You know, for each of the two E28s I've had totalled (hailstorm, self-destruction), I took the cash, yanked the good parts off the old one (or sold it outright for a decent price), and went out and got a better car. Saves you all the little 'surprises' you'll have at the body shop as well as untold hours spent screwing with this stuff yourself. If I were you, I'd be shopping the Cars for Sale forum already.skip535i wrote:Thanks, Chris.
I'm really hoping that a body shop deems the frame rails OK. If so, I'll settle with him for some $$ and then fix the car myself. In which case I'll be hunting for all sorts of trim, bumper, fog lights etc....
Bad news about my UBER 5ER (UPDATE 4/7)
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C.R. Krieger
- Posts: 14507
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Tim in N FL
- Posts: 7392
- Joined: Feb 12, 2006
- Location: North Central Florida, USA
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OMG...the Jens mobile is no more? I had heard rumor about this because I used to follow the e23 745i scene pretty closely. Sorry to hear this, Vern. I'm sure there are threads about it elsewhere. If so, I'd appreciated reading about the end of perhaps the most fabulous e23 in North America.johnnye23 wrote:Vern was the former owner of the Jens mobile.Vern wrote:Hey, Skip,
I feel your pain. I lost a great car to an idiot on the freeway
2 1/2 years ago.
I hope all gets resolved quickly for you to your favor.
Skip,
Really awful situation you described. Sorry to read about it here. I do hope everything works out in your favor. At least the idiot's parents have means to rectify the situation, if it should come to that. Also, the good news is there are some nice e28s floating around in the market right now. I hope you will be able to get your hands on one of them prior to V@V and/or 5erFest.
Tim
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Patrick McHugh
- Posts: 4163
- Joined: Feb 12, 2006
- Location: Richmond, VA
I don't blame ya about V@V. Sorry to hear about the car man. It was nice to meet ya last year... still hope you can make it this year... but if not it's all good man!skip535i wrote:V&V I'm not really even thinking about right now...I'm going to try to salvage the car...if not, it looks like I'll part it out (unless we have to settle on what I think the car is worth).
I don't have the luxury of lots of space or lots of time to do these things, so I'm not really considering the whole "swap everything to a good shell" route...yet
Thanks for the encouragement, and yeah, I'll see just how much of an idiot he can be as the whole thing unfolds.
That really sucks. I understand your situation well, as I drive my E28 because it's affordable and I don't need full coverage on insurance. I am always worried that something will happen to the car that doesn't result in somebody else's insurance paying for my damage.. Luckily it sounds like your friend's parents have the means to fix this situation.. Maybe you'll get something even nice out of it! If not, you should go Dinan E28's route and Euro your car!
Skip,
Sorry to hear the news about your car, especially the circumstances that led to the damage. Hopefully it will all work out such that you are made somewhat whole... whether that be repairs that make it as it was before (if that's ever possible?) and little additional cost to you, except your time and energy, or a suitable replacement that may even be better. Either way...it's costing you, unfortunately.
You seem to be keeping a reasonable perspective on this... and I'm sure that's difficult given the attachment we have to our cars and the scenario at hand. Hang in there, hope to see you at V@V.
-RoyW
Sorry to hear the news about your car, especially the circumstances that led to the damage. Hopefully it will all work out such that you are made somewhat whole... whether that be repairs that make it as it was before (if that's ever possible?) and little additional cost to you, except your time and energy, or a suitable replacement that may even be better. Either way...it's costing you, unfortunately.
You seem to be keeping a reasonable perspective on this... and I'm sure that's difficult given the attachment we have to our cars and the scenario at hand. Hang in there, hope to see you at V@V.
-RoyW
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Tammer in Philly
- Posts: 10719
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- Location: CHI, IL
I've considered some sort of umbrella coverage to the tune of $1M or similar in case I drive into someone's Veyron, but haven't pulled the trigger on that yet. However, I would think that in Skip's case, if such a thing were to have happened, would it come back on him or the driver? When does a car become "stolen," when it leaves the driveway without the owner's permission or when it's reported? Does that change if he left the keys with the driver intentionally? I really don't know.rlomba8204 wrote:Skip:
I am sorry to hear of this. I agree with Landis' advice 100% with respect to the disposition of the car.
One other thing for you and others to think about: what would have happened if your "friend" had, in his state of sheer idiocy, injured someone seriously? Would this claim be on your insurance? What are your insurance limits? The answers to these particular questions are less important than the realization that, if such an unfortunate injury to a person had occurred, rather than a more straightforward injury to your property, the situation could get rather messy very quickly, to say the least.
