6 weeks and an idiot barrels in my car
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 883
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From: East Coast
My Ride: 530i 6 speed
Well, it happened. I was sitting at a red light with my 3 year old daughter in the car and woman in a 2003 Toyota Camry hit my 6 week old 545i. 
We are ok, the woman got hurt in the face (she was not wearing a seat belt, but the impact was not strong enough to remove her from the gene pool).
The Camry was totally destroyed in the front. Its radiator leaked and the front was pushed in, the bumper came off, the lights shattered etc. Her car had to be towed! With my car, there seems to be no damage to the metal. The plastic bumper caught all the impact and it seems the built in shock absorbers took the hit. Amzing! Even the cop at the scene made a comment that he was surpised how little visible damage my car sustained.
What really ticked me off was the fact that the road was wet and she used it as an excuse!!! She said she was surprised that her car did not break as well on the wet road - there is a suprise, stupid b.... It didn't even sound the Camry had ABS? I asked her, but she didn't know what ABS was... At least she got a ticket for reckliess driving from the cop that came to the accident.
My insurance (State Farm) will not help me with this. I have to go through her insurance (Westfield), which turns out to be a pain. They were supposed to call me today, but did not.
Jochen
We are ok, the woman got hurt in the face (she was not wearing a seat belt, but the impact was not strong enough to remove her from the gene pool).
The Camry was totally destroyed in the front. Its radiator leaked and the front was pushed in, the bumper came off, the lights shattered etc. Her car had to be towed! With my car, there seems to be no damage to the metal. The plastic bumper caught all the impact and it seems the built in shock absorbers took the hit. Amzing! Even the cop at the scene made a comment that he was surpised how little visible damage my car sustained.
What really ticked me off was the fact that the road was wet and she used it as an excuse!!! She said she was surprised that her car did not break as well on the wet road - there is a suprise, stupid b.... It didn't even sound the Camry had ABS? I asked her, but she didn't know what ABS was... At least she got a ticket for reckliess driving from the cop that came to the accident.
My insurance (State Farm) will not help me with this. I have to go through her insurance (Westfield), which turns out to be a pain. They were supposed to call me today, but did not.
Jochen
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Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Westchester NY
Originally Posted by drjochen' date='Nov 1 2004, 08:31 PM
Well, it happened. I was sitting at a red light with my 3 year old daughter in the car and woman in a 2003 Toyota Camry hit my 6 week old 545i.
We are ok, the woman got hurt in the face (she was not wearing a seat belt, but the impact was not strong enough to remove her from the gene pool).
The Camry was totally destroyed in the front. Its radiator leaked and the front was pushed in, the bumper came off, the lights shattered etc. Her car had to be towed! With my car, there seems to be no damage to the metal. The plastic bumper caught all the impact and it seems the built in shock absorbers took the hit. Amzing! Even the cop at the scene made a comment that he was surpised how little visible damage my car sustained.
What really ticked me off was the fact that the road was wet and she used it as an excuse!!! She said she was surprised that her car did not break as well on the wet road - there is a suprise, stupid b.... It didn't even sound the Camry had ABS? I asked her, but she didn't know what ABS was... At least she got a ticket for reckliess driving from the cop that came to the accident.
My insurance (State Farm) will not help me with this. I have to go through her insurance (Westfield), which turns out to be a pain. They were supposed to call me today, but did not.
Jochen
We are ok, the woman got hurt in the face (she was not wearing a seat belt, but the impact was not strong enough to remove her from the gene pool).
The Camry was totally destroyed in the front. Its radiator leaked and the front was pushed in, the bumper came off, the lights shattered etc. Her car had to be towed! With my car, there seems to be no damage to the metal. The plastic bumper caught all the impact and it seems the built in shock absorbers took the hit. Amzing! Even the cop at the scene made a comment that he was surpised how little visible damage my car sustained.
What really ticked me off was the fact that the road was wet and she used it as an excuse!!! She said she was surprised that her car did not break as well on the wet road - there is a suprise, stupid b.... It didn't even sound the Camry had ABS? I asked her, but she didn't know what ABS was... At least she got a ticket for reckliess driving from the cop that came to the accident.
My insurance (State Farm) will not help me with this. I have to go through her insurance (Westfield), which turns out to be a pain. They were supposed to call me today, but did not.
Jochen
[snapback]51942[/snapback]
sorry to hear about your car, but its a good thing to hear you and ur son are ok
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Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Chicago
My Ride: 2005 545i step, nav, sport, 166 wheels, premium sound, don't need nothin' else.
