s52

So I was cruising on the thruway (about 65mph) to meet some friends for dinner when the vehicle in front of me swerved and gave me about 3 seconds to react to a semi truck tire that was in the left side of my lane... there was a large almost intact tire and a smaller chunk of rubber shrapnel... I had pretty quick reflexes and swerved enough to miss the tire... but still clipped the small chunk of rubber

Uggh of course like a half mile further up the freewayI see a big semi truck pulled over with the driver checking his trailer tires (one was missing...)

Anyways as much as I baby my E63 it is really frustrating to have something like this totally out of my control happen to her...

Does anybody have any experience with using insurance to repair the damage? The more I look at it the more I know its going to bother me with the deep scuffs in the paint on the lower air dam.

I also attached some pictures of the damage. Obviously the mesh grill is long gone so I will need a replacement of that... any good sources for the part? I believe the number to be 211-885-13-53

Is anything else missing from my pictures? The air baffle was luckily still there, though it is cracked and will have to use some adhesive to try and get it back together... (any recommendations for the adhesive?)

Also I noticed several of the fins on whatever the radiator (oil cooler?) is in my picture are bent/ messed up from the impact... Is it possible to straighten them back out without doing more damage?

Edit: Also there is a piece of styrofoam that is loose in the lower recess of the airdam beneath where the mesh grill would clip in. Is that normal or should that foam be clipped in place?

Anyways sorry about my rambling post... just wanted to vent.... hitting that stupid rubber really put a damper on my Saturday night... think its time to crack open a few beers and play some GTA 5 lol

cij911

time for an e63 front end ???? It is minor but it will be a pain in the a$$ no matter how you look at it....fortunately nobody was hurt.

You are probably looking at $1.5k (new heat exchanger, e63 front, + paint), so depending on your deductible it may be better to just find an auto body shop you like and pay privately...

statepkt

Ouch.....if you have comprehensive its time to see if they will help cover it.

AKnight55

E63 already has an E63 bumper

cij911

Oops missed that...

biggking

Get an estimate for a new front clip minus and metal parts. Rad, cond, bumper, etc... just to be on the safe side. dont undersell the damage. im sure once you take off that front cover you will see other damaged items.

s52

Yeah thats what I'm afraid of... I have a $500 deductible, insured by USAA from what I have heard they take good care of their customers...

Has anyone ever filed a claim for something like this? I just don't want my premium to get jacked up... Should I just go get a repair estimate before I get the insurance involved? (sorry for the noobish questions, I have honestly never gotten in any sort of accident or had to file anything with insurance before!)

Also is that small radiator the oil cooler? I am concerned about the bent fins, Id say theres probably about 30 of them that are pressed in flat...

Definitely thankful that it wasnt worse... had there been more traffic and I had been unable to swerve I would've hit the entire tire head on which probably would have totaled out the front end! Its amazing what a smallish maybe 10 inch chunk of rubber can damage!

Critter

S52, I know its after the fact but why did you not stop, get the cell phone out and take pictures of the truck, license plate and ask the driver for insurance information, if refused, then call the police or state troopers. They would have arrived, cleared off the tire which is now a danger to anyone else coming down the road? Your car would have been fixed properly for no charge, why would you want to get your insurance involved?
Now another alternate would be to contact the troopers office near the accident site and see if anyone else caught some damage from the tire being left on the road, reported it and then you can add your car to the list, still not understanding why you never stopped or reported it? Possible drug possession or alcohol consumption come to mind.

Denroll

It's a longshot, but if you're in San Diego, I know a good body shop that can get you back to looking good as new for a really good price.

s52

I agree with you completely had I known how bad the damage was at the time. I avoided the big tire, I just hit the smaller piece of rubber so didnt expect there to be anything wrong, maybe just a small scuff.

It wasnt until I got to my friends place 30 min later and got out of the car that I noticed how bad it messed up my car!

This was on I90 and there are tons of state troopers cruising all the time so I'm sure it was only a few minutes until it was cleared off. The thruway is also a toll road and this happened on a stretch that has no exit for like 15 miles and I didnt really have time to do all that backtracking.

Anyways, thanks for the comments/ advice I guess I'll make an appointment at a good body shop on monday to get an idea of what this is going to cost me... I can update the thread for those that may be curious what its going to cost!

Oh and thanks for the body shop suggestion^ unfortunately I am in western NY...

Meeyatch1

It must be a bad run for black E63s. My wife came home the other day with the front bumper grille caved in from a chunk of tire hitting it. It also damaged the ambient air tempterature sensor that is by the right fog light.

I hate re-tread tires. They litter the road, and cause HUGE road hazards. Last month one slammed into the front of my NSX and caused all sorts of damage.

Rams

Your pain.....I've felt it recently..

betrezra

Hit tire debris in me clk.... Was a good excuse to upgrade to facelift bumpe //())

HeissRod

It's ok. It's just a BMW.

biggking

I just hit something on the road myself ... Bent a rim Not as bad as yours but still hurts..

berti_00

lol