Crunched Fender...Ouch

Taking my son to his basketball game this morning a kid in an F250 decided to stop halfway through a left hand turn and try a U-turn instead...going downhill in the rain I didn't have a chance. My fault for following too close I guess.







The last picture showing the caved-in inner fender is the most worrying for me, is that fixable?

Having a bad day, my laptop woke up with a crippling Trojan and I get in my first accident ever....

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Matt in Everett, WA

BMW n00b with a 1987 325e

Wow, that looks bad but I bet you can find enough parts from some of the folks who have parted out some to replace all the dented stuff.

Bob in Lake Havasu

Ouch!

I feel your pain.
But, you are in luck...nothing I see in your photos can't be easily and rather inexpensively replaced at your local 'pick a part' wrecking yard.

I'm guessing that you'll have the E30 back in original condition in a short time.

I wish I had the garage space to get a project E30 to replace my beloved isold to pay some of life's stupid bills).

I agree - that looks fixable. You might even come out better off. It looks like there's some body filler in the hood and fender. If you can get a good straight hood and fender out of the boneyard and repaint them to match the car, you'll be better off. The inner fender can be straightened so you can bolt the outer parts on.

John

Quote
Milo
Taking my son to his basketball game this morning a kid in an F250 decided to stop halfway through a left hand turn and try a U-turn instead...going downhill in the rain I didn't have a chance. My fault for following too close I guess.







The last picture showing the caved-in inner fender is the most worrying for me, is that fixable?

Having a bad day, my laptop woke up with a crippling Trojan and I get in my first accident ever....

That last picture is a little dark so it's hard to tell what the actual damage is but pull some of the outer skins off and take a few more. The inner frame work doesn't have to be perfect but everything will have to bolt up in the right place so it has to be close....

One trick for the bumper mounts, if the subframe receiver holes are out of true, is to shim the bumper mounts (on either the top or bottom of the mount to bumper) to make up the difference and put the bumper straight. Once I find the right size shim I usually glue it in place just to make sure it never leaves the area.

I agree with the other guys, looks really fixable, and you might have leaned a good lesson; don't follow too closely, 90% of people driving today don't have a clue out there.... just sayin

Cheers, Rick

Sorry to hear, from your story there was little to be done to avoid the hit, apart from not being there at the moment...

The car looks easy enought to fix by some half decent body shop.
Some shops would prefer to restore the panles as they are than repaint salvaged ones.

If you want to do it yourself, provide you have the skill and a place to work on it, it should be OK.
Just don't go cheap on the painting job, and while at it, touch up all the scratches and litle things around the car, give it some wax and it will be like new again!
I had mine much worse once, crushed radiator and all, and it was fixed perfectly.
The other car, I recall, had a completely new rear.

Good luck, keep us posted!

Spent the weekend jumping into the deep end of the bodywork pool...I don't like it. Took the bench vise off my bench and with a couple of 2x4s in the jaws did a decent job of straightening the accordion out, a big hammer and various wood blocks backed by a sledge hammer worked well. the outer headlight mounting tab was a complete loss so I'll have to pop-rivet some angle aluminum to the inner fender to do the job.

Found another hood, (4) headlights and both grilles for $80. Still looking for a fender but I think I hammered mine out enough to fit until I find one.

Thanks guys!

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Matt in Everett, WA

BMW n00b with a 1987 325e

[www.bmwpugetsound.com]

Here is your fender....

Bob in Lake Havasu

Just my type, rattlecanned and hopefully cheap. I'll ping him, know where he lives? I hammered the fender back to where it will fit, everything underneath is hamburger. I'm debating just leaving it ugly and driving it as the fender mounting rail is tweaked and the new hood doesn't fit very good. Maybe I'll find a really nice car with big miles and a busted timing belt to put my driveline into...maybe.

Got the car re-assembled in time for the BIZZARD OF 2012 and I've been having a blast mucking around in the sloppy snow. The LSD makes snow driving fun and the added traction is welcome. No chains, snow tires or extra weight. I probably should have a shovel and bag of Johnny Cat in the trunk but I like living on the edge.

No pics of the repair carnage because it's been covered in snow since I fixed it, it's gotten me to work every day and I'm becoming attached to the e30 experience.

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Matt in Everett, WA

BMW n00b with a 1987 325e



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2012 07:33PM by Milo.

You inspire me man. I declined to drive my E-30 in the snow as I was concerned about the "other guy" clobbering me. I have some good snow tires on it but....

I think I do know where the guy with the fender lives. It is in the Capitol hill area. He has some convertible specific parts I would hate to see him throw away but would not want to pay a lot for them as I do not need them (yet). Might want to check to see that the fender will fit. There were some variations and his might be from a convertible.

I bought some wheels from him a couple years ago.

Bob in Lake Havasu



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2012 08:59PM by Bob in Everett.