Front Panel Replacment - How much?

[Street]

I had an early morning knock on the door today from a very appologetic neighbour who decided to reverse into the Z4
Walking down the drive I was praying to myself... 'it'll be a small scratch, you won't even notice it.. ' ... errrr... not quite, I nearly fainted when I saw it!

The damage is limited to the drivers front panel (It hasn't touched the door or the front bumper)..

I'm going to take it down to BMW for a quote.. anyone fancy a stab at the price?

 

[DannyBoy]

£500.00?

Parts- Front wing (unless the dentman can repair), fittings, paint and the expensive one, "labour".

Dont feel the car will be dealt with better by a BMW bodyshop as opposed another, some BMW bodyshops have shocking reputations and are very overpriced. Which ever bodyshop you decide to use make sure to google them.

 

[Street]

£500.00?
Dont feel the car will be dealt with better by a BMW bodyshop as opposed another, some BMW bodyshops have shocking reputations and are very overpriced. Which ever bodyshop you decide to use make sure to google them.

Great advice.. thanks, I wouldn't have even thought of that.

 

[Adam D]

Would they need to paint the surrounding panels to blend it in? Anything important or structural behind that area which could be also damaged (ie what you can see is superficial damage, structural damage or damage to electronics could be costly).

Might be worth getting a quote from BMW (although fully aknowledge they can be awful at times), purely as you have more comeback and the work is waranteed for at least a year (maybe 2?).

 

[cj10jeeper]

I can tell you that the wing itself will be around £500. Labour to remove paint and refit at least another £300 to £500. All assuming the underlying arch inserts are useable and that there has been no bonnet damage.

The may well paint part way back on the door to blend in. Trust me I know this from working with a bodyshop recently in the same area

Best get your neigbours insurance details

 

[elliot_holder]

Thats going to be fairly expensive - I know from experience on other cars that replacement of a large panel such as a wing will require a body shop to blend by going down the side of your car.

Before I got my Zed I had a dent (Much less severe than yours) removed from a rear quarter panel. I was being quoted in excess of £800! And that was for an MGTF which I just wanted repaired as cheaply as possible. In the end a good friend of mine did it for mates rates, and it came in at £400.

Looks like you definitely require a new wing, which I would guess is around £250 from BMW
Paint and labour, including belnding down the side, as a guess around £600 - 700 from a BMW dealer
All in Im guessing £850-£900

But that is just a guess, you may also have other parts damaged e.g. plastic inner wings. Also, check they havent hit your wheel/tyre as it could have affected your alignment. ALthough looks unlikely.

If you are in the surrey/Hampshire area I can definitely recommend http://www.JCAutobody.co.uk They will be a whole lot cheaper than going through BMW< and I've always had excellent work done there. Cannot recommend enough.

Hope you manage to get it fixed soon, noting worse than seeing your car damaged

 

[Street]

Jury's in...

£1517

.. advice I got from one bodyshop that as it was not BMW approved, it would invalidate the BMW paint/corrosion warranty.. appreciated their honesty.

 

[mikedav]

Edit - seems roughly right, maybe a little high but not much. I see you need a new side skirt too; I have seen very VERY similar damage on a friends Z4 Roadster, however the door needed repair (leading edge damaged) and it needed a wheel arch liner / few other plastic bits... that was £1800.

 

[DannyBoy]

Jury's in...

£1517

.. advice I got from one bodyshop that as it was not BMW approved, it would invalidate the BMW paint/corrosion warranty.. appreciated their honesty.

K'in hell! Credit crunch obvioulsy not affecting their business then.

May be an idea to take it elsewhere if you must use a BMW bodyshop, then, why not play each off against the other? Alternatively, for the wing atleast, why not get a paintless dent removal (PDR) man out to establish if the panel is repairable- you'd be surprised how good some of their work is, you may be able to simply get the panel resprayed.

PDRs tend to give free quotes, youll then know what can be done, albeit if your not paying sod it and get a new panel.

 

[csmith319]

Lower than I would have expected - I had almost identical damage to my wife's 3 series from someone reversing into that. Again, only the wing needed replacing - cost over £2200! (insurance job)

 

[gannet]

Ouch But at least the neighbour owned up to it!

 

[*AL*]

£500.00?

Parts- Front wing (unless the dentman can repair), fittings, paint and the expensive one, "labour".

