[Audioholics]

Guys;

At the beginning of July, my fairly new M235i was rear ended by a texting 18yo driver and did over $12k worth of damage according to the insurance estimate. The kid had crappy insurance so I had to make the claim through my own company. My company has been pretty good and the guy overseeing my claim is a BMW enthusiast. He recommended I take my car to a BMW certified repair shop which I did.

After they took the car apart, they found other things that needed replacing such as the air conditioner condenser, among other things. This raised the estimate to almost $14k.

My car was supposed to be ready 2 weeks ago. When I went to pick it up, I found so many detail issues wrong such as misaligned bumpers and trim molds, scratches on the bumper that they replaced and painted, misaligned headlight, dirty engine, rubber gasket that holds the hood open broken, etc.

So they took another week to fix these issues. I went back last Friday and found more issues such as scratched headlight (at least this time it was aligned properly), poorly polished bumper in a small area, door molding loose and needing replacing.

I also discovered they didn't finish the paint on the metal parts that attach the trunk. They claimed BMW doesn't apply a clear coat to those pieces. I don't think this is right since I've never seen paint mismatch inside a trunk of any car I've ever owned. I even looked at a pic of my car after the accident before the repair and could clearly see all metal surfaces in the trunk matched color, including the connection joints.

I attached some pics of their poor workmanship though I don't have the real obvious ones available like the bumper misalignments which they have recently addressed. The engine has been cleaned since I complained and I attached an image in case anyone can see anything that may be wrong that I missed.

I even had my car inspected by BMW but they missed all of these details. BMW said there were no issues other than a bubble in my tire which was just replaced along with realigning the car.

I am very concerned that if this repair shop screwed up obvious little details, how do I know they properly reassembled the air condenser and anything else they had to move inside the engine compartment? It really makes me fed up and I'm tempted to just sell the car after I get it back and get another one.

Thoughts?

[overcoil]

for the gap at the passenger side rear light cluster, I have the same gap.

[JohnnyCanuck]

I am a little confused by how a read ender would damage the AC condenser or mis-align your headlights? Were you forced into the car in front?

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCanuck

I am a little confused by how a read ender would damage the AC condenser or mis-align your headlights? Were you forced into the car in front?

as I recall he was pushed into the car in front

[JohnnyCanuck]

Makes sense ... thanks.

[Audioholics]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCanuck

I am a little confused by how a read ender would damage the AC condenser or mis-align your headlights? Were you forced into the car in front?

Yes I was at rest. The guy hit us with his Ford Ranger doing about 35-40MPH and pushed my car into a car with a trailer hitch in front. I was the middle car and took all of the damage. The other vehicles had almost no damage at all.

[Audioholics]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

for the gap at the passenger side rear light cluster, I have the same gap.

That shouldn't be there though. It turned out they didn't properly line up the pins when reinstalling. I've gotten them to fix it since then.

I tried to attach a pic of it but it keeps saying image failed even after I scaled it below 100kb.

[orangeglim]

Those brackets don't look right. I would have noticed if mine weren't the same color as the rest of the trunk. The fact that they missed so much stuff and were still saying "Oh, yep, it's all done, ready to go" just drives me absolutely bonkers. Doesn't anyone give a shit about the quality of his/her work? I just went through something similar, but not the same extent as you, with a carbon fiber spoiler install. It was beyond frustrating. If I were you, I'd sell it.

[xantdieselx]

For sure the color is off on the trunk hinges. There are correct in saying that parts like the trunk hinges, jambs and underside of the lid are single stage (meaning base coat without clear coat) but the should match.

You are doing the right thing by looking over the car carefully and refusing to accept it. Make sure you take it for a good test drive prior to signing off and get the warranty on the repairs in writing.

[Audioholics]

Originally Posted by xantdieselx

For sure the color is off on the trunk hinges. There are correct in saying that parts like the trunk hinges, jambs and underside of the lid are single stage (meaning base coat without clear coat) but the should match.

You are doing the right thing by looking over the car carefully and refusing to accept it. Make sure you take it for a good test drive prior to signing off and get the warranty on the repairs in writing.

Yea thanks and good points regarding test drive and getting copy of the warranty. They are repainting the inside trunk now and claim my car will be ready by Friday. Fingers crossed.

[BEM-S4]

Just curious - what's the process to get certified as a BMW repair shop? Seems like so sub-par work. I just know from personal experience I wouldn't focus on BMW-certified (whatever that means) and take it to the best shop in town. Outside Philly we have one place that works on exotics and very high end stuff that I'd take a car I own, and another that does excellent work but not concours quality restoration that I've taken leased cars to. That's just an example though to illustrate that BMW-certified never really impacted my thinking. Is it like Geico-certified repair shop? I know BMW does have some sorts of insurance.

EDIT: OK after a little reading it sounds like it's a combination of a repair shop that's pre-authorized to work on your car by your insurance carrier and they get some training on BMWs. Still - not sure it would make me a whole lot more comfortable.

[orangeglim]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Just curious - what's the process to get certified as a BMW repair shop?

In my opinion, apparently not much. My dealer has its own BMW certified body shop, not some third party one, and it couldn't even handle something as basic as installation of a spoiler.

[Audioholics]

I took delivery of my car today. But discovered some issues on the ride home, one of which is of significance.