Which is why I would tell you that while the situation is unfortunate, relatively speaking you were lucky. And I would also tell you, not to chide you, but rather for the benefit of others, that it is very dicey to leave possession of a motor vehicle with another person, even a good "friend", because of the tremendous potential liability. It is usally a far better idea, if you need to store it, to try to make an arrangement at your own home, or if not possible, find a cheap, secure storage space. Or get rid of it. You don't need to be on the receiving end of a hypothetical $1mm personal injury judgment because your "friend" is a complete fucking moron, to put it plainly.
Good luck getting the money for the car. I think the situation is such that you will have relatively good leverage in this regard.
As I said, relatively speaking, you got off easy here -- the car is small money in the big scheme of things.
R-
Skip, I'm sorry to hear it and I hope they make it right without an ugly fight. That said, if it requires and ugly fight, roll up your sleeves and win it.
-tammer
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rlomba8204
- Posts: 4869
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- Location: Washington, DC
Tammer-Tammer in Philly wrote:I've considered some sort of umbrella coverage to the tune of $1M or similar in case I drive into someone's Veyron, but haven't pulled the trigger on that yet. However, I would think that in Skip's case, if such a thing were to have happened, would it come back on him or the driver? When does a car become "stolen," when it leaves the driveway without the owner's permission or when it's reported? Does that change if he left the keys with the driver intentionally? I really don't know.rlomba8204 wrote:Skip:
I am sorry to hear of this. I agree with Landis' advice 100% with respect to the disposition of the car.
One other thing for you and others to think about: what would have happened if your "friend" had, in his state of sheer idiocy, injured someone seriously? Would this claim be on your insurance? What are your insurance limits? The answers to these particular questions are less important than the realization that, if such an unfortunate injury to a person had occurred, rather than a more straightforward injury to your property, the situation could get rather messy very quickly, to say the least.
Which is why I would tell you that while the situation is unfortunate, relatively speaking you were lucky. And I would also tell you, not to chide you, but rather for the benefit of others, that it is very dicey to leave possession of a motor vehicle with another person, even a good "friend", because of the tremendous potential liability. It is usally a far better idea, if you need to store it, to try to make an arrangement at your own home, or if not possible, find a cheap, secure storage space. Or get rid of it. You don't need to be on the receiving end of a hypothetical $1mm personal injury judgment because your "friend" is a complete fucking moron, to put it plainly.
Good luck getting the money for the car. I think the situation is such that you will have relatively good leverage in this regard.
As I said, relatively speaking, you got off easy here -- the car is small money in the big scheme of things.
R-
Skip, I'm sorry to hear it and I hope they make it right without an ugly fight. That said, if it requires and ugly fight, roll up your sleeves and win it.
-tammer
This isn't my area, as you know, but what I do know, and what my instincts tell me is that you'd have to get into a fight to keep yourself clean, and that the fight would probably be very fact-specific, which then involves proving that certain things did or did not happen. A messy shitstorm, in other words, that's simply better to avoid in the first instance. My advice in these kinds of situations is always the same: think about risk, avoid it or minimize it, unless there is an upside that you believe offsets it, and then protect against the unexpected. Again, I don't say that to chide Skip -- he did something that many of us would do, myself included, at least up until a few years ago, and certainly is not at fault in the common sense / moral way (the law could be a completely different matter). I only pointed this out so that folks are aware of the issue. As you well know, a car in the hands of a moron is basically a weapon.
I think an umbrella makes sense if you are young, have high earning potential through the years and / or substantial assets, and live or work in an area that is occupied by a great deal of plaintiff lawyers. I'm only half kidding there. Philly obviously qualifies, and people, and attorneys, are absolutely shameless with the claims that they will file. To me, as a professional, it borders on the unconscionable but you take the world as you find it, not as you'd like it to be. If you want an umbrella, you will need to raise your limits on your existing policies first, but this raise of coverage, and the additional umbrella coverage, is usually pretty inexpensive. As you can probably tell, I think it is a no-brainer.
R-
Wow, that is really sad. Looks like it was a fantastic car. I've never actually seen pictures of her. I'm also curious as to the damage the E23 sustained in the accident, since I plan to own one someday.. The link to photos on Bimmerboard does not work, do you have another?Vern wrote:Tim, There are threads on Bimmerboard, Roadfly and BMWturbos.scottiesharpe.comTim in N FL wrote:OMG...the Jens mobile is no more? I had heard rumor about this because I used to follow the e23 745i scene pretty closely. Sorry to hear this, Vern. I'm sure there are threads about it elsewhere. If so, I'd appreciated reading about the end of perhaps the most fabulous e23 in North America.johnnye23 wrote:Vern was the former owner of the Jens mobile.Vern wrote:Hey, Skip,
I feel your pain. I lost a great car to an idiot on the freeway
2 1/2 years ago.
