Door damage - highway debris

[ybbiz34]

Welp, while on my way to work this AM, a truck of some sort that was 2 lanes over and 80-100 yards ahead jettisoned a chunk of concrete or some kind of large stone. Another car hit it first and sent it careening into the concrete median. It bounced off the median and rocketed into my driver’s side door, leaving the gouges you see in the photos.

Car is about 3 weeks old lol.

I have 2 appointments with local body shops to get repair estimates tomorrow. Yay. Any feedback on questions I should ask about the process would be welcome.

I’m guessing this will need to be a respray based on the fact I can see the bare metal in some areas. Last pic is for scale.

They won’t need to remove the door or any other panels, will they? Thanks in advance.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

Welp, while on my way to work this AM, a truck of some sort that was 2 lanes over and 80-100 yards ahead jettisoned a chunk of concrete or some kind of large stone. Another car hit it first and sent it careening into the concrete median. It bounced off the median and rocketed into my driver’s side door, leaving the gouges you see in the photos.
Car is about 3 weeks old lol.
I have 2 appointments with local body shops to get repair estimates tomorrow. Yay. Any feedback on questions I should ask about the process would be welcome.
I’m guessing this will need to be a respray based on the fact I can see the bare metal in some areas. Last pic is for scale.

This sucks, but it happens.
You can repair the damage to 95% perfect with touch-up paint. And given the location, you will probably never see it.
However, to make it 100% perfect, you will need to repaint the door and take an insurance hit + CarFax repair hit on the vehicle value.

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

They won’t need to remove the door or any other panels, will they?

It depends how thorough the shop / your insurance will decide to be.
To make it 100% perfect, the door will need to be resprayed and blended into the nearby panels, thus repainting 2 doors and portions of fenders.
Or maybe the insurance only approves only single panel repaint. Which will look OK at first, but may fade at a different rate than the other panels over futures years.
The door stays in place.

HTH,
a

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by afadeev

It depends how thorough the shop / your insurance will decide to be.
To make it 100% perfect, the door will need to be resprayed and blended into the nearby panels, thus repainting 2 doors and portions of fenders.
Or maybe the insurance only approves only single panel repaint. Which will look OK at first, but may fade at a different rate than the other panels over futures years.
The door stays in place.

HTH,
a

Thanks for the detailed reply.

I’d be fine with 95% given the location. It’s a daily driver and not a museum piece so I’m willing to opt for the least intrusive method, even if it’s not perfect.

I am pleasantly surprised that they may be able to touch that up despite how deep it is.

That’s fantastic news.

[Phillies8008]

Watch a few videos on YouTube before doing it. Since it's that deep it's going to need several layers, as well as some sanding. I wouldn't try to do it without having some understanding of the process, but once you do it shouldn't be too bad. Luckily, as pointed out, the location is pretty forgiving.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

Watch a few videos on YouTube before doing it. Since it's that deep it's going to need several layers, as well as some sanding. I wouldn't try to do it without having some understanding of the process, but once you do it shouldn't be too bad. Luckily, as pointed out, the location is pretty forgiving.

I’m going to see if I can find a pro to go down that route. I have zero experience.

Many thanks for the reply and additional consensus that the touch-up route is a viable option here.

[ybbiz34]

Thanks again for all the feedback.

As an update, a local detailer with a great reputation is willing to use the touch up paint combined with wet sanding/polishing to try to get to 90-95%.

If it’s possible for the area to have a smooth texture that matches the adjacent, unblemished paint, even if the color isn’t 100%, I’d be beyond thrilled with that given the inconspicuous area involved.

[TimmyTurbos]

Man, I feel for you here..This sucks. Did you happen to catch the name on the truck? Would their insurance pay for the damage if you make a claim? May be worth a shot.., idk.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by TimmyTurbos

Man, I feel for you here..This sucks. Did you happen to catch the name on the truck? Would their insurance pay for the damage if you make a claim? May be worth a shot.., idk.

Thanks bro. Appreciate that. Not the Christmas present I was hoping for but it could always be worse lol.

I did not. It was quite far ahead and caught an exit shortly thereafter. I was busy checking my mirror to see if I could spot any severe damage. It was so loud. Good looking out on the rec though. Would’ve loved to hold them accountable.

My spirits have been lifted by looking around and seeing some of the incredible work that can be done by filling the scratches with touch-up paint and then wet sanding/polishing to blend. Some of the after shots are remarkable. If my detailer doesn’t feel confident or I’m not happy, my insurance agent told me to go ahead and go for the full fix. I was due a 28% rate drop for safe driving and a claim would basically keep me level.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

Thanks bro. Appreciate that. Not the Christmas present I was hoping for but it could always be worse lol.

I did not. It was quite far ahead and caught an exit shortly thereafter. I was busy checking my mirror to see if I could spot any severe damage. It was so loud. Good looking out on the rec though. Would’ve loved to hold them accountable.

