[DBV]

1:30am at ~200kmh (~124mph) in the left lane. No other cars around, obviously dark (no overhead lighting on that stretch). About -2 degrees Celsius (~28F). Snow on the embankments but the road is dry and clear, or so I thought...

Out of nowhere, a greyish dirty white chunk of ice (probably fell off a semi) hits front of the car. Barely saw it. No impact feeling, just the sound. I'm imagining a rock going through my radiators or cooler. But no warning lights, car is tracking straight, so I pull over and see it's hit my bumper.

Got a police report from the Autobahn cops stating a "Wildunfall" (equates to a wildlife collision), just with the wildlife consisting of a chunk of ice. I backtracked, and didn't find any chunks in the area, so I'm guessing it either got flung out or just exploded upon impact.

Either way, I'm safe, and nobody got hurt. Looks like it's just the center section of the bumper, which I hope is an easy fix, along with the rubber deflector and trim underneath. I'll find out what the insurance says tomorrow. Hoping they cover it under the comprehensive, so I don't have to go out of pocket to avoid the rate increase. wish me luck!

As for the pictures, a lot of what you see is a dirty salty car (weather has been crap here lately). The majority of the damage is the lower center bar.

[Rx-7ames]

Ouch!

[RockCrusher]

Ouch is right!

Hope all the damage is cosmetic.

Never had a chunk of wheel well ice get launched at my car but several times have dodged sheet ice that came loose from the roof of a vehicle in front of mine. I stay back to be sure but the ice can have some amazing hang time...

Once dodged a metal rod of some sort.

On road trips in winter I watch for chunks of ice on the road, but also road kill. The carcass will freeze and you don't want to hit a frozen carcass...

Also, in any season on mountain roads especially I am on the alert for fallen rocks. On east bound 50 highway west of Ely NV encountered some pretty good sized rocks on the inside lane. I was already driving slow but on seeing those rocks I slowed down even more. Unfortunately was not going slow enough. A few miles further on encountered a mule deer that stepped out from behind a guard rail and ended up smashing my 996 Turbo's front bumper cover, front trunk led, passenger fender, headlight, radiator, condenser, and other things. All in all damage amounted to $25,000.

[DBV]

Originally Posted by RockCrusher

Ouch is right!

Hope all the damage is cosmetic.

Never had a chunk of wheel well ice get launched at my car but several times have dodged sheet ice that came loose from the roof of a vehicle in front of mine. I stay back to be sure but the ice can have some amazing hang time...

Once dodged a metal rod of some sort.

On road trips in winter I watch for chunks of ice on the road, but also road kill. The carcass will freeze and you don't want to hit a frozen carcass...

Also, in any season on mountain roads especially I am on the alert for fallen rocks. On east bound 50 highway west of Ely NV encountered some pretty good sized rocks on the inside lane. I was already driving slow but on seeing those rocks I slowed down even more. Unfortunately was not going slow enough. A few miles further on encountered a mule deer that stepped out from behind a guard rail and ended up smashing my 996 Turbo's front bumper cover, front trunk led, passenger fender, headlight, radiator, condenser, and other things. All in all damage amounted to $25,000.

Yikes, that sounds horrible. Yeah, luckily I don't think there's anything majorly damaged on my car. I usually hug the right side of the left lane, especially at night, to allow for roadside debris at night. In this case though, there was no way you'd see a dirty grey chunk of ice, not at speed. Usually the freeways are clear of stuff like this, but I'm guessing it must have just recently landed on the road.

[Resoelg]

Sucks!