Crashed my 6er Yesterday in the Ice

[Mark333032]

I broke my own rule to never take this car out in the snow and ice but my wife was out in her Astra so I had to. Despite taking it really slow, I skidded down that slope in the top left hand corner of the shot on what was sheet ice and into the path of a BMW 1 series. His came off better than mine.






I’m going to need a new nose, 2 new wings, headlight, kidney grills and a bonnet at the very least. I can’t actually open the bonnet to find out what else is busted up. It was a relatively slow speed collision but the degree of damage to my once beautiful car is really quite shocking.

It's all fully insured of course but my £825 insurance excess will hurt, as will next years insurance premium despite no claims in over 25 years

[Walt White Coupe]

Always sorry to hear of misfortune like that but in the end it's just a car and it can be fixed. I try to focus on the positive. It's better for your mind.

[Flying Ace]

Ouch, fratricide.

Let's get her fixed up!

[AmooManiak]

I've seen less damaged car get totaled. Considering how expensive parts are for this car and the hit in resale value, I wouldn't be surprised if this was totaled. I know a lot of people will say "no way", but I wouldn't be surprised (at least in the U.S.)

[darms]

What bad luck mate..... you sound like me, I too am very reluctant to take mine out in the snow n ice.

Hope your 6 is back on the road soon and your insurance company don't kill you for it.

[Taheemr]

On no !!!, i havent moved my 6 in almost 3wks, Id be surprised if the car is written off so long as there is no chasis or internal damage that is, this repair does not look like it will be more than 60% of the value of the car, you will fins that the light lamp is perhaps the most expensive part to replace, had my 5series done a few wks back, £1600 all in.

[The0pportunist]

Totally sucks. Hope she gets fixed up in no time!

I've sort of been hoping for snow & ice this winter for bit of excitement but after seeing this maybe not!

[babaikram]

I am sorry for what happened to you. Nevertheless this is the reason you have been paying insurance premium for the past 25 years.
On another note turning off DSC button improves the forward traction of BMW cars a lot on ice and reduce sideway skids. I was almost in the same situation as you until I turned off the button some weeks ago when it snowed heavily in Yorkshire

[Mark333032]

My insurance company wanted me to use a local body shop and initially I said OK but then read a few reviews about them and thought no. My car is too nice to be bodged up and I don't want to be messed about...it needs to go to a BMW bodyshop. So it was picked up by BMW Halliwell Jones Warrington this afternoon. I'll report back when they have assessed the damage.

In the meantime, I shall have the privilege of driving my daughter's Christmas present - a 2010 1.3 Nissan Micra Visio (that's the basic one). She won't be 17 for another 3 weeks so that should work out nicely for me and her.

In the UK you can choose who undertakes your repairs but if you do not go with your insurers preferred (ie cheapest) bodyshop, then you don't usually get extras like a free courtesy car.

[Taheemr]

Originally Posted by Mark333032

My insurance company wanted me to use a local body shop and initially I said OK but then read a few reviews about them and thought no. My car is too nice to be bodged up and I don't want to be messed about...it needs to go to a BMW bodyshop. So it was picked up by BMW Halliwell Jones Warrington this afternoon. I'll report back when they have assessed the damage..

You may have read that after a bill to my insurer for over £30k BMW Oldbury Bham, made a right royal cock up of a repair on my M6 this year and then decided not to take any responsibility for their crap work, it was only when BMW GB got involved that the matter got resolved, furthermore your insurance will not intervene if you go to a none approved bodyshop in the event of a dispute, in anycase your repair seems quite a simple fix though. It all down to the operators skill and diligence really

[brad850csi]

Were you on normal tyres, not winters?

[NINJA59]

Originally Posted by brad850csi

Were you on normal tyres, not winters?

Even a winter tyre on sheet ice won't get traction. In honesty i doubt you could have done much to avoid an accident if something was there like it was.

