at myself for letting it happen but it happened. So anyways, roast me for my bad decisions but here I am with a big project and I came here looking for advice on the best way to get it fixed up and just to remind people to take care of their cars so nobody has to be in my boat right now. I love that car and really want it back.

I understand I am on the internet and will get crap for it and I already have (see first reply lmao). I 100% deserve it the crap but I really would appreciate people's advice on how to get it fixed or any recommendations.

Thanks guys for the tips so far.

[BaconMafia]

Sorry for the rant. Its been a long day.

[2mAn]

I didn’t want to kick you while you’re down, best thing to do now is to fight insurance and get good money to have the car fixed.

look in the members rides for Panici, he just had very similar damage and has repaired it.

This previously would’ve been a r3v’d total followed by a lot of shit talking but the cars are worth more now

Dont give up, fight and come back stronger.

[BaconMafia]

look in the members rides for Panici, he just had very similar damage and has repaired it.

This previously would’ve been a r3v’d total followed by a lot of shit talking but the cars are worth more now

Dont give up, fight and come back stronger.

Thanks so much for your reply. This is exactly what I wanted to see. Looks like the damage got fixed nicely. I'll try and contact insurance but I'm worried they'll just total it and raise my rates. Gonna get a second opinion from other shops too.

Sorry again for the earlier rant. I had no reason to go off and need to take the shit talking better with a sense of humor lol. I'll get the car fixed I promise.

[Panici]

Sorry to see this, I know first hand how much it hurts. Take comfort that it's repairable.

As 2mAn just mentioned, my car took similar damage recently. More pictures in my r3v build thread (link in signature)
My agreed value (20k) policy worked out well. I was paid out for the damage, and the car still has a clean title as the damage was much less then the 20k it would take to total it out.


Just finished my "temporary" repair job this afternoon.
I say temporary, as to repair it properly I really need to source a new quarter panel and cut/replace what is on my car.


Biggest step was finding a shop I trusted to pull the body and frame back out straight. I can't really believe how good a job they did.
I'll take my car back to them for the quarter panel replacement if I don't tackle the repair myself.

[BaconMafia]

Thanks so much for your reply. This is the info I needed. That's a bummer that it will need a new panel though. The shops that I went to said that it will need new panels. Looks like more shopping time.