Ouch!
05-12-2009, 05:44 AM
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Hi all. My first post here on these forums. I've been lurking and reading the forum posts for some time now and found all the info I need, so thanks for that.
On Mothers Day back in March, I parked my car in a supermarket car park, in a parent and baby space (much wider than a normal space). We returned to the car 2 hours later to find that an 82 year old woman in a 1988 Renault 5 had driven into the rear quarter of the car and pushed it a metre out of the space. Good job we had parked in parent and baby, otherwise my car would have hit another car in the space next to it. I feel quite fortunate that we were not getting in or out of the car at the time as we often have our 2 year old daughter beside the car, and she would certainly have been squashed.
Anyway, the supermarket manager took the old dear's insurance details and looked after her until we came back. I took some pictures, then drove the car home with some rubbing of the wheel on the wheel arch.
I arranged for my local BMW dealer to carry out the repair and the insurance company arranged a courtesy car (E220 diesel Merc - uurgh) during the repair.
The repair took a few weeks, but I now have the car back and I am happy with the repair work, HOWEVER.... (and this is where I would appreciate comments)... the car is not driving as it should. These is a distinct lack of power, not even a slight loss, but quite a lot - I'm having to move over for Citroen Picasso's to pass me
The BMW dealer had the car in on 1st May and had didn't do much other than to clear the logs. They told me to drive it over the bank holiday weekend and bring it back on the Tuesday. So, last Tuesday (5th May) I took it back. They re-read the logs, and identified the Diesel Particle Filter to be the problem. OK, this makes sense to me as the symptoms are similar to what other people on these forums have had.
Now, as this has only happened since the accident, I believe that it should be done under the old dear's insurance, but the insurance company are saying that it cannot be proved that it wasn't doing it before and therefore don't want to pay for it. They said that as a gesture of good will, they would pay for the labour (less than an hour which works out to be ?102.49). The whole repair would cost ?1427.77. I am arguing the case with them at the moment as the iDrive shows 47000 miles until the DPF needs replacing. I have also stated that I have a BMW 330d, so if the 535d was faulty on the day of the accident, surely I would have taken the 330d....
I would be interested of peoples comments and the outcome if anyone has had a similar situation.
Many thanks,
On Mothers Day back in March, I parked my car in a supermarket car park, in a parent and baby space (much wider than a normal space). We returned to the car 2 hours later to find that an 82 year old woman in a 1988 Renault 5 had driven into the rear quarter of the car and pushed it a metre out of the space. Good job we had parked in parent and baby, otherwise my car would have hit another car in the space next to it. I feel quite fortunate that we were not getting in or out of the car at the time as we often have our 2 year old daughter beside the car, and she would certainly have been squashed.
Anyway, the supermarket manager took the old dear's insurance details and looked after her until we came back. I took some pictures, then drove the car home with some rubbing of the wheel on the wheel arch.
I arranged for my local BMW dealer to carry out the repair and the insurance company arranged a courtesy car (E220 diesel Merc - uurgh) during the repair.
The repair took a few weeks, but I now have the car back and I am happy with the repair work, HOWEVER.... (and this is where I would appreciate comments)... the car is not driving as it should. These is a distinct lack of power, not even a slight loss, but quite a lot - I'm having to move over for Citroen Picasso's to pass me
The BMW dealer had the car in on 1st May and had didn't do much other than to clear the logs. They told me to drive it over the bank holiday weekend and bring it back on the Tuesday. So, last Tuesday (5th May) I took it back. They re-read the logs, and identified the Diesel Particle Filter to be the problem. OK, this makes sense to me as the symptoms are similar to what other people on these forums have had.Now, as this has only happened since the accident, I believe that it should be done under the old dear's insurance, but the insurance company are saying that it cannot be proved that it wasn't doing it before and therefore don't want to pay for it. They said that as a gesture of good will, they would pay for the labour (less than an hour which works out to be ?102.49). The whole repair would cost ?1427.77. I am arguing the case with them at the moment as the iDrive shows 47000 miles until the DPF needs replacing. I have also stated that I have a BMW 330d, so if the 535d was faulty on the day of the accident, surely I would have taken the 330d....
I would be interested of peoples comments and the outcome if anyone has had a similar situation.
Many thanks,
05-12-2009, 05:51 AM
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In my understanding of the laws here in EU she did damage the area where there is a problem now.
