Tell-tale sign of a previous accident?
- Thread starter Marauder
- Start date
one tip from Mike Brewer - if you can get close enough to check, are the front and rear number plates made by the same company? if the front has been in an accident, chances are a new front number plate was put on that wont match the rear.
alternatively, that might have just had a front end respray. though the difference in fitment is negligable, i wouldnt have noticed if you hadn't have pointed it out.
alternatively, that might have just had a front end respray. though the difference in fitment is negligable, i wouldnt have noticed if you hadn't have pointed it out.
Its rare to see a Z4 without some evidence of misalignment of the front bumper. The plastic clips holding it on are very fragile and the front is vulnerable to parking bumps as you sit low in the car and the bonnet is very long so until you are used to it its not that easy to know exactly where the front of the car is.
There's a clip which fixes the front bumper to the wing, they're prone to fatiguing and breaking - bumper needs to be substantially loosened top and bottom to remove the remains of the old clips and refit new ones. Could be that, or bumper could have been off for a respray, I'd not be worried to be honest.
You can loosen the rail at the top of the bumper and reposition it if you like.
You can loosen the rail at the top of the bumper and reposition it if you like.
Slightly misaligned front panel is as likely a small parking bump as a major accident, IMHO. Walk down a street in London with on-street residential parking and you'll notice half the cars look exactly like that, or the outside tips of the panel are sticking out ever so slightly.
I would think if someone was repairing after a major accident it would be fairly simple to put the new front panel on and line it up correctly. To be honest, if a car is 15ish years old and has done normal mileage, but has a perfectly aligned front panel, it probably has been repaired at some point!
:rofl:
I would think if someone was repairing after a major accident it would be fairly simple to put the new front panel on and line it up correctly. To be honest, if a car is 15ish years old and has done normal mileage, but has a perfectly aligned front panel, it probably has been repaired at some point!
bigwinn said:
:rofl:
Thanks for all the responses guys.
Yea, perhaps I am over-thinking this. What irritated me is on the left hand side of the photo, it seems the wing is slightly ahead of the bonnet. Can't be more than a couple of centimetres but I have not noticed this in other Zs I am looking at. Made my mind wonder what had happened. The photo is not great quality but it is clearly (although only slightly) misaligned.
Yea, perhaps I am over-thinking this. What irritated me is on the left hand side of the photo, it seems the wing is slightly ahead of the bonnet. Can't be more than a couple of centimetres but I have not noticed this in other Zs I am looking at. Made my mind wonder what had happened. The photo is not great quality but it is clearly (although only slightly) misaligned.
brillomaster said:
I'd agree with you if it was a new car. However with the age of these, well I've had a few de-lamiating plates (front and rear) and a massive stone ship on a front (thankfully that small missile hit the plate and not the body).
For me a tell tale sign, is the front and rear bumpers both have a small BLACK bracket. These are poorly covered up for a spot repair. So you tend to get overspray on them.
An example below (yes its bad, no it's not mine):
I also seem to collect headlights, and the number of those with overspray on them is concerning. Not that you can check for this easily, but phone torch underneath the headlight should give you an indication. This is because they only really mask the front part of the lense and don't care about the underneath.
An example below (yes its bad, no it's not mine):
When I went for a full detailing of my Z4 (ceramics, polish...), they did a paint thickness measurement. As I was told, this is the best way to see what has been done with the car.
In my case, all panels had an original thickness of paint (that is possible only in the factory), only the front bumper and bonnet had a different thicknesses that was accordingly to the receipt that I got from the previous owner - he repainted those two things because of the 18 years of age and stone chips from the road.
Everything else was stock-related to the paint.
Try this, maybe the old owner repainted the front bumper/hood because of the stone chips.
In my case, all panels had an original thickness of paint (that is possible only in the factory), only the front bumper and bonnet had a different thicknesses that was accordingly to the receipt that I got from the previous owner - he repainted those two things because of the 18 years of age and stone chips from the road.
Everything else was stock-related to the paint.
Try this, maybe the old owner repainted the front bumper/hood because of the stone chips.
Marauder said:
It may not have been that much of an impact. It depends what it hit/what hit it as Z4s are pretty low at the front. A people carrier or a van could easily ride over the top of the bumper.
All our E85s/86s are heading towards 15 years old, so some previous damage is only to be expected when I think they reckon the average driver is involved in an accident every 4 and a half years.
Close the bonnet and go for a good drive - that'll take your mind off it. :wink:
