[Dan in Seattle]

Hi Everyone,

I was rear-ended by a pizza delivery van! I was stopped, waiting for the car in front of me to make a left turn. The van hit me at speed, probably about 30 mph, with no sign of slowing down. He must have been looking at his phone. I saw it coming in my rear-view mirror. Luckily, I'm fine. The result is that the repair shop (Haury's Lakecity Collision, BMW certified) believes the actual repair costs will be close to twice the $8,200 estimate by my insurance (Ameriprise). My M5 with 116k miles that I have owned since 2006 is totaled. The insurance valuation came back at $13,337 w/o tax and fees. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to repair it but I'm glad that I've become a lot less "emotional" about my M5. I realize the value is low so I'm contesting the value and will be providing my comparable examples. While doing this, I'm trying to decide whether to buy the salvage. My insurance has said the salvage is $5,360. I don't want to be the one to part it. I'm seeking advice on whether to let it go or try to find someone who wants to fix it. What do you all think? I'll take any advice on how to maximize the value as well.

Thanks everyone!

 

[SurgeSi]

so this is a 2000 M5 with 116,000 miles?
Any aftermarket parts installed? i believe i see dinan exhaust.
What are you looking to get for the car to buy out right?
I'm just wondering, im local

 

[Marvinnga]

So sorry to hear of your loss Dan and glad that you are ok.

I too am very scared about what may show up in the rear view mirror without stopping especially here in Atlanta.

I think you should keep the car get it repaired and keep on enjoying her.

 

[amancuso]

Sad day indeed. If it's something you want to keep and fix, it might be worth it. Is there any damage to the suspension or drivetrain that would cause you not to fix?

 

[technician117]

Sorry to see posts like this, but glad you are ok.

I can't comment on whether or not I would keep it and fix it because I can't see the damage on the sides, ie doors open/close ok, wrinkles in the quarters, etc.

If the car is deemed a total loss and you don't want to fix it, a part out is the most profitable way to go. If you don't have the time or space, I suggest selling to a board member. In particular there are a few who specialize in parting out wrecked e39 M5's. IMO the most well know is Adam B. His handle is Clemster on the board.

 

[xrviz]

Does the repair shop think frame is bent? I would agree with tech, sell to Clemster. She will live on as an organ donor.

 

[hcaleman]

Sorry to hear this, I went through this a few weeks ago, see my thread. Did you tense up if you saw it coming and feel worse afterwards as a result? I was sitting in a line of cars so the impact launched me forward and damaged my front end as well, estimate was ~15k from insurance. I received a fair total loss settlement and buy-back offer which I passed onto Clemster. Relatively easy process, hopefully he'll have the car soon and start picking it apart for everyone.

 

[Geoff.T]

That's terrible. Just remember that their insurance is suppose to cover the cost of replacement for an equivalent vehicle. Not necessarily what blue book value is. You don't have to take their "blue book" offer.

 

[Landscraper]

Oh NO! Sorry to hear about that. Haury's is hit or miss. I have a few Porsche friends who swears by them - other friends not so much. Have you thought about getting a second look at it? I've heard good things about Cook's on Lake City Way.

If you end up buying it back let me know as I'd selfishly love to get first dibs on some parts for my TiAG (sorry to be a vulture)

 

[Sailor24]

Think your insurance company is giving you "funny numbers", I would be on them for that. The salvage buy out is usually 30% of the payout value when they first state it to you and have not started calculating to settle. You know before they decide how and where to bend you over. My assumption is they deflated the total value and then forgot to change the salvage to match but then they may want to keep that high to convince you to do things their way. In any event there are discrepancies, so you know you need to work on them.
The price they gave you for salvage if the 30% deal is based on a standard deal they have with wreckers. The age of the car makes that moot because it will not qualify in the standard agreement. This can all vary state to state and country to country so take it with a grain of salt. Just trying to let you know your insurance might be playing games already. So do your research.

 

[Giocchino]

My post from another topic on the same subject:

I actually had a similar thing happen to me last month almost exactly. The insurance company (state farm) tried their damnedest to get the car totalled. There were some buckles in the frame rails but after talking to the BMW collision center at the dealership nearby they said they could keep the costs pretty low (especially using the BMW total loss program which essentially provides all the parts for free to the the insurance company further lowering the repair costs, the essentially only pay for labor). The adjuster undervalued my car and was just going through the motions, it took me about 2 weeks of fighting with the claims agent. But Thursday last week I got them to roll over on the price and the new valuation meant they were sending it back to the property damage department.

It's currently sitting at the collision center waiting on another the other half of the settlement cheque now. Don't give up hope just yet, see what a dealership can do for you. I was prepared to have a salvie on my hands but turns out I'm getting 2/3 of the car repainted, new bumpers and the whole thing refreshed. Very happy.

 

[KRAM5]

Hi Everyone,

I was rear-ended by a pizza delivery van! I was stopped, waiting for the car in front of me to make a left turn. The van hit me at speed, probably about 30 mph, with no sign of slowing down. He must have been looking at his phone. I saw it coming in my rear-view mirror. Luckily, I'm fine. The result is that the repair shop (Haury's Lakecity Collision, BMW certified) believes the actual repair costs will be close to twice the $8,200 estimate by my insurance (Ameriprise). My M5 with 116k miles that I have owned since 2006 is totaled. The insurance valuation came back at $13,337 w/o tax and fees. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to repair it but I'm glad that I've become a lot less "emotional" about my M5. I realize the value is low so I'm contesting the value and will be providing my comparable examples. While doing this, I'm trying to decide whether to buy the salvage. My insurance has said the salvage is $5,360. I don't want to be the one to part it. I'm seeking advice on whether to let it go or try to find someone who wants to fix it. What do you all think? I'll take any advice on how to maximize the value as well.

