[NoMods]

You need to read the book "Laws of Attraction."

Sorry to see your bimmer damaged.

[canucklion]

executive, you can't sell your passenger side xenon, if the insurance is buying you a new set of headlights, they're keeping your old/damaged ones

[canucklion]

or if the passenger side is not damaged at all, they'll just get you the driver side xenon

[larryn]

I don't get this whole thing. There has got to be a relevant part of the story missing. Why was this guy tailgating you to begin with? Why were you calling the cops on a tailgater? You say he was swerving in and out of traffic. Did you see him in your rear view mirror zipping through traffic, and he decided to go through all that weaving just to tailgate you?

I'm certainly sorry your car got messed up though, and glad you're OK. Something just seems either one-sided or wrong about the story though.

[musc]

This really sucks. I remember seeing your post just a few weeks ago after you had detailed your car.

Looks like everyone else has covered what you could have/should have/didn't/did do... so I just hope this all works out for the best.

[BimmerCrack]

That damage is gonna run you somewhere around 10 g's.
It's not the part that will get you, its the labor. Wait and see.

[Shinobi]

Originally Posted by Paul330d

Sorry to hear about your woes. I think we could all recount similar tales of road rage Technically, though, aren't you responsible for the accident with the Ford, seeing as how you ran into the back of it? I mean, it has to be someone's fault and I don't think you could say it was the Ford driver's... I don't know how it works in the US, but I think that's what they'd say here in Europe, even if your 'self-defence' claim is morally justifiable.

Yea, that's what I'm wondering. Does the innocent driver in the Ford care why "you" ran into him? I would think that neither he nor his insurance company is going to wait for any outcome between you and this other driver.

Oh, and just so I'm clear on this...you're in this situation where the black SUV stops in the street, the driver steps out towards you and this action apparently "scares" you into running away, and in doing so, you run into an innocent driver, and you tell the police dispatcher that you just got "involved by an accident with the car I was reporting", but your BMW and the black SUV never actually came into contact. The driver of the black SUV leaves the scene and you're the victim of a HIT and RUN? Interesting...I'm going to be chatting with my lawyer soon - I'm curious what he'd say about this.

[s4iscool]

it wasnt a "hit & run" as this post is titled.

[MacAttack]

NSS

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by shadowcoder

$3,800?

Man that's so far from what you are going to hear. Be prepared to be
shocked:

1) Your bumper off, getting new one, getting it painted and putting it on is
~$1,100.
2) Your headlight alone is $1,200 without installation. And from the looks of
it you will need the lip/support for it, which you haven't accounted for. And
of course installation. Don't forget all the light bulbs. BMW is charging an
arm and a leg for those. Are your ballasts ok? If not the complete headlight,
will run at ~$1,800. And once installed it would have to be aligned properly.
It's not a blind installation.
3) The bumper at the top as well as the headlight, sit on the radiator support.
You will be extremely lucky if it is intact. If it's not or it poses a problem for
the headlight or bumper installation, you are looking at another $1,000.
4) The fender is plastic, so I'm not sure how successful it will be to "bend
back" and repainted. And it's also bent at the point where the bumper screws
on to it with 2 screws. I wouldn't be surprised if a new one is needed.
5) The hood has good chances, but it's not going to go for under $500 to
have it fixed.
6) Depending on the impact, your reinforcement bar on the left side may be
bent. Small cost to replace - $200.

Expect your total to be near if not over $5,000 ie another 30% up from what
you already think it is.

And don't take your bumper off and drive without it. You will be pulled over
on sight and the officer has the option of arresting you. So don't do it.

Best of luck in fixing your car and try to stay cooler next time.

Thanks for the info. You could be right. I'll find out on Tuesday. I do have the light and ballast from the driver-side headlight though. Luckily, that stayed in tact.

Also, I cut a small amount off the rear bumper so I could drive the car without it rubbing against the driver-side front tire. I figured that would be a whole lot easier than removing the entire bumper. I took pictures before I cut it too, just in case. Never did I think I'd be taking a garden sheer cutter to my bumper.

