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      10-09-2011, 08:10 AM   #1
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Nightmare came through: Bus hit and almost wrecked my brand new F12. Pictures.

I'm physically OK. And this is what happened yesterday:
While driving the middle lane (of 3) on one of the expressways outside Oslo, Norway, I was passing a bus who drove in the right lane. The speed was 100 km/h (62 mph).
Suddenly the bus makes a fast manoeuvre to the left and hits me in the right door. My car was pushed towards the left lane while I tried to stabilize it and make the nose point forward to avoid new collisions with the left lane traffic. Thanks to the heavy car and all the electronic helpers the car was (with some help from me....) brought to a safe standstill along the road.

When getting out of the car I had shattered glass all over me, in my pockets, in my hair, shoes and of course all over the car interior. But not a single scratch on me.
The bus stopped behind me, and a Danish car with two very gentle guys who had witnessed it all also stopped. They gave me their names and phone numbers and made sure I was not injured.
The bus driver had some explanation for his manoeuvre that did not interest me much. But he was very unhappy and a bit confused or shocked, so I did not yell at him. We filled in the insurance report and he continued his route.

I called the BMW assistance number, and after 45 minutes a truck came and picked up the car. BMW assistance called nearby car rentals, and after another hour and a short taxi ride I was sitting in a replacement car. A Volvo V70. So the weekend tour to our family place up in the mountains could continue.

About the Volvo: This is the perfect car for people who don't mind synthetic steering, hate curves, hate overtaking and don't care about engine figures. Basically hate driving. But love quality plastic.
It is a safe car though.

There are a few things I noticed which I think is useful knowledge. I bring them further to you guys:

- The F12 and F13 has got critisism for its weight. Well, I am happy the car gave the bus a tough match and still was possible to control in high speed and heavy traffic. I am especially happy I did not drive my Mini (not to mention the Smart), which would have been thrown over to the next lane or even the lane of oposite direction.
- The car did a great job stabilizing itself while I was steering as hell.
- Only the side airbags on the right side were activated (seems reasonable)
- The anti roll bars behing the rear seats blew off (you can se them activated on the pictures)
- There was an intense smell of gun powder......
- It popped up a lot of messages on the iDrive screen but I did not focus on them

Thank you God and BMW engineers that I am sitting here without any injuries.
What makes me sad is that a heavily repaired car probably will never be the same. What about future rust in parts that are repaired instead of changed? What about structural strength, regarding collision safety in the future? How do they bring back the balance of a fine tuned and delicate chassis construction with sledgehammers and manual welding?

Those of you who have read my "just washed my car" thread or my "driving experiences after 4 months" know how much I love this car. Sad days are here

Explanation for the cat picture:
The cat Achilles was passenger. I gave him a proper shower to wash out glass fragments from the fur. Needless to say he didn't like it
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      10-09-2011, 08:34 AM   #2
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Glad you're fine! That's the most important thing! The car definitely held up well against a bus.
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      10-09-2011, 09:06 AM   #3
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Sorry to hear that glad your ok, just wondering how long its going to take to get parts for your repair. What a bummer!
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      10-09-2011, 01:05 PM   #4
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Sorry to hear and see these picutres.. it's shocking.
The good thing is that you are not hurt;
hope you don't experience any muscleaches and such.

And for the car, at least it's not front or back structure that's damaged.
I doubt if just the side door replacement will alter it's structure rigidity.
I wouldn't feel bad or worry about the complete fix;
it wouldn't really bother me riding it after it's done and polished.

And enjoy that new volvo
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      10-09-2011, 03:49 PM   #5
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Sorry to see this news

Hope you get her back soon!
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      10-09-2011, 05:57 PM   #6
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Glad you, Achilles, and your 6er, all things considered, came through so well. Sorry your car was damaged, but it looks as if it is structurally very strong and well built. And the electronic whiz-bang all worked as designed.