Dont feel the car will be dealt with better by a BMW bodyshop as opposed another, some BMW bodyshops have shocking reputations and are very overpriced. Which ever bodyshop you decide to use make sure to google them.

Quote: "Unless the dentman can repair".

I can assure you the the dentman will laugh if you called him out for that, it will be a front fender change for sure. You must be gutted but at least the neighbour came to tell you.Cost will be over £1K at BMW i think.

 

[DannyBoy]

£500.00?

Parts- Front wing (unless the dentman can repair), fittings, paint and the expensive one, "labour".

Dont feel the car will be dealt with better by a BMW bodyshop as opposed another, some BMW bodyshops have shocking reputations and are very overpriced. Which ever bodyshop you decide to use make sure to google them.

Quote: "Unless the dentman can repair".

I can assure you the the dentman will laugh if you called him out for that, it will be a front fender change for sure. You must be gutted but at least the neighbour came to tell you.Cost will be over £1K at BMW i think.

You'd be surprised Al. While not all PDR operators are as skilled, a chap I use keeps photos of certain work he carries out, and from the said photos I've seen a Z4 with similar if not worse front panel damage PDR'ed succesfully.

That said, the panel would still require re-spraying anyway and as stated, the repray will likely be "blended" into the bonnet and door.

 

[*AL*]

£500.00?

Parts- Front wing (unless the dentman can repair), fittings, paint and the expensive one, "labour".

Dont feel the car will be dealt with better by a BMW bodyshop as opposed another, some BMW bodyshops have shocking reputations and are very overpriced. Which ever bodyshop you decide to use make sure to google them.

Quote: "Unless the dentman can repair".

I can assure you the the dentman will laugh if you called him out for that, it will be a front fender change for sure. You must be gutted but at least the neighbour came to tell you.Cost will be over £1K at BMW i think.

You'd be surprised Al. While not all PDR operators are as skilled, a chap I use keeps photos of certain work he carries out, and from the said photos I've seen a Z4 with similar if not worse front panel damage PDR'ed succesfully.

That said, the panel would still require re-spraying anyway and as stated, the repray will likely be "blended" into the bonnet and door.

Why would you 'blend' into the bonnet, door maybe. I have a friend that does the dings and has accompanied him many times, so you get the feel for what can and can't be removed. I work daily with new cars, doing inspection and repairs paint/mechanical so see a few body/paint problems.

 

[DannyBoy]

Why would you 'blend' into the bonnet, door maybe..... I

As if you dont the bonnet is going to be a different colour to the wing isnt it. Think about it. As swith the door and wing. :wink:

Yes as I said, not all PDR people are equal- some are perfectionists, some take the money and run.

 

[cj10jeeper]

Maybe I'm missing something here. Since the neighbour damaged it badly, why would you have anything other than a new BMW wing fitted, fully resprayed at whatever cost, not a dent repair?

 

[Mr Whippy]

Maybe I'm missing something here. Since the neighbour damaged it badly, why would you have anything other than a new BMW wing fitted, fully resprayed at whatever cost, not a dent repair?

Exactly, that front wing isn't exactly a simple panel to get right either, it's got a lovely multi-curved surface, along with that variable depth pressed crease. I'd be hugely surprised if anyone could get it looking good without a brand new wing...
Flame surfacing doesn't look to lend itself to any major repair... even 'normal' cars with damage over a swage line are tough to get right with filler, and this car has swage lines and curves all over in variable directions with variable depths and radii to the kinks.

I don't see the value in any such cheap half hearted repairs on a car of such value, especially when to do a half decent filler/dent pulling/spray job will cost 75% of what a 100% perfect job would cost anyway!

 

[DannyBoy]

Maybe I'm missing something here. Since the neighbour damaged it badly, why would you have anything other than a new BMW wing fitted, fully resprayed at whatever cost, not a dent repair?

Couldnt agree more seeing as the neighbour is paying. Albeit, a new wing is still going to be sprayed into both the door and bonnet.

 

[*AL*]

Why would you 'blend' into the bonnet, door maybe..... I

As if you dont the bonnet is going to be a different colour to the wing isnt it. Think about it. As swith the door and wing. :wink:

Yes as I said, not all PDR people are equal- some are perfectionists, some take the money and run.

So where do you stop then, think about that!

 

[DannyBoy]

So where do you stop then, think about that!

Once its blended properly. A with the door probably about half way coverage? Know what I mean? :wink: