Well, my Clubman made it almost 8-months in pristine condition...
Driving home from work on Friday evening, following a pickup truck...it should be noted that I was following a safe distance behind. Suddenly, a big gust of wind, and what appeared to be a 4x4 sheet of water-logged & frozen cardboard (we had massive rains on Thursday, followed by freezing temps on Friday), or thin particle board, flys out of the pickup's bed and right into my path. There were cars to my left and right, so all I could do was hit the brakes hard...from 45mph, I got slowed down to about 25mph before hitting the debris from the pickup...disintegrating it. It was a pretty good impact...and I immediately had visions of the front end of the car being completely destroyed.
Unfortunately, my having to slow down, meant the pickup was able to go through the stoplight we were approaching, and I got caught at the light...so I wasn't able to get the license plate off the trick.
Once the light turned green, I was able to pull over into a shopping center, and quickly assess the damage...
Miraculously, there was no paint damage. I must have hit the debris absolutely perfectly...below the crash bumper, where the radiator/intercooler grille and the chin spoiler took the brunt.
So on Saturday morning, I took my Clubman to my dealer's body shop to get an estimate. The good news is that they didn't see any damage beyond the cosmetic stuff to the front bumper/grille area...so the intercooler and all that stuff are in good shape, and repairs should be under $400.
Now the pain of having to wait 2-weeks for my Clubman to get fixed...because the damage is ALL I see every time I walk out to my car now.
A few pics of the damage...
http://instagram.com/p/ksxFlPpX6b/
http://instagram.com/p/kswr0CJX56/
http://instagram.com/p/ksw1z9pX6I/
Driving home from work on Friday evening, following a pickup truck...it should be noted that I was following a safe distance behind. Suddenly, a big gust of wind, and what appeared to be a 4x4 sheet of water-logged & frozen cardboard (we had massive rains on Thursday, followed by freezing temps on Friday), or thin particle board, flys out of the pickup's bed and right into my path. There were cars to my left and right, so all I could do was hit the brakes hard...from 45mph, I got slowed down to about 25mph before hitting the debris from the pickup...disintegrating it. It was a pretty good impact...and I immediately had visions of the front end of the car being completely destroyed.
Unfortunately, my having to slow down, meant the pickup was able to go through the stoplight we were approaching, and I got caught at the light...so I wasn't able to get the license plate off the trick.
Once the light turned green, I was able to pull over into a shopping center, and quickly assess the damage...
- Broken lower radiator/intercooler grille...it looks like every mounting clip is broken.
- Cracked driver's side brake duct intake...somehow the polished/piano black trim piece was in-tact, albeit scuffed.
- Scratched & scuffed lower chin spoiler
- And the bumper was canted down a bit...mostly on the driver's side.
Miraculously, there was no paint damage. I must have hit the debris absolutely perfectly...below the crash bumper, where the radiator/intercooler grille and the chin spoiler took the brunt.
So on Saturday morning, I took my Clubman to my dealer's body shop to get an estimate. The good news is that they didn't see any damage beyond the cosmetic stuff to the front bumper/grille area...so the intercooler and all that stuff are in good shape, and repairs should be under $400.
Now the pain of having to wait 2-weeks for my Clubman to get fixed...because the damage is ALL I see every time I walk out to my car now.
A few pics of the damage...
http://instagram.com/p/ksxFlPpX6b/
http://instagram.com/p/kswr0CJX56/
http://instagram.com/p/ksw1z9pX6I/
6th Gear
I hit some chunk of ice or frozen snow in Dec that had sand/gravel imbedded that scratched my bumper pretty good, cost me $525 to repaint. I took to BMW to get the paint done right, like you I want my clubbie to remain like new.
I had them paint my brake cooling ducts to match the car while they were at it.
I had them paint my brake cooling ducts to match the car while they were at it.
Until I got a good look in the light on Saturday morning, I was thinking if there was paint damage I would maybe have them paint the brake duct trim. I've like it on some MINIs I've seen it on, and I haven't cared for it on some others. Never seen a Pepper White with matching brake ducts though...so I am thinking I will be keeping them black. One less thing to notice stone chips in too.