Great ideas guys. I stopped at the State Farm recommended place with my Z4 to get an estimate. The guy came back and told me the damage (on my Z4) was only $812. I looked at his estimate and I told him that he forgot to include the passenger door which has a 2 FOOT scrape on it. He said he didn't see anything on the door so I showed him the obvious marks and he returned with an estimate of $925. I asked him why it was only $100 for the door and he just shrugged his shoulders....I then noticed that he didn't have anything on the estimate for the turn signal assembly or the front fender. He proceeded to say that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the signal assembly or the fender. We walked out to my car again and I showed him the softball-sized hole on the passenger side (not an exaggeration) where the turn signal was torn off and there were dents in the fender. I then asked him why I should use his body shop versus the BMW dealer and he responded with, "Well, you obviously have a lot of money tied up in both of these cars, so if it were me then I'd take it to the dealer"...unbelievable. I asked him about the color matching and he simply replied, "black is black, of course we have black paint".....again, unbelievable.

Needless to say, I'm taking it to the BMW shop. I have 2 cars so I really don't care how long it takes to get them repaired since I can drive the other one in the meantime.

John - You're right...I'm taking it to Sears.

 

I could probably reenact the collision using the OP's signature.

 

LOL! So true. Yeah, but in this picture my 5er would be running down my driveway and sliding across my Z4. Basically the same result, but if the collision would have happened the way my cars are facing in my sig pic then my 5er would likely be in my neighbor's living room.

I know I'm a bonehead for leaving my car in gear, but kudos to everyone on here for staying on subject and not flaming me for being an idiot. I posted this on one of the Z4 forums and I got several unhelpful replies.

 

Without a doubt, go to the BMW dealership body shop. They know how to make BMW as good or even better than when they are new. BMW now uses water based paint that the technicians take special training to apply and work with (part of going "green"). I had to have my front bumper replaced (paid for by other driver's insurance) and it honestly looked better than it did before it was replaced. No chips, perfect match and lifetime guarantee. If you love your car, don't settle for anything less than a true BMW body shop.