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by bobbo

I wish it's as simple as that. You have to realize the kid's insurance company isn't going to pony up the cash without a fight. Even with police report the insurance won't easily give in without a fight. Eventually the case will settle through an arbitrator or ultimately settle through court. Since the damage is minor the case will probably settle through arbitration. I was involved an accident recently with police report assigning fault to the guy behind me but the insurance companies disagreed. Eventually they worked out the case between themselves. They didn't agree with the police report and assigned the fault to the 2nd and 3rd car behind me. The 3rd car's insurance is non-responsive and would not return any calls. The accident was 4 months ago and it's still open. You won't be receiving a check for your deductable until your insurance is able to recover the amount. It might be month before you see your money back. Insurance company is a big scam if you ask for my opinion.

Police report certainly help the case but it isn't de facto fact. It's a pretty lengthy and ugly process if the other party doesn't want to play nice. Besides a good lawyer can make fiction into reality and that's why they get paid the big bucks. In your case there seem to be a lot of play room since he was not directly involved with your accident. That's assuming he's not a car thief and he owns insurance.

Not to rain on your parade. Just giving you some heads up and I hope the other's partys insurance is a stand up one.

Good info and I appreciate the heads-up but I'm fairly sure my insurance company is going to go at bat for me on this. I know I'll be involved, but they will be doing most of the work against the other guy's insurance company. And I'm not worried if it takes a month or even two to get my deductable back ($1,000---thought it was $500 ), just so long as I do.

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by danimal

Nothing that hasn't been said already, but glad you're okay and that your car's not too severely damaged. Very scary situation.

Makes me think about what I'll do next time I get tailgated. I usually try giving whoever it is a dirty look through the mirror. That has worked surprisingly well in that past, but maybe I just got lucky. Probably best to just do what you can to get away from them. Change lanes, get off the road, whatever it takes. Definitely not worth going head to head with a thug like that.

Anyway, good luck on everything.

-Dan

Thanks, Dan. Yeah, I'm sure I'll be more cautious with tailgaters from now on!

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by canucklion

or if the passenger side is not damaged at all, they'll just get you the driver side xenon

Ummm, yes, that's my point. Only the driver-side Xenon is damaged. So, insurance will pay for that and I will sell the passenger-side one.

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by lni

I don't get this whole thing. There has got to be a relevant part of the story missing. Why was this guy tailgating you to begin with? Why were you calling the cops on a tailgater? You say he was swerving in and out of traffic. Did you see him in your rear view mirror zipping through traffic, and he decided to go through all that weaving just to tailgate you?

I'm certainly sorry your car got messed up though, and glad you're OK. Something just seems either one-sided or wrong about the story though.

Hope this answers your question:

He was tailgating me because I was the fastest moving car in traffic, thus I was always ahead of him since he was behind me. So if he got in front of me, then he would be the fastest moving car. Understand? Ironically, if I was a slow driver, like the rest of the cars on that road, he would have gone after the fastest driver, which would have been someone else.

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by BimmerCrack

That damage is gonna run you somewhere around 10 g's.
It's not the part that will get you, its the labor. Wait and see.

Okay. We'll see.

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by Shinobi

Yea, that's what I'm wondering. Does the innocent driver in the Ford care why "you" ran into him? I would think that neither he nor his insurance company is going to wait for any outcome between you and this other driver.

Oh, and just so I'm clear on this...you're in this situation where the black SUV stops in the street, the driver steps out towards you and this action apparently "scares" you into running away, and in doing so, you run into an innocent driver, and you tell the police dispatcher that you just got "involved by an accident with the car I was reporting", but your BMW and the black SUV never actually came into contact. The driver of the black SUV leaves the scene and you're the victim of a HIT and RUN? Interesting...I'm going to be chatting with my lawyer soon - I'm curious what he'd say about this.