Thanks everyone!

Sorry to hear, I've dealt with this a couple of times on other cars. Sometimes it works out well, others have been a real pain.
At least you have the right attitude about not being too attached. I just had some dude tap my rear bumper and crack it, luckily his Ameriprise Ins. has been reasonable to deal with.

 

[caslvre39]

need more pics but doesnt look too bad and look like he hit the bumper support well enough so it not that bad. if the rear sides are good and door gaps are good i would buy it back and fix it well enough to make it look good by using used or aftermarket parts. yeah to fix it by the bmw book it would be expensive but talk to bmw or other body shops and see what really critical and if the prices is because bmw original part pricing.

 

[Marshall Smith]

Oh NO! Sorry to hear about that. Haury's is hit or miss. I have a few Porsche friends who swears by them - other friends not so much. Have you thought about getting a second look at it? I've heard good things about Cook's on Lake City Way.

If you end up buying it back let me know as I'd selfishly love to get first dibs on some parts for my TiAG (sorry to be a vulture)

My M5 went through Haury's shop when owned by the PO when it was rear-ended and appears perfect to my eyes. They also took great care of me and really fought for as much $$$ as possible when I had my window smashed in recently. I dealt with Brad and he was on top of it.

 

[SeattleAggie]

I've heard good things about Haury's but would recommend a second look just in case, I've used Queen City Auto Rebuild on a BMW and VW with great results both times.

 

[Landscraper]

My brother just had his R32 GTR go through Haury's after it had been sideswiped. Quite a bit of time to get parts for that car (to be expected) but within reason. They were very responsive throughout the repair with daily updates and photos. One issue that came up was they accidentally cracked the windscreen (unfortunate, but accidents happen). This led to another 3 month wait but my brother got the car back while waiting for the new windshield.

Paint on the car looked great and the bodywork was pretty good. There is a very apparent gap issues near the sideskirt. The biggest issue was when he got the car back there was about an inch of standing water in the trunk. Throughout the process they had insisted they were garaging his car, but the water says otherwise. He's still waiting on the oem windshield to arrive.

Like I said, a number of Porsche guys swear by Haury's and i've also heard great things, but this experience and the litany of negative reviews on yelp would at least have me look at other options.

 

[boostd92]

$13K seems very reasonable to me.

I've been looking to buy an E39 M5 for the last 3-4 months (I just bought an '02 last week), and there are plenty of 100k+ mile MY2000 M5's for right in that range. I paid $16k for my 02 that had quite a bit more miles but is about as perfect as I can find of an example, and I paid too much (has 160k on it but looks/runs/feels like a new car, plus is a TX car that has been garaged and never seen winter).

If mine were totaled and they offered me $13,XXX for it I'd probably show them the bill of sale from a week ago, but in the end..... doesn't seem too far off for a pre-facelift car.

Just because EAG tries to sell 60k mile examples for $40,000 doesn't make others worth any more

 

[Dan in Seattle]

My post from another topic on the same subject:

I actually had a similar thing happen to me last month almost exactly. The insurance company (state farm) tried their damnedest to get the car totalled. There were some buckles in the frame rails but after talking to the BMW collision center at the dealership nearby they said they could keep the costs pretty low (especially using the BMW total loss program which essentially provides all the parts for free to the the insurance company further lowering the repair costs, the essentially only pay for labor). The adjuster undervalued my car and was just going through the motions, it took me about 2 weeks of fighting with the claims agent. But Thursday last week I got them to roll over on the price and the new valuation meant they were sending it back to the property damage department.

It's currently sitting at the collision center waiting on another the other half of the settlement cheque now. Don't give up hope just yet, see what a dealership can do for you. I was prepared to have a salvie on my hands but turns out I'm getting 2/3 of the car repainted, new bumpers and the whole thing refreshed. Very happy.

I tried searching on "BMW total loss program" and didn't see any leads for free parts from BMW. Can you provide more info? Is it specific repair shops or thru a BMW dealer or something else?

 

[Dan in Seattle]

Hey Everyone,

I tried Clemster's advice last week, asking nicely for the loss adjuster to review my valuation and salvage value. No go. I have asked for the quote or bid they received from their salvager but haven't gotten it yet. This accident and subsequent headache of a claim came at a bad time. My sister underwent abdominal surgery to remove a tumor last week, luckily it went well. She was diagnosed stage 4, advanced, two years ago and so far has beaten the the odds! The Lord is good! I'm currently on spring break vacation with the kids to Burbank and the loss adjuster called again. Haven't really been able to spend a lot of time to put together a good argument against the low value. I know I'll have to as they haven't budged at all via my verbal request for them to take another look. They are adamant about the salvage value as well. I have been trying to pick apart their component valuation which shows hardly any additional value for the great condition of my car. I know they will ask how I came up with my values which I don't have any back-up for in comparison to their "we use standard, industry values from the appraiser". I don't want to go down that route of requesting appraisers and a 3rd party arbitrator. It'll just cost money. So far, I'll be concentrating on 13 years of ownership, excellent maintenance and repair and two other local comparables. Only one of them is the same color and same year but both have 20K more miles. I think they are going to nit/pick every detail I present. In the end, I would be happy with a $14.5 - 15k value. Finally, they are telling me that they won't pay some of the repair shop's fees for tear down and computer scanning. They had to be paid before releasing the car back to me so my insurance has said they will take these fees out of my settlement. More battles to come.

Danial

 

[De-Marko]

Sorry to see! Haggling with insurance can be a real pain in the neck!