[ThaiBruin]

Barely 3 weeks after getting my car, I get into an accident. The driver side front quarter has been damaged as well as the wheel and some of the electronics it seems. The car is still driveable, but the alignment is way off and I'm getting messages about frontal collision warning and pedestrian warning malfunctioning.

I haven't been in an accident in almost 20 years, and I've never had a car with as much "technology" as I do now. As all shops are closed on the weekend, I need to decide where to take my car to get repaired on Monday. Are auto body shops generally reliable when it comes to ensuring our cars can be repaired appropriately especially given the sensors and cameras in the bumpers? Or would it be better to take it to a BMW dealership?

Appreciate any advice. Thanks!

[AmooManiak]

I would take it to the dealership. If the insurance is paying for it, you might as well take it to the guys who can take care of it the best, regardless of cost (unless they declare it total loss.)

[paul223]

Any good major body shop can do the repair. BMW dealers maybe have all the tools but it takes "Passion" to do the quality repair, which many folks lack at the dealership and at body shop. So I would check 2-3 independent shops & at dealer. Don't rush!

[Alcenos]

Sometimes it depends on your insurance. Some insurance companies will only let you do work at body shops that they approve.

I would only consider a reputable and independent body shop and not a dealership.

[TTG]

So sorry to hear about the accident and I sure hope you leased the car for this specific reason.

I would not take the car anywhere else besides a BMW Certified body shop.

If you call your dealer, they will provide you with a list of Certified Body shops.

Once it goes in there, it will come back looking new again.

GL with repairs and glad to hear that you are ok.

[PJinCA]

bud, you are in Playa Vista, I know it's a bit of a haul, but I love the guys and the work done at signature auto body. as said before, the dealer will do a decent job and clear the errors, but I like the shop to go that extra mile.

[PJinCA]

Originally Posted by Alcenos

Sometimes it depends on your insurance. Some insurance companies will only let you do work at body shops that they approve.

I would only consider a reputable and independent body shop and not a dealership.

not here is California, it's the law here that we can take our cars to any body shop we choose. the insurance can't tell us not to, the only thing that changes is the insurance won't warranty the work. which means nothing because most reputable shops warranty their work anyway

[AmooManiak]

A 20 year old car, I would say you should take an indy bodyshop. Now, a BMW has more electronic gizmos than some airplanes, so "passion" will not be your main concern. You may have a nice looking ride on the outside, but it may not work the way it should.

Many dealership will take the car to an indy shop for cosmetic work anyway. I'd be more concerned with the car running right as bodywork may be much easier to fix than modules that will throw codes all day.

[ThaiBruin]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I had a funny feeling that folks would recommend independent shops over dealerships. After research around a bunch of shops in the West LA area, I think I found the winner:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/howard-brow...dy-los-angeles

Pretty solid reviews, they specialize in BMWs and is the shop that Santa Monica BMW sends their customers to for any body work. Anyone on here with actual experience with this shop?

[Gilgorm]

Just to put your mind at ease. Its highly probable that your dealer who recommended the shop may be used by the shop if they run into any technology problems.

My retired 2008 E60 was in an accident in 2010. The accident included three complete spins at high speed. As a result, the computers/ sensors for anything concerning ABS, Traction, Stability etc. went offline and lite up the dashboard. They did not reset by themselves. Something more major was wrong so the car was shipped to the dealer and everything was reset properly.
Other electrical items and I believe the final tweaking of the rear suspension were also done by the dealer and then shipped back to the auto body shop for final finishing.
In my case, there was a collaborative approach between the shop and the dealer.
My car was perfect with no evidence of the accident.
Good luck.

[ThaiBruin]

Things have sort of worked out. Luckily, there was an appointment available for a local State Farm claims adjuster this morning and when I mentioned I was taking the car to Howard Brown and Sons he said that they're great to work with. So, all around, it seems like the right place to take it. Here's a pic of the damage.... based on State Farm's estimate alone (without having removed the bumper/fender to see additional damage), it's at ~$7K...

[ndinh]

Got into a rear ender this morning. Taking mine to Caliber Collision in Santa Monica this week. I've gotten my Lexus and MB fixed there in the past and they do great work. They do all the MB of Santa Monica work which is next door.

[ThaiBruin]

Originally Posted by ndinh

Got into a rear ender this morning. Taking mine to Caliber Collision in Santa Monica this week. I've gotten my Lexus and MB fixed there in the past and they do great work. They do all the MB of Santa Monica work which is next door.

I actually went there to get my initial estimate from the State Farm adjuster. Definitely seemed like a nice facility. I appreciated that the adjuster didn't push me or even suggest I use them for the repairs, even though they are a "preferred repair center". I did appreciate them telling me that Howard Brown and Sons was great to work with. I will also add that when I was at Howard Brown and I was in their office, I noticed that at least 90% of their folios for cars they're working on were BMWs, including many newer models.