If this problem was there before doesn't matter.
The insurance company has to prove that the damage is NOT related to the accident.
It's not you to prove anything...
You say everything was OK, they doubt it... THEY have to prove it.
They can't just say: It's possible it was there before... Because you say: NO, it wasn't! You are the only witness to this beeing there or not before the accident. If they doubt it, they have to show prove that you are not telling the truth.
Idrive showing 47000 miles to replace should be prove enough that you are correct and there has not been a problem before the accident.
What they can do is have you pay a PART of the cost for the DPF only, not the labour, because the DPF was used allready.
But this would be a very small amount only, since the DPF has 47000 miles left.
If this problem was there before doesn't matter.
The insurance company has to prove that the damage is NOT related to the accident.
It's not you to prove anything...
You say everything was OK, they doubt it... THEY have to prove it.
They can't just say: It's possible it was there before... Because you say: NO, it wasn't! You are the only witness to this beeing there or not before the accident. If they doubt it, they have to show prove that you are not telling the truth.
Idrive showing 47000 miles to replace should be prove enough that you are correct and there has not been a problem before the accident.
What they can do is have you pay a PART of the cost for the DPF only, not the labour, because the DPF was used allready.
But this would be a very small amount only, since the DPF has 47000 miles left.
05-12-2009, 06:00 AM
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Originally Posted by neiltrowbridge' post='876045' date='May 12 2009, 06:44 AM
Hi all. My first post here on these forums. I've been lurking and reading the forum posts for some time now and found all the info I need, so thanks for that.
On Mothers Day back in March, I parked my car in a supermarket car park, in a parent and baby space (much wider than a normal space). We returned to the car 2 hours later to find that an 82 year old woman in a 1988 Renault 5 had driven into the rear quarter of the car and pushed it a metre out of the space. Good job we had parked in parent and baby, otherwise my car would have hit another car in the space next to it. I feel quite fortunate that we were not getting in or out of the car at the time as we often have our 2 year old daughter beside the car, and she would certainly have been squashed.
Anyway, the supermarket manager took the old dear's insurance details and looked after her until we came back. I took some pictures, then drove the car home with some rubbing of the wheel on the wheel arch.
I arranged for my local BMW dealer to carry out the repair and the insurance company arranged a courtesy car (E220 diesel Merc - uurgh) during the repair.
The repair took a few weeks, but I now have the car back and I am happy with the repair work, HOWEVER.... (and this is where I would appreciate comments)... the car is not driving as it should. These is a distinct lack of power, not even a slight loss, but quite a lot - I'm having to move over for Citroen Picasso's to pass me The BMW dealer had the car in on 1st May and had didn't do much other than to clear the logs. They told me to drive it over the bank holiday weekend and bring it back on the Tuesday. So, last Tuesday (5th May) I took it back. They re-read the logs, and identified the Diesel Particle Filter to be the problem. OK, this makes sense to me as the symptoms are similar to what other people on these forums have had.
Now, as this has only happened since the accident, I believe that it should be done under the old dear's insurance, but the insurance company are saying that it cannot be proved that it wasn't doing it before and therefore don't want to pay for it. They said that as a gesture of good will, they would pay for the labour (less than an hour which works out to be ?102.49). The whole repair would cost ?1427.77. I am arguing the case with them at the moment as the iDrive shows 47000 miles until the DPF needs replacing. I have also stated that I have a BMW 330d, so if the 535d was faulty on the day of the accident, surely I would have taken the 330d....
I would be interested of peoples comments and the outcome if anyone has had a similar situation.
Many thanks,
On Mothers Day back in March, I parked my car in a supermarket car park, in a parent and baby space (much wider than a normal space). We returned to the car 2 hours later to find that an 82 year old woman in a 1988 Renault 5 had driven into the rear quarter of the car and pushed it a metre out of the space. Good job we had parked in parent and baby, otherwise my car would have hit another car in the space next to it. I feel quite fortunate that we were not getting in or out of the car at the time as we often have our 2 year old daughter beside the car, and she would certainly have been squashed.
Anyway, the supermarket manager took the old dear's insurance details and looked after her until we came back. I took some pictures, then drove the car home with some rubbing of the wheel on the wheel arch.
