My daughter crashed her bimmer
 

Some of you may remember when I bought a nice used 323 to my daughter for her 16th birthday 3 years ago. Well, she crashed it last Friday :angryfire . The car was in pristine condition and has been very well maintained under the extended warranty that expired recently. She does not have comprehensive insurance so this is going to be my project for the next several weeks. I do the job and she paid the parts. It has been a long time since I have done such an extensive work on a car. I spent part of the morning today taking out the all front to assess the damage. Hood, bumper cover, part of the front frame, left headlight, expension tank and radiator, need to be replaced and may be more. I may be able to save the front left side panel. I will inspect the water pump next week-end. Since she is in college she does not have much income. She works from time to time as a waitress in a near by restaurant. I could pay for getting this fixed but I will not. I offered her to do the job so she can save the labor which I would estimate around $1800 to $2000. I hope she will learn from this. Fortunately she was not hurt. She already has booked the next 2 weeks to work at the restaurant during the Christmas vacation. Looking at the online BMW catalog just the parts will be around $2100 (and may be more depending what else may be damaged) if bought new. I hope to be able to find a used bumper cover and hood which will reduce the overall cost. As I will only work few hours on week-ends it may take several week before it is completed. Also depending on my paint talents I may go to a professional for the final paint layer. Here are some pics. The last one is after having removed most of the front.

that doesn't look that bad, so did she just rear-end someone at a stop light?

You're being awefully nice. If it was my son he'd be totally responsible for it as that would help to ensure responsible driving. If it meant he takes the bus for the next 2 months, oh well. That would give him plenty of time to think about what he did as it could've been much worse. Was she on the cell phone by any chance since she apparently hit somebody from behind? At least she didn't hit a pedestrian. Good luck with the repair.

Yup!
The front drive has not been damaged which is the good news. The radiator is punctured and expansion tank is cracked. Part of the front frame that hold the radiator is badly bended which pushed the radiator and expansion tank back several inches on to the water pump.

The good thing is that she is ok, but i bet she will learn that some mistakes can cost lots of $$.

Don't count on it,

Generally speaking unless youngsters have to pay for the entire bill i doubt seriously they get the real sense of it.

It may be old school but :iagree:

It's the best way to learn. There have to be consequences, otherwise history repeats itself. IMHO. Man, I really do sound like my dad!;)

Sorry to hear this but glad she is not seriously hurt. I know your skills.... you will make it as good as new. :thumbup:

I can't believe you guys, accidents happen, give her a break...it's statistics, unless it was gross negligence on her part, sh*t happens