austinbyrne

Hey All,

I?m just looking a bit of advice from anyone that can help me out. My neighbour just accidentally reversed into the back of my 520d M Sport (2007) Nnnnnoooooooooo. Luckily I saw the whole thing happen and the car was pushed about 1 foot forward. When I went out to check it there was a line across the bumper but when I rubbed it it went away. There doesn?t appear to be any damage at all no scraps or marks. I tested the sensors and the boot and they are all mine. I am worried that there maybe hidden damage in the bumper or under the car as I have heard a few horror stories of similar instances where people have thought the car was fine only to be told months later it is damaged underneath. I called my Dads friend who is a BMW mechanic and he was surprised there was no cosmetic damage but he advised me to check under the car were the bumper attaches to make sure it all looks ok. He also said that the only way to be sure there is no damage is to remove the bumper and check. Am I just being paranoid or should I get it checked. Luckily my neighbour was very co operative and my other neighbour saw the whole thing too but I told her that I would get the car checked out to see if there was any damage and that it looked ok to me. Any advice on this topic would be great, what should I look out for under the car?

Thanks very much in advance,
Austin.

BLooD

at least your ok and the car seams ok, might be an idea to get it off to a local dealer or independent bmw garage for a check up, did you ask for your neighbours insurance just in case?

have you informed your insurance?

v_therussian

I think you may be a little more paranoid than necessary, but its normal for a BMW driver

Check the exhaust tips and the exhaust itself. Beyond that, I'd look into hand-brake calibration and maybe some tire damage... but I have a feeling your car is just fine just test-drive it and see if there's anything out of the ordinary.

And possibly move away from a neighbour who backs into your car like that

austinbyrne

Cheers, No I didnt get her insurance but she lives next door so as long as she doesnt do a runner!! I was going to get the car checked first before contacting insurance. I did notice that her bumper (Rover 200) was out of alignment but to be honest I am not sure if that was caused by this impact as the car looks like it has been in a distruction derby.

austinbyrne

I probably am being paranoid I only got it 2 months ago and it is like new so was not happy when I seen it moving from my living room window. Luckily I actually am moving and cant wait but the house wont be finished until February 2010 so I think I am going to park as far away from my neighbour as possible until I move. Suspiciously the same thing happened to my other neighbour about 2 weeks after he got his car (BMW 320cd) on the front bumper but his was damaged and he doesn?t know who hit it but the lady in question has only moved into the neighbour hood not that I am trying to incriminate anyone without evidence

v_therussian

Screw being all PC - it was her! I'll incriminate people who don't respect others' property all day. And when I'm done, I'll do it some more all night Its just like people bumping into bumpers in NYC - its ridiculous! And I wanna chase down and beat with club every single one of them that I see - even when they do it to other people's cars...

But seriously, I'd just test drive the car - take it on a road where there is a wall at least on one side, roll down the windows on the side closer to the wall, turn off the music/radio and listen to what sounds your car makes - especially when coasting. Make sure that the handbrake is properly adjusted/calibrated - our handbrakes are by-wire, which means that they can require some "programming". Since the bumper is fine, PDC sensors work and there's no problems with the trunk, I sincerely doubt there's a problem - these cars are pretty solid. Just avoid this kind of occurences in the future, if at all possible

SpokenHands

Sorry to hear about your accident.
Surprisingly common as parking spaces shrink and cars grow year on year - and of course errant drivers.

BMW bumpers are meant to absorb impacts upto 5 mph with deforming [often not the case because they crease very easily]. So if she did not back out into your car at an angle where impact forces are concentrated more sharply at a point, you may be one of the few BMW owners to get away without a hefty bill.

I would take a picture of [1] your car in the 'impact position' on the driveway/kerb. [2] her car with the damaged bumper [3] get her details now in any case and [4] talk to the insurance company about the incident but advise you are not sure yet if you are going to make a claim as you're checking it out.

BMW 520d M-Sport rear bumpers and sub-assembly will cost upwards of ?800 so you may not want to go down this route if you lose your insurance excess + no claims on something minor/invisible.

Check out http://www.chipsaway.co.uk/

Phantom Mark

I was gonna say the same thing actually, the absorbers under the bumper skin may have been damaged, so its worth getting checked out properly, IIRC they are a mechanical absorber system to work in tandem with the actual skin of the bumper to absorb impacts.

BLooD

you should see them do it in France, they actually bump each others cars out of the way in parking spaces and nobody bats an eye lid

etchu

sorry to hear about this, I'd open a file with cops. just in case.