my plastic BMW - year 2000 323Ci E46 - minor collision

[lew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Lew Stelmach)]

A minor collision, where I "touched" the rear bumper of a delivery van
caused $3700 CDN damage to my BMW 323Ci, year 2000, E46 model.  The
delivery van did not realize that we had collided, and drove off, with
no damage whatsoever.

The steel bumper of the van was higher than the BMW 323Ci bumper,
causing the damage to the BMW to be located on the front hood.  The
hood was slightly bent, the right plastic grill was cracked, the
plastic assembly holding the right front zenon head lamp was cracked.
The zenon headlamp itself was undamaged. There is an amazing amount of
plastic in a BMW car, all very fragile!  The sheet metal on a BMW is
very thin, and very easy to dent.

The key parts needed to repair the BMW 323Ci were as follows:
Grille assembly       $53.00
Headlamp assembly   $1245.00
(its not possible to buy the plastic mount separately - you have to buy
the entire headlight system!)
new hood             $633.00

total parts   $2398.00
total labour  $1000.00


Fender-benders are very expensive to fix on BMW 323 cars.

Lew Stelmach







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