Sorry to hear! 
Glad you and your little girl are alright. 
I'm very surprised that State Farm will not help you. In Illinois, State Farm will pay for your repairs and then get reimbursed by the other party's insurance (at least that's been my experience). I would check with company directly if you haven't already. I've always had good luck with State Farm.
Best Wishes for your speedy repair!
Glad you and your little girl are alright. I'm very surprised that State Farm will not help you. In Illinois, State Farm will pay for your repairs and then get reimbursed by the other party's insurance (at least that's been my experience). I would check with company directly if you haven't already. I've always had good luck with State Farm. Best Wishes for your speedy repair!
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Joined: Mar 2004
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From: New Orleans, LA USA
My Ride: E90 M3
Model Year: 2011
Glad to hear you and your daughter are OK. Be sure to get a good look over at your dealer, because while the damage may appear minimal on the outside, you might be surpirsed how expensive the internal damage may be. And branie555 is right, State Farm should help you out, whether it is getting paid or even providing you an attorney to help fight the other insurance company if need be.
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Joined: Sep 2004
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From: East Coast
My Ride: 530i 6 speed
I called State Farm twice and they say I have to fight it out with the other insurance myself. Surprised me, too. I will call my agent tomorrow and see what he says.
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From: USA - Kansas
Originally Posted by drjochen' date='Nov 1 2004, 09:57 PM
I called State Farm twice and they say I have to fight it out with the other insurance myself. Surprised me, too. I will call my agent tomorrow and see what he says.
[snapback]51949[/snapback]
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From: Wilmington, DE
Jochen,
sorry to hear about your accident, but glad that you and your daughter are okay. We appear to have quite a bit in common: my 5-months-old 545i was rear-ended on Friday, but by a big tow truck, which pushed me into a Toyota Camry, which was in turn pushed into the car in front of it (see topic "My Baby Just Got Smashed"). The Toyota was quite damaged in front and rear, but unfortunately my BMW was badly hurt, too. I am in Delaware, too, the car is at Union Park's body shop. I have State Farm Insurance as well, and they have been VERY helpful so far: because I did not have the other guy's insurance info right away, they immediately started processing the claim and were going to handle everything for me, and then get it back from the other company. I had to call them today to stop because I got the insurance comapny info now, and do not want to file through my own insurance.
My biggest concern with such a new and very expensive car, and the significant damage, is that of diminished value, especially because I do not want to drive this car anymore. I have learned that in Delaware you cannot claim diminished value from your own insurance company, but if it is the other person's fault, you *may* be able to claim diminished value from his/her insurance company. The difficulty is to prove (convincingly enough) just how much value dimunition the accident / repair has caused. I have an appointment with a lawyer next Monday -- let's keep each other informaed about what we learn on how best to handle this.
-- Peter
P.S. If you're German, we have one more thing in common.
sorry to hear about your accident, but glad that you and your daughter are okay. We appear to have quite a bit in common: my 5-months-old 545i was rear-ended on Friday, but by a big tow truck, which pushed me into a Toyota Camry, which was in turn pushed into the car in front of it (see topic "My Baby Just Got Smashed"). The Toyota was quite damaged in front and rear, but unfortunately my BMW was badly hurt, too. I am in Delaware, too, the car is at Union Park's body shop. I have State Farm Insurance as well, and they have been VERY helpful so far: because I did not have the other guy's insurance info right away, they immediately started processing the claim and were going to handle everything for me, and then get it back from the other company. I had to call them today to stop because I got the insurance comapny info now, and do not want to file through my own insurance.
My biggest concern with such a new and very expensive car, and the significant damage, is that of diminished value, especially because I do not want to drive this car anymore. I have learned that in Delaware you cannot claim diminished value from your own insurance company, but if it is the other person's fault, you *may* be able to claim diminished value from his/her insurance company. The difficulty is to prove (convincingly enough) just how much value dimunition the accident / repair has caused. I have an appointment with a lawyer next Monday -- let's keep each other informaed about what we learn on how best to handle this.
-- Peter
P.S. If you're German, we have one more thing in common.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 883
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From: East Coast
My Ride: 530i 6 speed
Yours look A LOT worse than mine!!! It hurts to see this. But I don't know what the damage to my car is that I can't see.
This was definitely not a good weekend for 545i's in Delaware, I can't believe that two e60 got hit from behind!
I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Jochen
This was definitely not a good weekend for 545i's in Delaware, I can't believe that two e60 got hit from behind!
I'll keep you posted on my progress.
Jochen