1. The HVAC makes a metallic/whooshing sound when I start and shut off the car and continues to make a whooshing sound when driving at low speeds. It sounds as if a fan blade is rubbing or obstructed in the air condenser that was replaced by them.
2. The front top cover piece has an excessive gap to the engine hood that needs to be adjusted. As you can see in the attached image.
3. The left rear bumper sticks out a bit and needs a slight adjustment as can be seen in the attached image.

Any ideas? Do you guys notice this big of a gap in the front end of your cars like I show in my photos? I am flabbergasted that they simply couldn't get a single repair item correct without having to go over this stuff multiple times with them. Insane!

[orangeglim]

For the hood gap that should be an easy fix for you. Open the hood, lift up the rubber gasket, loosen the big torx bolts under it slightly, adjust gap, put hood down, check gap, open hood, readjust, etc, until you get it the way you want. That one is probably easier to just do yourself, that way you'll know its done right.

[Audioholics]

Originally Posted by orangeglim

For the hood gap that should be an easy fix for you. Open the hood, lift up the rubber gasket, loosen the big torx bolts under it slightly, adjust gap, put hood down, check gap, open hood, readjust, etc, until you get it the way you want. That one is probably easier to just do yourself, that way you'll know its done right.

I will try that. Thanks.

[Audioholics]

Originally Posted by orangeglim

For the hood gap that should be an easy fix for you. Open the hood, lift up the rubber gasket, loosen the big torx bolts under it slightly, adjust gap, put hood down, check gap, open hood, readjust, etc, until you get it the way you want. That one is probably easier to just do yourself, that way you'll know its done right.

I tried this but it didn't seem to want to move in any more even with all of the screws loosened :/

[boypaulkim]

wow i'm really this happened to you man.
i have my car at a certified bmw collision center as well betting repaired after (what seems to be) a minor fender bender. (i hope nothing happened beyond the bumper) and would absolutely be pissed of if a certified center did something like this to my car.

what step are you going to take against the shop? are you planning on taking legal action?

[xantdieselx]

Ok, so I washed my car today and took some pics of the trunklid and hinges. They are in fact clearcoated. I took some pics of the taillight to body for reference as well.

[Audioholics]

Originally Posted by boypaulkim

wow i'm really this happened to you man.
i have my car at a certified bmw collision center as well betting repaired after (what seems to be) a minor fender bender. (i hope nothing happened beyond the bumper) and would absolutely be pissed of if a certified center did something like this to my car.

what step are you going to take against the shop? are you planning on taking legal action?

Right now I'm trying to get my car fixed and will be insisting that BMW themselves fix the AC. Sadly the local BMW dealer inspected the repair work and said it was all good. They didn't notice any of the parts alignment issues or mechanical noise from my HVAC, and this is a reputable dealer! With the exception of my insurance adjustor who genuinely cares about getting things right for me, I really feel few people take pride in their work these days. #Sad

[Audioholics]

Originally Posted by xantdieselx

Ok, so I washed my car today and took some pics of the trunklid and hinges. They are in fact clearcoated. I took some pics of the taillight to body for reference as well.

That blows my f*cking mind! I will be calling my insurance company and the body shop tomorrow. thanks.

[Pparana]

Originally Posted by Audioholics

Guys;

At the beginning of July, my fairly new M235i was rear ended by a texting 18yo driver and did over $12k worth of damage according to the insurance estimate. The kid had crappy insurance so I had to make the claim through my own company. My company has been pretty good and the guy overseeing my claim is a BMW enthusiast. He recommended I take my car to a BMW certified repair shop which I did.

After they took the car apart, they found other things that needed replacing such as the air conditioner condenser, among other things. This raised the estimate to almost $14k.

My car was supposed to be ready 2 weeks ago. When I went to pick it up, I found so many detail issues wrong such as misaligned bumpers and trim molds, scratches on the bumper that they replaced and painted, misaligned headlight, dirty engine, rubber gasket that holds the hood open broken, etc.

So they took another week to fix these issues. I went back last Friday and found more issues such as scratched headlight (at least this time it was aligned properly), poorly polished bumper in a small area, door molding loose and needing replacing.

I also discovered they didn't finish the paint on the metal parts that attach the trunk. They claimed BMW doesn't apply a clear coat to those pieces. I don't think this is right since I've never seen paint mismatch inside a trunk of any car I've ever owned. I even looked at a pic of my car after the accident before the repair and could clearly see all metal surfaces in the trunk matched color, including the connection joints.

I attached some pics of their poor workmanship though I don't have the real obvious ones available like the bumper misalignments which they have recently addressed. The engine has been cleaned since I complained and I attached an image in case anyone can see anything that may be wrong that I missed.

I even had my car inspected by BMW but they missed all of these details. BMW said there were no issues other than a bubble in my tire which was just replaced along with realigning the car.

I am very concerned that if this repair shop screwed up obvious little details, how do I know they properly reassembled the air condenser and anything else they had to move inside the engine compartment? It really makes me fed up and I'm tempted to just sell the car after I get it back and get another one.

Thoughts?

They took the deck lid off the car for paint, hence they did not clear the hinges, they did clear the underside which is more than factory. The lights were just installed wrong, and they did not adjust the bumper tab. I have had all those parts of my car since I did a full respray (laguna seca blue). Just shitty reassembly. Certified shops are usually the worst, other than audi.

Drive the car for a bit, if it feels off sell it. Just my 2 cents but most cars can be fixed visualy but never track or handle right after a hit.

[xantdieselx]

Originally Posted by Audioholics

That blows my f*cking mind! I will be calling my insurance company and the body shop tomorrow. thanks.

No problem sorry to hear about all the trouble you had.