BMW 911 - HELP NEEDED! - Earthquake Edition

[WineCountryE30]

Ok E30 guys I need help!
Some of you may have heard about the earthquake we had. Well...

My cousin and I had my E30 (91 318i) up on 4 stands and 2 floor jacks, and we had just finished replacing every part in the rear suspension and were making good progress on the front. (We replaced every piece of rubber and every part in the suspension/braking/steering systems) The control arms and struts had been removed, and the new power steering rack with new tie rods was set in place but was not bolted in. We called it a day around 8pm with the plan of assembling the front the following morning.

At 330AM I ran from my house over a sea of broken glass to turn off the water (several geysers in my house had to be stopped) as I round the corner I see the BMW on its side just before I watch it roll over and slam down (the correct way sans wheels)) onto the jacks and stands (all bent to hell) I got the car back up off the ground, but I don't know how to begin assessing the damage to see if its a total loss. The only thing I know for sure is that the gas tank remains intact.

I could really use some advice or some direction on how to precede. Frankly the only thing I know how to do would be to slap the struts back on get the wheels mounted and take it to my mechanic.

Broke, homeless, and car-less. At least my 76 jeep cj5 (with only 48k miles) made it through the falling debris like the rock it is.

-Dustin

[Andy.B]

I am having a hard time picturing what happened. Was it on the side, as in doors on the ground? Or just kind of rocked off the jack stands? Pictures would be helpful in assessing the damage.

[jalopi]

Holy shit, sounds like something from a movie

But yeah, that description was a little confusing... got pics of the car right now?

[WineCountryE30]

Sorry I'm at work, first day back. I can see how that would be confusing. The car is not damaged to badly on the side. It was leaning on the stands up on the rocker panels before it fell back over onto its bottom. The Mirror and paint above the black door trim is fine. I'm mostly concerned that falling into the jacks and stands bent or otherwise screwed up the undercarriage etc.

[jalopi]

Aah lol, your initial description made it sound like you had the car up on its side or something when the quake happened.

There's a few things that might've gotten fucked up from that, though somewhat easy to fix.

*Floor pan might've got dented up. A hammer will fix this.

*Fuel lines or brake lines might've gotten kinked or bent up if the jacks hit em on their way down. If so, cut out the bad portions and use unions (but please, mother of god, not compression fittings) and new line to fix it.

... and that's about it. All the other suspension stuff'll hold up fine with that kind of abuse. Might've cracked a rotor or something but in most cases that'd be the extent of the damage. You'd have to post pics to give us a real idea of what might've happened. Sorry about the massive loss, but if it's any consolation, sounds like your e30 is more than salvageable.

[WineCountryE30]

Thanks for the help. It has been a long week and a half.

The car is back on its wheels and as you predicted the suspension looks ok. It did however bend one of the new tierods up pretty good, but that's a lot better then what I was fearing.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

You got pics of the car?

[ST1G]

You got pics of the car?

I hope so, because I'm real confused.