[Pimpsy]

Originally Posted by Alcenos

Sometimes it depends on your insurance. Some insurance companies will only let you do work at body shops that they approve.

I would only consider a reputable and independent body shop and not a dealership.

Respectfully, I think it's ridiculous to only consider independent shops and not dealerships. Dealerships are held to a higher standard, have more experience with their model line, and customers can escalate any problem up to BMW corporate if necessary.

Why on Earth would someone even consider a body shop as a first choice??

[Pimpsy]

Originally Posted by AmooManiak

A 20 year old car, I would say you should take an indy bodyshop. Now, a BMW has more electronic gizmos than some airplanes, so "passion" will not be your main concern. You may have a nice looking ride on the outside, but it may not work the way it should.

Many dealership will take the car to an indy shop for cosmetic work anyway. I'd be more concerned with the car running right as bodywork may be much easier to fix than modules that will throw codes all day.

The car is barely over 3 weeks old.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by AlanM

Respectfully, I think it's ridiculous to only consider independent shops and not dealerships. Dealerships are held to a higher standard, have more experience with their model line, and customers can escalate any problem up to BMW corporate if necessary.

Why on Earth would someone even consider a body shop as a first choice??

Simple, most dealership body shops follow the "time is money" principle. Meaning if the estimate calls for X hours and the work takes longer, quality usually suffers. Most dealer body shops push production, production, production. This is not universal amongst dealer body shops, but common.

Here in So. FL, some dealer body shops have a more difficult time keeping good painters. Good painters are artists and don't like being held solely to the clock. They take pride in their work and sometimes this takes time. That's just one reason....

[ThaiBruin]

I can certainly say that pretty much all of the BMW dealerships near me get pretty bad reviews specifically for their Service departments. So that definitely scared me off quite a bit.

[PJinCA]

for body work, you would definitely find better quality work at an independent shop. responsible body shops will send the car to the dealer for things they cannot fix properly, like error codes and resets. the quality also depends on your insurance as well. my car is heading to signature auto in a couple of days, I can't wait

[AmooManiak]

Originally Posted by claykin

Simple, most dealership body shops follow the "time is money" principle. Meaning if the estimate calls for X hours and the work takes longer, quality usually suffers. Most dealer body shops push production, production, production. This is not universal amongst dealer body shops, but common.

Here in So. FL, some dealer body shops have a more difficult time keeping good painters. Good painters are artists and don't like being held solely to the clock. They take pride in their work and sometimes this takes time. That's just one reason....

I agree with AlanM and still don't understand this response. If you don't get a factory like paint job, you can escalate it to BMW and the insurance company. If the car is not what you expect it to be, don't accept it until they fix it. No one will be able to fix is like the the guys who made the car. Just like bodyshops send cars to the dealership, it goes the other way as well in a lot of cases.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by AmooManiak

I agree with AlanM and still don't understand this response. If you don't get a factory like paint job, you can escalate it to BMW and the insurance company. If the car is not what you expect it to be, don't accept it until they fix it. No one will be able to fix is like the the guys who made the car.

Dealerships are independent businesses. BMW will lightly try to help in dispute situations, but won't do much to intervene when there's a dispute. Anything they do is basically goodwill.

That said, when a dealer repairs your car it's not the factory repairing it. Don't ever be confused about that. Sure BMW requires training, etc. but ask anyone who has had a botched dealer repair and they'll tell you the reality of life.

And I don't care who repaints your car, it's not being repainted with factory (new car) paint. New cars are painted with a product that's more like powder or electrostatic paint. Repaints are using a wet process "refinish" paint approved by BMW. Any body shop can purchase approved BMW Paints and oem parts.

Where I will agree with you is when you cannot reliably source a top notch private body shop in your area. . In these cases, for sure use a BMW approved shop.

And I've personally seen very good and very marginal dealer repaired cars. Sometimes their paintwork (and body work) is satisfactory, other times not so much.

[Alcenos]

Originally Posted by AlanM

Respectfully, I think it's ridiculous to only consider independent shops and not dealerships. Dealerships are held to a higher standard, have more experience with their model line, and customers can escalate any problem up to BMW corporate if necessary.

Why on Earth would someone even consider a body shop as a first choice??

Understand that I am not advocating not to consider other options, only based on my own experience, it depends on what your insurance adjuster is willing to pay. All I am saying is know what and where your insurance will cover before you get work done.

[ThaiBruin]

As an update, the shop gave me a rundown of how the process will work. They're currently working on the body (paint, etc) and will send the car to Santa Monica BMW for any mechanical work, such as the suspension and the headlight replacement.