Best wishes for prompt and thorough repair of your beautiful convertible.
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      10-09-2011, 09:23 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Superspeed View Post
I'm physically OK. And this is what happened yesterday:
While driving the middle lane (of 3) on one of the expressways outside Oslo, Norway, I was passing a bus who drove in the right lane. The speed was 100 km/h (62 mph).
Suddenly the bus makes a fast manoeuvre to the left and hits me in the right door. My car was pushed towards the left lane while I tried to stabilize it and make the nose point forward to avoid new collisions with the left lane traffic. Thanks to the heavy car and all the electronic helpers the car was (with some help from me....) brought to a safe standstill along the road.

When getting out of the car I had shattered glass all over me, in my pockets, in my hair, shoes and of course all over the car interior. But not a single scratch on me.
The bus stopped behind me, and a Danish car with two very gentle guys who had witnessed it all also stopped. They gave me their names and phone numbers and made sure I was not injured.
The bus driver had some explanation for his manoeuvre that did not interest me much. But he was very unhappy and a bit confused or shocked, so I did not yell at him. We filled in the insurance report and he continued his route.

I called the BMW assistance number, and after 45 minutes a truck came and picked up the car. BMW assistance called nearby car rentals, and after another hour and a short taxi ride I was sitting in a replacement car. A Volvo V70. So the weekend tour to our family place up in the mountains could continue.

About the Volvo: This is the perfect car for people who don't mind synthetic steering, hate curves, hate overtaking and don't care about engine figures. Basically hate driving. But love quality plastic.
It is a safe car though.

There are a few things I noticed which I think is useful knowledge. I bring them further to you guys:

- The F12 and F13 has got critisism for its weight. Well, I am happy the car gave the bus a tough match and still was possible to control in high speed and heavy traffic. I am especially happy I did not drive my Mini (not to mention the Smart), which would have been thrown over to the next lane or even the lane of oposite direction.
- The car did a great job stabilizing itself while I was steering as hell.
- Only the side airbags on the right side were activated (seems reasonable)
- The anti roll bars behing the rear seats blew off (you can se them activated on the pictures)
- There was an intense smell of gun powder......
- It popped up a lot of messages on the iDrive screen but I did not focus on them

Thank you God and BMW engineers that I am sitting here without any injuries.
What makes me sad is that a heavily repaired car probably will never be the same. What about future rust in parts that are repaired instead of changed? What about structural strength, regarding collision safety in the future? How do they bring back the balance of a fine tuned and delicate chassis construction with sledgehammers and manual welding?

Those of you who have read my "just washed my car" thread or my "driving experiences after 4 months" know how much I love this car. Sad days are here

Explanation for the cat picture:
The cat Achilles was passenger. I gave him a proper shower to wash out glass fragments from the fur. Needless to say he didn't like it

Thank Goodness you guys are okay. I don't think I would be able to nice to that bus driver - to put it lightly. He and his company are definitely on the hook. Claims adjuster will have to take a clear look underneath to make sure there are no frame issues.

You can tell that the F12/F13 models are engineered and built well! Also get yourself checked out just to be sure - that was quite a hit.
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      10-10-2011, 11:01 PM   #8
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oh my goodness! glad both of u r ok
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      10-12-2011, 01:40 AM   #9
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Thank you for your compassion guys. Right now I am in a dialog with the insurance company about which repair shop is the best to take car of the car.
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      10-13-2011, 09:06 PM   #10
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most important thing right now is you're both ok. I mean you can replace the car but you cannot replace you as you are unique and only one in the world.

second, am judging only by picture I don't think there is a real big damage on your chasis (basing it from the closed doors) to practically reduce body rigidity as I can see, these are panels that can be replaced. again, am basing it only from the picture and with a good body shop, you're back in no time.
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      10-14-2011, 04:20 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SL%% View Post
second, am judging only by picture I don't think there is a real big damage on your chasis (basing it from the closed doors) to practically reduce body rigidity as I can see, these are panels that can be replaced. again, am basing it only from the picture and with a good body shop, you're back in no time.
I hope you are right. The right door is stuck and I haven't examined the underside so far. Hopefully the shock wave from the collision did not spread too far into the underbody.
Anyway I am really amazed the damage is not much bigger after such a heavy impact.

After some research I picked what a believe is a good place who only repairs BMW, Mini and Porsche. I have an apointment there on monday for a thorough examination of the car.