All of the damage externally is going to be expensive sadly -

Headlight if led adaptive - 1500-1600
Wings are composite - not sure but will be pricey
Aluminium bonnet - pricey

Make sure that the active bonnet has not activated as that will need sorting alongside any adaptive systems your car has.

You will need someone with the skills to paint composite and aluminium as well (steel painting is very different!). Therefore there is a chance of more cost there.

Sadly the 6 is still a special car not even in M form because none of the external panels are steel pressings (even the G30 has not got that far yet!).

[brad850csi]

Originally Posted by NINJA59

Even a winter tyre on sheet ice won't get traction. In honesty i doubt you could have done much to avoid an accident if something was there like it was.

snip

I was curious as I've never needed winter tyres here in Auckland and only have experience in the below BMW course - off topic now slightly but I was surprised at how much grip the cars had on the snow. On the ice however you are right, there is no grip at all. In 2016 we had a flat sheet ice section that you can see very briefly at 1:09 to 1:12 in the first video and I had never experienced anything like it, even with proper Nokian winter tyres on. Even at about 10kmh it was impossible to turn or accelerate at all.

2016 - we had mostly X3 and X5's with a single 740d xdrive and a couple of M3s the instructors had to do quick laps in.

2017 - there were still the X's there, but we also had the change to drive M2, M3, M4s as well as an M760Li and i8 which was great fun on the snow

[NINJA59]

I run full winter tyres and in fresh snow perfect combo but once ice forms i am like everyone else

[Qsilver7]

Dedicated winter tires can still outperform all season tires on ice as well as snow in most circumstances. But in this case (seeing the hill in the pic provided) the ice and degree of downward slope was too much it seems for the snow tires to maintain control.

But in most normal driving circumstances...at speeds for the conditions (not a speed course like in the videos above)...dedicated winter tires will outperform all seasons & summer tires...even on ice. Even if you do go into a slide in a braking situation...dedicated winter tires should stop the vehicle sooner than all seasons or summer tires. The video below shows how summer/all season/winter tires perform in acceleration/braking/turning scenarios on a course set-up on an ice rink (sheet ice).

BTW...I do feel your pain...looking at the pic of the damage is cringe worthy...especially considering the ice took away all control.

[Mark333032]

BMW Warrington has come back with the repair estimate - £14,750. Parts alone are £9,000. It is now up to my insurance company to decide whether to write it off or repair it. The assessor thought it could go either way with the insurance value at £22,000 which is the figure I used when I renewed my insurance back in October. He said the write off threshold of 60% of value is only a guide and each insurer takes a different approach. Having checked values over the last day or two, I'd say £20k is about what it was worth pre-accident.

If it is to be repaired it will take around 4 weeks.

A quick look on ebay came up with this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-6-SER...8AAOSwIFtaODMw which is just about everything I would need plus a little more but at £4,500 for used parts, it seems rather high. It does at least look like the correct colour but BMWs being BMWs it won't be a DIY job. There'll be some tricky compatibility and coding issues no doubt. I am pretty handy with spanners but I would not tackle this at home.

I've come to terms with it being written off and if that happens, I'll throw in some more coin and upgrade to a Gran Coupe. However, I have read on one or two other forums that if it is written off then my insurance policy will have done it's job and will be closed despite still having 10 months to run. There are no refunds or transfers. Instead I shall have to start again with a new policy for my new car. Has anyone else had any experience with this?

[AmooManiak]

Originally Posted by Mark333032

I've come to terms with it being written off and if that happens, I'll throw in some more coin and upgrade to a Gran Coupe. However, I have read on one or two other forums that if it is written off then my insurance policy will have done it's job and will be closed despite still having 10 months to run. There are no refunds or transfers. Instead I shall have to start again with a new policy for my new car. Has anyone else had any experience with this?

Sorry to hear. Like I said, these cars are very sensitive to work on and require a lot attention for a job like this.

Regarding the insurance premium, that is not how it works in the U.S. If the car gets written off and you took it off the policy, you would get a refund. I'm not sure how the deductibles work in the U.K. but maybe part of that prepayment would go against the deductible?