I arranged for my local BMW dealer to carry out the repair and the insurance company arranged a courtesy car (E220 diesel Merc - uurgh) during the repair.
The repair took a few weeks, but I now have the car back and I am happy with the repair work, HOWEVER.... (and this is where I would appreciate comments)... the car is not driving as it should. These is a distinct lack of power, not even a slight loss, but quite a lot - I'm having to move over for Citroen Picasso's to pass me
The BMW dealer had the car in on 1st May and had didn't do much other than to clear the logs. They told me to drive it over the bank holiday weekend and bring it back on the Tuesday. So, last Tuesday (5th May) I took it back. They re-read the logs, and identified the Diesel Particle Filter to be the problem. OK, this makes sense to me as the symptoms are similar to what other people on these forums have had.Now, as this has only happened since the accident, I believe that it should be done under the old dear's insurance, but the insurance company are saying that it cannot be proved that it wasn't doing it before and therefore don't want to pay for it. They said that as a gesture of good will, they would pay for the labour (less than an hour which works out to be ?102.49). The whole repair would cost ?1427.77. I am arguing the case with them at the moment as the iDrive shows 47000 miles until the DPF needs replacing. I have also stated that I have a BMW 330d, so if the 535d was faulty on the day of the accident, surely I would have taken the 330d....
I would be interested of peoples comments and the outcome if anyone has had a similar situation.
Many thanks,
Good luck!
05-12-2009, 06:08 AM
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Originally Posted by swajames' post='876056' date='May 12 2009, 03:00 PM
A lawyer's letter will probably get this resolved in your favor. It may also be worth getting your BMW Center to render an opinion that the symptoms you are now experiencing are more likely than not to be connected to the accident and result from damage caused at that time.
Good luck!
Good luck!
In addition, I asked the BMW dealer for a copy of the logs that they cleared on the first Friday as that would have shown the date that it started, but apparently the logs don't log a date - just the error which is very helpful.
05-12-2009, 07:38 AM
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Tell your dealer you're not using him ever again if he is not helping you.
Writing a letter to confirm, that they strongly believe the damage is caused by the accident and not before, telling the insurance the DPF still has 47000 miles left until replacement, is easy for them.
They don't even need to lie, if they say "We strongly believe...".
Writing a letter to confirm, that they strongly believe the damage is caused by the accident and not before, telling the insurance the DPF still has 47000 miles left until replacement, is easy for them.
They don't even need to lie, if they say "We strongly believe...".
05-12-2009, 07:46 AM
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This may be a stupid question, but where is the "Diesel Particle Filter " physically located in the car? Is it anywhere near where the damage occured? If so, is there any visable damage to the filter?
05-12-2009, 08:01 AM
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The DPF is in the exhaust system roughly under the gear level I believe.
Although it is not close to the damaged area, it seems very co-incidental that it happened at the same time. If my understanding is correct, the DPF builds up carbon deposits and they stick to the DPF. The DPF then goes through a regeneration process every 1000 miles or so to clean as much of this out as possible, although I believe some still remains. These remains build up over time and that is why the DPF needs changing every 125000 miles or so.
I suggested an analagy to the BMW service guy - it's a bit like having dried mud on your shoe - if you shake the shoe, no mud will come off (i.e. normal driving the carbon deposits will not come off the DPF) but if the shoe gets a bang against a wall or solid object, the mud will fall off (i.e. the carbon deposits inside the DPF). Does this make sense? Is this possible?
Although it is not close to the damaged area, it seems very co-incidental that it happened at the same time. If my understanding is correct, the DPF builds up carbon deposits and they stick to the DPF. The DPF then goes through a regeneration process every 1000 miles or so to clean as much of this out as possible, although I believe some still remains. These remains build up over time and that is why the DPF needs changing every 125000 miles or so.
I suggested an analagy to the BMW service guy - it's a bit like having dried mud on your shoe - if you shake the shoe, no mud will come off (i.e. normal driving the carbon deposits will not come off the DPF) but if the shoe gets a bang against a wall or solid object, the mud will fall off (i.e. the carbon deposits inside the DPF). Does this make sense? Is this possible?
05-12-2009, 08:07 AM
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Some pictures of the damage here:
05-12-2009, 08:41 AM
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Sorry for all your troubles, hopefully the camaraderie around here will sustain you while this all gets sorted out! 