I'll post my experiences throughout the process here further on.
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      10-18-2011, 12:33 AM   #12
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Glad to see everything is safe, as far as the car looks like BMW has it standard safety up to spec
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      10-18-2011, 02:34 AM   #13
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That's really bad luck, but as others have said, the main thing is that you're not hurt. Had it been a less structurally sound car, things might have been a lot worse.
Let us all know how you get on with the repair.
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      10-18-2011, 03:16 PM   #14
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Oh no, man I'm so pissed for you!!!!

Glad you're ok.


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      10-31-2011, 08:55 PM   #15
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These things can be fixed. Thank goodness you are okay!

From the outside, it looks like you have very minimal drive train damage and that's a good thing.

The structural integrity is not an issue. If the vehicle is not repaired properly then the idrive will display various sensor errors from airbags and other safety features.

Just make sure it is not totaled. Many body shops will under evaluate the damage initially as a means to get your insurance company to sign on agree not to total the car by having it fixed.

If the amount of damage plus 30% exceeds the value of the car then you should try to convince your insurance company that the car should be totaled. There is a very good chance that the hidden damage will end up exceeding the value of the car. Once the insurance company commits to fixing the car they will keep going no matter how much it costs to get the car fixed.

So, by taking time to understand the hidden damage and how it can grossly add to the original estimate will make it worth ensuring the car is not totaled.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Superspeed View Post
I'm physically OK. And this is what happened yesterday:
While driving the middle lane (of 3) on one of the expressways outside Oslo, Norway, I was passing a bus who drove in the right lane. The speed was 100 km/h (62 mph).
Suddenly the bus makes a fast manoeuvre to the left and hits me in the right door. My car was pushed towards the left lane while I tried to stabilize it and make the nose point forward to avoid new collisions with the left lane traffic. Thanks to the heavy car and all the electronic helpers the car was (with some help from me....) brought to a safe standstill along the road.

When getting out of the car I had shattered glass all over me, in my pockets, in my hair, shoes and of course all over the car interior. But not a single scratch on me.
The bus stopped behind me, and a Danish car with two very gentle guys who had witnessed it all also stopped. They gave me their names and phone numbers and made sure I was not injured.
The bus driver had some explanation for his manoeuvre that did not interest me much. But he was very unhappy and a bit confused or shocked, so I did not yell at him. We filled in the insurance report and he continued his route.

I called the BMW assistance number, and after 45 minutes a truck came and picked up the car. BMW assistance called nearby car rentals, and after another hour and a short taxi ride I was sitting in a replacement car. A Volvo V70. So the weekend tour to our family place up in the mountains could continue.

About the Volvo: This is the perfect car for people who don't mind synthetic steering, hate curves, hate overtaking and don't care about engine figures. Basically hate driving. But love quality plastic.
It is a safe car though.

There are a few things I noticed which I think is useful knowledge. I bring them further to you guys:

- The F12 and F13 has got critisism for its weight. Well, I am happy the car gave the bus a tough match and still was possible to control in high speed and heavy traffic. I am especially happy I did not drive my Mini (not to mention the Smart), which would have been thrown over to the next lane or even the lane of oposite direction.
- The car did a great job stabilizing itself while I was steering as hell.
- Only the side airbags on the right side were activated (seems reasonable)
- The anti roll bars behing the rear seats blew off (you can se them activated on the pictures)
- There was an intense smell of gun powder......
- It popped up a lot of messages on the iDrive screen but I did not focus on them

Thank you God and BMW engineers that I am sitting here without any injuries.
What makes me sad is that a heavily repaired car probably will never be the same. What about future rust in parts that are repaired instead of changed? What about structural strength, regarding collision safety in the future? How do they bring back the balance of a fine tuned and delicate chassis construction with sledgehammers and manual welding?

