how can I tell if a door is genuine BMW?
 

We recently were involved in an accident where the other driver failed to stop and hit our drivers side door. Among other things, the door had to be replaced.

Since the accident, there is now a whistling noise from the door along the A-pillar. I've noticed that where the front fender meets the door, it is not lined up quite right. It looks like the fender is pushed in toward the center of the vehicle a bit. Also, along the roof line, the door seems to be a bit high. However, the body lines in the middle of the door meet up properly. Our insurance is state farm and the body shop is a select service facility. State farm told me that it was a genuine replacement. I cannot find any identifying features on the door to verify that it is, in fact, genuine. Can anyone give me any suggestions?

Additionally, now the window rattles when the door is closed with the window down. I took it back to the body shop for this issue and the door whistling issue once already. They told me that they replaced a weatherstrip and the window regulator. Then the guy gave me some BS about the regulator really being more of a maintenance issue, but that they took care of it anyway. It didn't rattle before the accident and does now, even though they said they replaced the regulator. The whole issue has been very frustrating to say the least. To make things worse, the vehicle has been very dusty inside both times when they were done with it.

I can post some pics of the door later if that makes a difference, but for now, can anyone suggest a way to tell if the door is genuine or not?

Thanks.

From your description it appears that the repair was done improperly.
Have your state farm agent inspect the vehicle and show him what you
see. It should then be sent back to the repair facility so that the repairs
can be complete properly.

As far as the door is concerned, it should be on your repair paperwork what kind
of door they used, New used, or otherwise.

As with any genuine body part there should be a bmw stamp on it. Not sure exactly where though. Let me see if i can find it. Ill update you later

Thanks. I looked around and couldn't find anything stamped on it. I couldn't find anything stamped on the other original doors either though. The paperwork says it is original BMW, but the fit just isn't right. I wonder if there was some other damage that was not repaired that is causing the fit to be off.

I'll call State Farm tomorrow and try to get an adjuster to come look at it. The first time I took it back, the body shop guy said not to call State Farm if there was a problem because they get in trouble. I guess I feel a little guilty about it, but at the same time, I'm also irritated that he tried to make me feel bad about it. They have had two opportunities to fix the problem. I can see the door whistle maybe taking a few tries, but the rattle in the door is unexcusable. So is returning the car to me with body shop sanding dust everywhere inside. I've had to clean the car twice now, and that alone makes me not want to go back to that particular shop. Am I being unreasonable?

Just like Quicksilver said, the repair was done improperly. The middle pillar where rear and front door meet is probably still bent and also either the bottom rocker panel is still pushed in. I am currently in the same process, my X was hit on both passenger doors and insurance suggested both doors be replaced. Another thing to look at is the year of your X. Pre-facelift doors wont align with face-lift doors and vice versa. If it was the driver door replaced, all driver doors have the placard where the vehicles psi information is located. I think you should as the shop for a copy of the receipt for the replacement door. Most places would use a used/salvaged door as opposed to a brand new door, less work when assembling the inner panels.

Agree that it isn't an issue of whether the door is original (OE) BMW or not, it is an issue of how well the repair was done. You don't have a door problem if it is whistling, you have a weatherstrip problem. It certainly may be that the door or door jamb is out of position and the weatherstrip can't function properly, but it is still the weatherstrip that causes the whistle.

You feel guilty about what? This statement that you made tells me that you need to get State Farm fully involved letting them know "EXACTLY" what was said and what was done.

Returning the car to me with body shop sanding dust everywhere inside is completely unacceptable. In fact your vehicle should be detailed removing any evidence that work was actually done.

Call State Farm with a full report. It's their job to see to it that work is done to factory specs and to your satisfaction. Be nice but be firm about what you require.