jesus!! glad your ok matey.... congrats on holding off on that piece of s**t..dunno if i'd have been able to not

 

Glad to hear you're ok...

PS M3This was selling his car, not sure if you were aware of that, before buying yours, but it's more fun to mod your car anyway!

 

? Huntington is repairing his, not buying another one.

 

Do NOT just let the adjuster base your claim on their "preferred" shop!!!!! Do some research on who in your region are the top 3 bmw/audi/benz repair shops and have the adjuster see your car at YOUR chosen facility. The best shop will be able to speak on your behalf to justify the cost of a higher level of quality.

Why should you suffer in terms of lower quality just so the insurance company can save money? They have no problem deciding what your rates are and taking your $ over all the years....

Anyway, I will guess $8000 is not going to cover a "proper" repair. You need at minimum a new hood, left fender, bumper, trim parts for those such as a fender liner, grills, fog lamps, light housings you mentioned, and then all the junk underneath including possible wiring loom for front parking sensors (~$800?), then, there is "ok" paintwork, and there is the real deal. The adjuster does not care if you get a respray that is visible to the eye when you go to sell the car, nor do they care if it's a shop that will truly make sure YOU are happy. You need a full spray of the entire hood, bumper, both fenders and blend into both front doors (assuming the right fender may be a little wonky and being aluminum, needs replacing rather than bending/repair where it interfaces with the bumper).

I have USAA on my Audi S4 Avant I bought new. It looked new until an unfortunate neighborhood event. The adjuster, one known in the area for being a PITA, only approved up to $1100 less than the actual repair. The repair is absolutely flawless though, all trim removed etc. I know what to look for and it's showroom perfect. I had to fight USAA but they wanted me to go with a shop that sees almost no german cars, and runs a "quick" turn around type of shop. That is just fine for an old used Honda....

 

I know. He bought his only a few days ago, and since he said he's going to mod it to be like M3This's, I was just saying had he known about the car being for sale, maybe he'd have bought his instead... Nothing to do with the damage.

 

I contacted M3This before I purchased my car. He had JUST sold it. Wasn't surprised that it sold, it was gorgeous.
So this vehicle is going to be the next step. Perhaps I change my name to 'M5This'? Lol.

 

You are absolutely correct. Fortunately I own a BMW shop so we are doing the majority of our work, then sending it out for the frame work. The initial estimate came out to $9,000, but that is before teardown. The adjustor said it'll be somewhere closer to $12,000-$14,000.

Everything considered, this couldn't have turned out better. I'm going to replace the bumper, fenders, hood, headlights, radiator, PDC's, Grilles, EVERYTHING from the front of the tires and forward. So the question is now: where to go from here? There are a lot of options for the E60, which I assume nearly all of them will fit the E61.

Sorry to hear about your Audi. That's rough.

I don't think I'll even paint the parts. I'm going to wrap the car in Dark Matte Gray with a slight metallic finish to it.

I'm going to start a new thread for this car and I'd love any input and advice to help build this in to the best E61 in Cali!

 

Once the E61 M5 didn't came out on US, i think that the M5 parts will be the best for you: unique look for a US E61 with oem quality parts.

 

Seeriously, I can't stop staring at that little animal at the bottom of your post. It's hypnotizing...