Those of you who have read my "just washed my car" thread or my "driving experiences after 4 months" know how much I love this car. Sad days are here

Explanation for the cat picture:
The cat Achilles was passenger. I gave him a proper shower to wash out glass fragments from the fur. Needless to say he didn't like it
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      11-01-2011, 09:18 AM   #16
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OUCH!!! So Sorry to hear about what happened. Glad you're OK! From what it looks like thankfully it can be repaired with no structural damage to your F12. Just be careful where you take it. Most dealers are just starting to work on our new 6s, especially for body. For Reference I would use RealOEM.com for parts lookup just to keep the shop in check with their charges. Good Luck!
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      11-01-2011, 10:14 AM   #17
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I visited the body shop today of curiousity and to show interest. I spoke with the owner (who is a former professional rally driver) and the mechanic. It seems I have picked the right place to fix the car, since the owner is a great BMW enthusiast and they only repair Porsche and BMW. I also got recommendations of this body shop.

I told them earlier not to rush the repair and it turned out that they had not done too much so far. The most damaged areas are stripped down and new parts are ordered. They seem to have an eye on details: A complete dash board and new seats are ordered, due to glass scratches on the leather (which I could not see myself without strong focusing).

It turns out that they do not repair for a fix price. They bill the insurance company after actual costs (they have a certain authorisation to do that). Which is a good thing for me.

The owner did not foresee any major problems about the repair. He expained to me that the convertible design had prevented larger damage: Deep inside the door sills, from wheel arc to wheel arc, there is a thick steel tube that has the stiffening function a roof otherwise has. They had not finished examining the tube yet, but it is probably not bent or damaged. The car has a lot of measure points through out the chassis and body, so they find out if anything is out of tolerance.

I took some pictures to show the place and the details I found interesting.
I'll make another update later on.
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      11-01-2011, 04:18 PM   #18
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Thanks for the update and the great photos. Hopefully it'll be back on the road soon.
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      11-01-2011, 05:48 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWrules7 View Post
Just make sure it is not totaled. Many body shops will under evaluate the damage initially as a means to get your insurance company to sign on agree not to total the car by having it fixed.

If the amount of damage plus 30% exceeds the value of the car then you should try to convince your insurance company that the car should be totaled. There is a very good chance that the hidden damage will end up exceeding the value of the car. Once the insurance company commits to fixing the car they will keep going no matter how much it costs to get the car fixed.

So, by taking time to understand the hidden damage and how it can grossly add to the original estimate will make it worth ensuring the car is not totaled.
Thanx for your advice. So far they have not calculated the repair cost. To have it totaled the damage will have to be 60% of new price, which I doubt is the case here. But you never now
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      11-01-2011, 06:08 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SLK_BMR View Post
OUCH!!! So Sorry to hear about what happened. Glad you're OK! From what it looks like thankfully it can be repaired with no structural damage to your F12. Just be careful where you take it. Most dealers are just starting to work on our new 6s, especially for body. For Reference I would use RealOEM.com for parts lookup just to keep the shop in check with their charges. Good Luck!
The body shop hasn't had any other F12 repairs so far, but they seem to be pro. The mechanics had been in Munich for training. And they will do the final measurements and controls in the facilities of BMW Norway in Oslo (which happens to be located just 5 min walk from my home ).

And they can charge as much as they want, as long as they charge the insurance company of the bus
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      11-04-2011, 05:15 PM   #21
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I am glad you and your cat are OK.

I only cannot understand why they cut the rear wing in the middle instead of replacing the whole part Can someone who knows the profession of car body master explain it?

It looks that they will have to weld the rear wind in the middle, then put some putty on it, paint it and so on. I would definitely insist on replacing the whole part. It may me more difficult and will for sure cost more.
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      11-04-2011, 05:46 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jackbmw View Post
I am glad you and your cat are OK.

I only cannot understand why they cut the rear wing in the middle instead of replacing the whole part Can someone who knows the profession of car body master explain it?

It looks that they will have to weld the rear wind in the middle, then put some putty on it, paint it and so on. I would definitely insist on replacing the whole part. It may me more difficult and will for sure cost more.
They cut the rear wing in the middle at an early stage just to inspect the inside. But they actually will remove the whole part. You can se the new rear wing on another picture, fresh from the factory, together with the corresponding inner part.

They are not going to repair or weld parts, only replace them with new ones.
Everything is looking good so far
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