E30 Zone

Hello i was envoled in a accident in my 89 325i cabby. Someone pulled out on me

The insurance took the vehicle to a bmw repair centre and they have come back with a estimate of £9,500 and has been declared a total loss

The car is damaged from the front, mostly on the drivers side. The car will need to be jigged and the wheels are out of alignment . Also the suspension turret is now touching the battery.

I really want to buy the car back, because its been in the family for a long time, and it has all its m.o.ts and a stack of reciptes. It also has mint leather and a new roof. I have also had a tech 2 kit fitted to it

My question is can i buy a cheap 325i touring,coupe or moredoor, that needs alot of mechanical work, and use all the front end panels (lights,grills,suspension parts etc) to rebuild my car?

Thank you

shouldnt see why not .... i got my car back for free and 750 quid so money went on repairin me car

Also the suspension turret is now touching the battery.

Doesnt sound like its worth fixing to me. Do you really want to drive a car on the road again after its had that sort of damage?

Cheers Jamie

forget it

The odds are it will be categorised as Cat B salvage, meaning even if you managed to dodge the rules of being able to keep the car and by some superhuman means it was repaired to a good standard, you would never be able to insure it again as no insurer will cover a car that has been Cat B total loss.

Cab front wings are different to saloons and tourings

Also if your offered the chance to buy it back have it back and break it for spares should make you a tidy sum of money to put towards another car

I have not spoken to my insurance company yet so dont no what cat it is. But the body repair man at bmw did say it was fixable.

Will a touring/saloon bonnet and front upper and lower panel panel fit?

Only pic i have:

Font wings are different on cabs...

evry-thing will fit apart from the wings,

shxt that looks bad

Based on that pic, the chassis will be totally bent, which has probably affected most of the items in the front/through the car. Bar the roof/rear & interior, I doubt there's much saveable, never mind ever re-using parts to rebuild.

I'd be looking at a cash in, buy back, strip and sell. Add that to the money from the insurance claim, and I bet you'll be able to buy just as good an example, and you can start the family car ball rolling again.

Any other option is likely to leave you seriously out of pocket both short term and long terms

ANYTHINGS repairable. that statement means nowt. I'd say that was a total loss and should stay that way. Not worth tackling IMO.

E30BeemerLad wrote:forget it

The odds are it will be categorised as Cat B salvage, meaning even if you managed to dodge the rules of being able to keep the car and by some superhuman means it was repaired to a good standard, you would never be able to insure it again as no insurer will cover a car that has been Cat B total loss.

What he said.

Looks like a nailed on Cat B to me. You could reclaim the salvage and break it, but it's a value judgment based on the settlement offer, the cost of the salvage to you and what you can expect to receive for undamaged parts. Not to mention your time and patience in ripping it to bits and dealing with moving on the bits.

If there is anything properly rare on the car, it may be worth salvaging just for that and scrapping the rest, but it's a long shot.

Even if they did cat C it, it looks well beyond repairing on a sensible budget.

I'd wave goodbye with a heavy heart, argue the toss over getting a good settlement from the insurance company, and get looking for a tidy replacement.

Hope you're OK anyway, looks like it was quite a shunt.

no way dude, even if you do get all the parts, i think it will stil not look right, my car looks to have had a shunt at the front and if you look at it trhe wing and the bonnet line bows even though it was repaired professionaly, break it buy another in my opinion

Thanks for the advice. My insurance company hasn't told me any thing yet. I found out from the bmw repair centre that they had phoned them after the estimate and declared it a loss.

The only things i can think off that i could take off is the kit, roof, wheels, and interior, and tech 2 sterring wheel.

Ill see if they offer me it and how much they want.

Has any one had a claim recently. Will the insurance company just see it as a F reg S**t box with no value.

What can i do to get a better price?

This is my first ever accident so any info will be appreciated. Thanks

Best to talk to the above really, Beemerlad, he has dealings with insurance companies and good advice too.
Shame, looked like a nice car.

get some adverts of good cabby's, same engine type with high-ish price tags saved.print them or send the links to the insurers?

magpie wrote:get some adverts of good cabby's, same engine type with high-ish price tags saved.print them or send the links to the insurers?

Absolutely. Probably worth buying some BMW mags, classic mags etc to give you a good selection - ebay stuff generally goes cheaper than normal private sales. Even a have a scoot around the dealers - there are a fair few folk specialising in 80s BMs these days, and mainstream classic dealers are starting to take an interest too, especially in cabbies.

looks like my old one

edit

never, really sorry to hear about that. i bought mine in 2003

Yes mate im gutted. Had no rust issues and was mechaniclly perfect. Looked the same as yours before the accident apart from the rear lights were original ones.

Hope you enjoyed yours aswell

Thanks for the edit.

Thanks

yeah i got rid of the rear lights whilst i owned it because i decided against them.
i feel your pain mate and hope you get to buy it back for parts if nothing else.

Why dont you buy the car back and then also buy another car......... Transfer all your stuff out of the cab into the other car and effectively giving your car a new lease on life.... Do a shell swap..

That is the best way mate.. Just make sure you get a good rust free example... There is plenty of cheap 316i,318i and 320i for sale on here all the time. Might not be a cab but you will end up with a nice e30.

Mike

If it is Cat B salvage he should not be permitted to buy the salvage back. If the car was on his driveway he would possibly stand a chance of keeping it if the insurers were lazy at taking it away, but as it is at a repair centre the chances of getting it back will be difficult.

Make sure the guy at the bodyshop knows in no uncertain terms that they are not moving the car anywhere without your consent.

When speaking with the insurers, express your interest at retaining the salvage. On vehicles valued at under £3k salvage value is usually around 10% of the pre-accident value, sometimes less.

In the eyes of the insurers it is a 20 year old BMW worth as much as a cup of cold pish. Get digging out the adverts for similar age, mileage, spec & condition cars and be ready to do battle.

Are you claiming off your own insurance or the third party?

E30BeemerLad wrote:If it is Cat B salvage he should not be permitted to buy the salvage back.

Didn't know that - does it have to go to an 'approved recycler' or some such then? Can be broken for parts though can't it?

Seems like checkmate then, anyway - OP needs to get his big argument trousers on.

Cat B generally should only be disposed of through a licensed salvage agent, yes they can be broken for parts only. It is possible to keep cat B, but the insurers will be a pain in the arse to get it back from an approved repairer.

But whether you get to keep a cat B vehicle or not, you'll never get a V5 for it or be able to insure it again, so never any point repairing a cat B.

Where its Cat b or not that cab isnt worth repairing imo!

If it need gigging that's big money, plus all the new parts, plus paint.
Its a complete waist of money to attempt unless you could do it yourself ala Matt.

The car will never feel the same afterwards unless its straightened with manufactours specs either.

Bullet bighting time i am affraid.

Maybe look for a shell and swap the bits over that are worth swapping?

see what this one fetches.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-325I-E30-CONV ... 3a5c535c6f

Currntly the insurance company want to know the milage, conditon, service history etc and how much i paid for the car.

Thank you for all the advice and information, will keep this updated

They probably want to know that so they can sell it back to you for big money

So you rekon its got nothing to do with what they are going to offer me for a payout for the car?

It will be so they can work out what to offer you as a payout for your car mate.

Send them as much as you can, anything you have spent on the car reicently will help.

even if you did have it jigged and repaired (new chassis leg etc) itd never be the same again. its not worth it if you cant return it to pre-accident condition.

send them adverts for similar cabs in similar condition and your service history too!