The Ford driver saw everything that happened, or at least he said he did. Also, the Ford driver is simply going to have to wait until a resolution is made I suppose because I didn't give him my insurance info. The officer there said that it's unnecessary. The driver of the Ford got a copy of the police report # and was told to give that to his insurance company. And, not that I'm saying it doesn't matter, but the Ford driver only had damage to his chrome rear bumper. From what I saw, no more than $500 in damage.

And yes on your second question. Do let me know what your lawyer says.

[bmwexecutive]

Originally Posted by s4iscool

it wasnt a "hit & run" as this post is titled.

Maybe not in technical terms, but it gets the point across. What did happen is the person whom caused the accident to occur left the scene of an accident.

[tman]

bmwexecutive, you must now hold the record for # of posts in one thread.

[akhbhaat]

Originally Posted by Revlis

Sounds like typical Florida Bullshit. So many folks would and do intentionally create drama and hazardous situations without thinking of the consequences.

Nobody did the right thing here. One Cluster after another.

If you're going to play the game, gotta expect to occasionally back it up, SO much better to NOT play the game, NOT to get wrapped up in Ego and dick waggling. It's hard not too for sure, but the potential consequences aren't worth a few minutes of chest thumping.

Especially if you consider that being in a BMW sorta makes you target anyway for the Inbred, Knuckle Dragging, NASCAR watching, mouth breathers so numerous in the South and Florida especially... The Land of the "Sense of Entitlement"...

Easier said than done, but you gotta stay outta this sorta thing, it's just stupid male Ego and bullshit and could have life altering consequences.

Seconded.

It's always in your best interest to stay out of the way or get out of the way.

[bmwexecutive]

Hard as I try to forget about it, I keep thinking about what I could have done. There could have been two potential scenes:

1. When he jumped out of his car, as soon as it got up to my front bumper he pulls a gun. At which point I could have floored it, which would have either thrown him backward several feet or smacked his head onto the hood. Either way, he'd be disabled.

2. If his intent was coming up to my window in order to pound on it calling me out, I could have grabbed the pepper spray from my glovebox, cracked the window, and then unloaded the entire bottle on him. Then, slam my door open into his body, get out and punch him so he's disabled down on the ground.

Either one of those situations definitely would have left my ego in a happy state. Too bad life doesn't have any do-overs and I'm definitely not going to try and provoke a situation like this again just so I can do one of the above.

[bmwexecutive]

OK, here's what I'll be doing today, Monday, March 26th:

1. Call up the parts department of my BMW dealership and order the following parts:

- Front bumper
- Wheel well housing for front driver-side wheel
- Driver-side chrome kidney grill w/upper lip
- Driver-side fog light
- Depending on what my insurance adjuster says, I'll also probably be ordering the Euro-spec Adaptive Xenons.

2. Go see an independant adjuster who works at the BMW Collison Center where I'll be getting my car repaired and see how much he estimates all the damages will cost to fix. This way, I can argue over the price the Field Examiner gives on Tuesday (who's with my insurance company) if he deems the price to be much lower than that of the independant adjuster. I should also get to find out later today how close the repairs will come to my estimated $3,800.

3. Should speak with my insurance adjuster today. Will be interesting to see what he says.

4. I'm thinking I'll get a call from the Police Department today asking to come in in order to look at some pictures and identify this guy. This shall be most interesting of all.

5. I'll be getting in touch with some lawyers today to get advice as far as filing a civil suit against this kid goes.

[beamer2001]

n1smo:

I have been reading your posts on E90post.com and all i can say is that you are a real douchebag. You are the type of person that I just want to beat the crap out of in real life. You think you know everything and you think your opinion is the word of God. Actually, you think you ARE God. This poor guy doesnt need you coming in hear to criticize him. That is the only reason you ever do chime in actually. To criticize whoever is posting and to point out and impose your own Godly opinions on everyone. I have been browsing this site for almost an year now and your comments on this topic finally made me angry enough to create my own account just to let you know that there is no other single member on E90post.com that irritates me as much as you do. Thank you.


On a related note:
akhbhaat:
I really enjoy reading your posts. They are not only very insightful but also full of wit. You know your stuff.