I hope all gets resolved quickly for you to your favor.
Skip,
Really awful situation you described. Sorry to read about it here. I do hope everything works out in your favor. At least the idiot's parents have means to rectify the situation, if it should come to that. Also, the good news is there are some nice e28s floating around in the market right now. I hope you will be able to get your hands on one of them prior to V@V and/or 5erFest.
Tim
We are so incredibly attached to these cars, aren't we?
It took more than a year to let go of the Jensmobile after it was gone and insurance woes I don't want to rehash.
Eventually, I got paid and bought a replacement in Kentucky two months later.
I was looking for another 745i the very next day =D, which happens to have the Weds Bavaria Wheels on her. I lost a great set of Schnitz Type III's with that car.
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/255625/
ouchVern wrote:Here are before pics
Here are roadfly links
http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/bmw/bm ... 476&page=4
http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/bmw/bm ... 603-1.html
Here are after pics on phototbucket
http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/Vernon_018/
I am sure I would have fared just as well in an E28.Wow, that is really sad. Looks like it was a fantastic car. I've never actually seen pictures of her. I'm also curious as to the damage the E23 sustained in the accident, since I plan to own one someday.. The link to photos on Bimmerboard does not work, do you have another?
These cars are engineered so well.
Distressing to hear about your car. Without knowing the players invovled, I'll say this, good people make bad decisions sometimes, but good people own up and try to make it right. Everybody does dumb stuff at time, but fortunately most of the time it's no big deal. How he tries, or doesn't, to make it right, and he can't, he can't make the car whole again, will say volumes about him.
Vern, nasty shots of the 745i, I've owned a couple of more pedestrian E23's and while I never had the need, I always thought there was no better non-airbag car to get in an accident in. And that was a hell of an accident to do that much damage. I presume you came out OK? I hope!
Vern, nasty shots of the 745i, I've owned a couple of more pedestrian E23's and while I never had the need, I always thought there was no better non-airbag car to get in an accident in. And that was a hell of an accident to do that much damage. I presume you came out OK? I hope!
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Nebraska_e28
- Beamter
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I am VERY sorry for your loss man. I think you might need to reconsider how much your friend values your friendship......which obviously is marginal. Brother or not, your friend should have not let anybody else drive it. Older brother stole your car. I personally would have called the cops and had him arrested... or bare minimum smash him in the head with a rock since there obviously isn't much of a brain in there 
Alrighty....update time.
Found out today that the car has already been to three body shops for estimates, with a fourth coming tomorrow.
All of the shops have told him that the passenger frame rail is out about 1". Therefore, the estimates include frame straightening. He has worked it out to where he is sourcing used parts and the shop will install/paint them once the frame has been straightened.
I wish I had known about all this while it was happening, but the communication with him has been spotty. I probably would've told him to just have the frame straightened and then write me a check for the difference. I'm sure I could stretch that $1500 or so further than a body shop, lol.
The wheels (my uber rare et13 17x8.5 Borbet As) are bent and will need to be trued. Front suspension will get worked on and aligned once the frame is back where it's supposed to be.
I'll keep you guys updated.
Honestly, best case scenario, I tell him to just have the frame straightened and I'll fix it with the rest of the money.
Worse case scenario (still good), the car comes back the way it was before the accident.
Good news? Who knows. But it's better than just not knowing.
Found out today that the car has already been to three body shops for estimates, with a fourth coming tomorrow.
All of the shops have told him that the passenger frame rail is out about 1". Therefore, the estimates include frame straightening. He has worked it out to where he is sourcing used parts and the shop will install/paint them once the frame has been straightened.
I wish I had known about all this while it was happening, but the communication with him has been spotty. I probably would've told him to just have the frame straightened and then write me a check for the difference. I'm sure I could stretch that $1500 or so further than a body shop, lol.
The wheels (my uber rare et13 17x8.5 Borbet As) are bent and will need to be trued. Front suspension will get worked on and aligned once the frame is back where it's supposed to be.
I'll keep you guys updated.
Honestly, best case scenario, I tell him to just have the frame straightened and I'll fix it with the rest of the money.
Worse case scenario (still good), the car comes back the way it was before the accident.
Good news? Who knows. But it's better than just not knowing.