Ceenit

I had an accident yesterday, my fault and I'm kicking my self for being such an idiot. Hit the brakes but hit an ice patch and still slid into the car in front of me. Not much damage to their car (scuffs on the bumper), but the front end of my '04 525 looks bad. The nose of my car tilted downward under the other car, so there was no lower bumper impact or airbags, however the bumper cover, lights, grills, hood are all toast along with all the plastic bracing and likely my radiator (top part looks pushed in), very minor damage to front fenders that I'm hoping won't need replacing. I'm thankful that the car is engineered to be so safe, but with all the broken plastic pieces I see behind my grill, safety does not mean less damage. I'm guessing that this is going to be a 5-7k bill as nothing on an E60 is cheap. The car was conservatively worth about $18k if I had sold before the accident (was perfect, but an '04 Base with 68K doesn't demand any big $$), so I'm thinking it's definitely worth the repair as even a $7k write off is better than an $18k writeoff (less part out which I don't want to deal with). The hit did not feel hard at all, but the impact was above the bumper, and those pieces are more plastic.

The good news is no one was hurt, the other drive was a super nice guy, and I've quite kicking myself for this happening.

I'm trying to find silver lining and I'm thinking that since I'm going to have to pay for my messed up parts (a whole other story w/insurance , there may be some better options that going with the stock pieces.

I'm good with aftermarket or previously owned pieces pieces (guess I'll be checking the classifieds section next), but could use some direction on some cost effective replacement options and where to purchase on-line,

Big ticket items would be:
1) Bumper Cover (either used stock or other after market options)
2) Front lights (left and right) - mine were the base Halogen lights, not sure if there is an easy change or if I just look for replacements
3) Hood - probably just go with a replacement as the only option I could think of would be fiber and I don't need that kind of premium on a 525base.
4) Radiator - recomendations on good aftermarket? or should I go with a standard stock.

Krozi

Glad to hear no one got hurt

As for the mods, I would just stay with the OEM parts for the hood and radiator, but definitely get the M-Tech bumper and HID fog-lights. You can get HID fogs afterward too...

info@trinityautosport

+1 good to hear no one was harmed

sdg1871

+1. 6000K HID fogs and 6000K HID headlights with 8500K AEs are a thing of beauty. And every E60 looks better with the M-Tech kit (or at least the front).

Ceenit

Thanks for the responses. I'll have a better feel after tommorow morning when I meet with the body shop manager.

Thus far I'm leaning towards the MTech replica bumper cover but still need to figure out cost differentials. Still thinking through some of the other options on lighting.

I haven't found any sites that sell the entire fixtures. The prices from the dealership are incredibly high. I may have to call a few salvage yards.

My rental car is a VW Passat. While it's German, it's clearly not the ride of the BMW.

Thanks again.

Howitzer

The worst part about a front end collision on an E60 is that if you bent the frame at all it is VERY expensive and in some cases the insurance company will total your car. The frame is all aluminum in one piece. The car is build like a damn airplane with rivets and glue.

wasupdu

For lighting check out John, aka Brabusw209amg, who is more than qualified to hook you up with all of the lights you need

PraiseTheLowered

honestly you are overestimating the value of the repairs by a bit

your insurance company already has enormous connections for lowest bidder contracts and until you take it to a shop that isnt paid by being "prefered" by your insurance you really wont know what the price will be

einstein57

Change or to projector angel eye headlights. There is a company called eagle i believe who makes them for $800 which is the price of one new oem light. The savings should pay for any price difference for your carbon fiber hood and umnitza front bumper.

Ceenit

I could not find this company when I did a search. If you happen to know the web site, please post it.

Thanks for all the feedback.