My spirits have been lifted by looking around and seeing some of the incredible work that can be done by filling the scratches with touch-up paint and then wet sanding/polishing to blend. Some of the after shots are remarkable. If my detailer doesn’t feel confident or I’m not happy, my insurance agent told me to go ahead and go for the full fix. I was due a 28% rate drop for safe driving and a claim would basically keep me level.

I had damage similar to this on another car I used to own. Not sure what hit me but it hit my front fender, mirror, and driver side door.

This was like over 10 years ago but I was quoted like ~$2000 to fix it. I filed an insurance claim and because of the height and angle of the damage, they called it a "rocket" and it was unavoidable. It came as a comprehensive claim instead of a collision claim and my rates did not go up.

The body shop had to blend the fender, pat of the hood, and half of the driver door and even the A pillars. Overall, it looked perfect and I couldn't tell. This was on a 3 stage pearl white.

[TimmyTurbos]

Watch out for the damn rockets! Hahaha

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by N1rve

I had damage similar to this on another car I used to own. Not sure what hit me but it hit my front fender, mirror, and driver side door.

This was like over 10 years ago but I was quoted like ~$2000 to fix it. I filed an insurance claim and because of the height and angle of the damage, they called it a "rocket" and it was unavoidable. It came as a comprehensive claim instead of a collision claim and my rates did not go up.

The body shop had to blend the fender, pat of the hood, and half of the driver door and even the A pillars. Overall, it looked perfect and I couldn't tell. This was on a 3 stage pearl white.

Yep I can definitely relate. The one body shop estimate I have gotten so far is for about $2,500 and that’s just blending the driver’s side front and rear doors. Accounting for inflation, that all seems directionally correct with the cost of your repair, bearing in mind my repair should be less expensive as less panels need to be addressed.

Everything was such a blur, I still have no idea how whatever it was that hit me only hit at the height of the bottom of the driver’s side door. Not the rocker panel or anywhere else.

Rocket physics, I guess.

[JoeyO]

If you can get it 95% perfect without repainting the whole door, that is the best route to go. It’s located in a such an inconspicuous spot, nobody will know it’s there but you. Look on the positive side, it could have happened in a lot of other more noticeable spots on the car.

[JoeyO]

Not to side rail the discussion too much, but what other weird things people have hit on the highway? I once hit a Tide Laundry detergent bottle (fully loaded) that was bouncing around on the highway. It hit it head-on late at night doing 70MPH.

After you hit something like that, you run through your brain a thousand times, what could I have done differently? It’s self anguish.

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

If you can get it 95% perfect without repainting the whole door, that is the best route to go. It’s located in a such an inconspicuous spot, nobody will know it’s there but you. Look on the positive side, it could have happened in a lot of other more noticeable spots on the car.

Completely agree. Appreciate the positive perspective!

The increasing consensus makes me feel even better about going the touch-up/wet sand route first. I have researched many examples of this method being utilized and even with worse damage in more conspicuous areas, the end results made it look like nothing happened.

Really grateful for the great advice I’ve received in this thread. Car goes to the detailer next Wednesday and I’ll be sure to post up the results. Hope everyone is having a great Christmas.

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

Not to side rail the discussion too much, but what other weird things people have hit on the highway? I once hit a Tide Laundry detergent bottle (fully loaded) that was bouncing around on the highway. It hit it head-on late at night doing 70MPH.

After you hit something like that, you run through your brain a thousand times, what could I have done differently? It’s self anguish.

Cinder block or large piece thereof which hit the undercarriage of my car (a Boxster). On the lift the only signs of damage was a substantial gouge/dent in a catalytic converter housing. Thought I dodged a bullet.

But the impact caused the converter brick to break loose. Didn't have to replace the converter right away it took years until finally driven mostly by the noise the thing made I sourced a used exhaust manifold/converter.

The take away was to avoid following vehicles too close. But on that stretch of freeway -- I580 through Dublin/Pleasanton CA -- there was just no way to put enough distance between one's car and the vehicles ahead to allow for moving/bouncing debris. I could maintain a 2-second time spacing but for debris that was not enough.

Then in my 996 Turbo hit a mule deer. This out on 50 highway just a few miles west of Ely NV. And no I was not speeding. Takeaway from that incident was to avoid highways in deer country.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

Not to side rail the discussion too much, but what other weird things people have hit on the highway? I once hit a Tide Laundry detergent bottle (fully loaded) that was bouncing around on the highway. It hit it head-on late at night doing 70MPH.

After you hit something like that, you run through your brain a thousand times, what could I have done differently? It’s self anguish.

I was never 100% sure what it was, but one time years ago something black and cylindrical (stop it!) came flying at me so quick that there's nothing I could do but drive over it, bursting both of my front tires. The same thing happened to the car directly in front of me, so I'm not sure where it came from. So that was fun.