[Taheemr]

The parts are the killer on these cars, garages are often quite tied down with insurance hourly stipulated hourly rates, If it were me id push to have the car written off, most insurers are sensible and will offer close to market value of car, i take it you have no finance on it ??

Take this as opportunity to find a car with all those options you wanted, theres loads of choice !!

[NINJA59]

Originally Posted by Mark333032

BMW Warrington has come back with the repair estimate - £14,750. Parts alone are £9,000. It is now up to my insurance company to decide whether to write it off or repair it. The assessor thought it could go either way with the insurance value at £22,000 which is the figure I used when I renewed my insurance back in October. He said the write off threshold of 60% of value is only a guide and each insurer takes a different approach. Having checked values over the last day or two, I'd say £20k is about what it was worth pre-accident.

If it is to be repaired it will take around 4 weeks.

A quick look on ebay came up with this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-6-SER...8AAOSwIFtaODMw which is just about everything I would need plus a little more but at £4,500 for used parts, it seems rather high. It does at least look like the correct colour but BMWs being BMWs it won't be a DIY job. There'll be some tricky compatibility and coding issues no doubt. I am pretty handy with spanners but I would not tackle this at home.

I've come to terms with it being written off and if that happens, I'll throw in some more coin and upgrade to a Gran Coupe. However, I have read on one or two other forums that if it is written off then my insurance policy will have done it's job and will be closed despite still having 10 months to run. There are no refunds or transfers. Instead I shall have to start again with a new policy for my new car. Has anyone else had any experience with this?

Depends which team gets the info first in some cases.

The last bit really depends on insurer some give you a set time to find a new car before the policy is terminated.

I don't want to sound picky or anything but i do worry about stolen car parts these days as well more so from that area of the UK.

[Mark333032]

I spoke with the insurance company today. They confirmed it is a total loss. They asked what I thought it was worth to which I replied £20-£21k.

10 minutes later they called me back with an offer of just £17,155. Or if I want to keep the car to fix it up myself, they will pay me £9,932. But I don't want it.

In a blink of an eye, £17,155 was increased to £18,000 and finally to £18,300 which was the limit the agent could go. There is no way I could buy a car of the same specification and condition from a reputable source for £18,300. The agent probably goes through the same pantomime every day but she was actually quite sympathetic and explained what I must do to escalate it.

I have now emailed a letter including the V5, MOT, original purchase invoice and service documents to justify my (actually Autotrader's independent) valuation of £20,720 and included links to similar cars which are all for sale at around £20k.

I will let you know how this unfolds.

[Flying Ace]

Agreed, all wheel drive and winter tires can only do so much on ice. AWD is only useful for power-on traction, there's nothing it is doing to assist in braking.

Winter tires do help on braking on snow and ice, but there are limits and sometimes physics just takes over.

If you drive in cold weather, always use winter tires nevertheless.

[Taheemr]

Originally Posted by Mark333032

I spoke with the insurance company today. They confirmed it is a total loss. They asked what I thought it was worth to which I replied £20-£21k.

10 minutes later they called me back with an offer of just £17,155. Or if I want to keep the car to fix it up myself, they will pay me £9,932. But I don't want it.

In a blink of an eye, £17,155 was increased to £18,000 and finally to £18,300 which was the limit the agent could go. There is no way I could buy a car of the same specification and condition from a reputable source for £18,300. The agent probably goes through the same pantomime every day but she was actually quite sympathetic and explained what I must do to escalate it.

I have now emailed a letter including the V5, MOT, original purchase invoice and service documents to justify my (actually Autotrader's independent) valuation of £20,720 and included links to similar cars which are all for sale at around £20k.

I will let you know how this unfolds.

negotiate hard with them at they end of day they will always look to mitigate price, send them some adss from the BMW AUC site, if you need to escalate it then do so, you will surprised how quickly they tend to fold.

Whose the insurer by the way