Not too long ago something – once again, not sure what – flew up from the road and hit my Z4 right in the passenger's side kidney grill. I watched with delight as it flew off the car and over my head. So somebody out there has a single Z4 kidney grill with a BMWCCA badge attached to it, lol. Fortunately, there was no other damage at all, and the grill was easy and (relatively) cheap to replace. I think I even had a spare grill badge.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by Phillies8008

I was never 100% sure what it was, but one time years ago something black and cylindrical (stop it!) came flying at me so quick that there's nothing I could do but drive over it, bursting both of my front tires. The same thing happened to the car directly in front of me, so I'm not sure where it came from. So that was fun.

Not too long ago something – once again, not sure what – flew up from the road and hit my Z4 right in the passenger's side kidney grill. I watched with delight as it flew off the car and over my head. So somebody out there has a single Z4 kidney grill with a BMWCCA badge attached to it, lol. Fortunately, there was no other damage at all, and the grill was easy and (relatively) cheap to replace. I think I even had a spare grill badge.

At least it wasn't phallic shape.

[Phillies8008]

Originally Posted by N1rve

At least it wasn't phallic shape.

Well I can certainly tell you that it was hard...

[kudos]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

Not to side rail the discussion too much, but what other weird things people have hit on the highway? I once hit a Tide Laundry detergent bottle (fully loaded) that was bouncing around on the highway. It hit it head-on late at night doing 70MPH.

After you hit something like that, you run through your brain a thousand times, what could I have done differently? It’s self anguish.

So far I've hit 3 things of significance in the m240i.

First time I have no idea what I hit but I heard the car next to me at night hit something and all of a sudden something hard hit the side vent of the front bumper. Luckily that was an easy fix as it's just black plastic. It was like a $100 part or something and snaps in.

Second time some old lady side swiped me at low speed and dented / scratched the whole passenger side of my car. I took it to the best repair shop in the area and they are some kind of wizards because it looked perfect when I got it back. As far as parts go I ended up getting a whole new passenger door, rocker panel, and 2 OEM rims.

Third time I hit a stupidly fat raccoon @ 70 mph early morning when still dark. I hoped if I put him down center of my car he'd fit underneath and at most do minimal damage. That was a big mistake. He ended up cracking my front splitter (replaced), broke the active vents in front of radiator causing a CEL (replaced), cracked the splash guard under the car (replaced), and the splash guard jammed above into the now bent support beam the bumper goes onto (repair shop just bent it back into position). The damage really wasn't as bad as it seemed at the time but it was confusing for a while trying to figure out why my carbon fiber grill wouldn't sit flush with the bumper until we looked underneath to repair the front splitter and saw the support beam itself was bent.

That must have been the hardest raccoon known to man to bend metal. I actually felt what I assume is his head under my seat when it happened with a loud clunk sound and I'm pretty sure that was the splash guard cracking. In total the labor from BMW to replace the vent in front of the radiator cost more than all the parts in total. BMW service centers are a rip off but they force some repairs due to coding. All the other parts were done third party at a garage I go to and they also provide better service.

[tracer bullet]

I like this guy's videos, after you see a few you definitely get the process to use.

https://www.youtube.com/@cvrpov

It's a mixed thing, on one hand you need to be like "here goes, I can do this, it isn't really that hard", and on the other hand it's like "OK, don't F this up, think 3 times before doing anything to be sure".

I think the tip I've learned from his videos is to not put too much paint on to fill the scratch to start with. He levels it with a finger, and then checks, and then does again if needed. Puts on too little, then repeats until it's enough. As opposed putting a ton on the first time, and then sanding for a while and accidentally going through the paint nearby.

[Phillies8008]

Yeah, from everything I've read and watched you're much better off doing several lighter coats than going whole hog from the get-go. It seems to very much be a "slow and steady wins the race" sort of thing.

[ybbiz34]

As a quick update, I got my car back from the deteiler today and they did a stellar job with the touch-up paint method.

When I went to examine the car, I mistakenly first looked at the rocker panel because I had forgotten the damage was just above it on the bottom edge of the driver’s door beneath the body line crease.

That’s the moment I realized they had done when I had set out to achieve, per the recommendation above: a 90-95% restoration. When I got my face about 6 inches from the panel, I could see where the scratches had been filled in and blended.

What was previously easily visible from 5-6 feet away is now invisible from the same distance, even when I’m looking for it. There are certain angles that I can view from in that absurdly close 6-8” range where it almost disappears.

Best part is, they washed and clayed the exterior so now it’s cleaner than it was at delivery. Also, I was able to remove some of the risks you have taking a car to the body shop with the dust and damage that can occur to the interior due to careless technicians.

Lastly, all-in with the wash I was only out $200. $300 below my comprehensive deductible.

All-in-all, feels like I’ve got my new car back. Thanks again to everyone who encouraged me to do the more sensible compromise route. Very grateful to you all.