[Lenaxia]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at picking up a wrecked car as a project car and I just got some pictures of it. I am wondering if this is repairable. I am planning on doing all non-body work myself.

I am getting a PPI performed today by a local body shop, however I wanted a few other tertiary opinions.



It looks like the strut tower is intact, but the front wheel well is bent in. The car was in a front passenger side collision and this is the only major damage (front strut is busted too).

This is how that area is supposed to look (left most side of this image):


Here is the image from Real OEM:

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...96&hg=41&fg=10

Piece #4 is definitely busted, though I'm not sure if its repairable by a body shop.

Piece #3 is the part in question. Does anyone know if this is welded on? If it is, is it repairable by a bodyshop?

I'm leaning away from this car now because of this image. I was hoping that the body would be more or less relatively intact, but with this I'm kinda eh about it now.

[JayKay335i]

If you have to ask then probably not

[FVM3]

yes but its a big project

[David1]

More work than you think.

[N54B30A]

where are u putting the S54?

[Lenaxia]

Haha yeah, I'm hoping its repairable without pulling the engine.

Just talked to the body shop and they said for something like this they'd probably need a frame puller. How much does a run on that usually cost?

[FVM3]

it will cost a lot, for that situation, i would rather get a salvage title but already fixed one

[Lenaxia]

Originally Posted by christopherchenm

it will cost a lot, for that situation, i would rather get a salvage title but already fixed one

The car has a clean title, so its has it's plus and minuses. Plus this is the only damage to the car (well busted strut too, but that I can do myself).

[FVM3]

Originally Posted by Lenaxia

The car has a clean title, so its has it's plus and minuses. Plus this is the only damage to the car (well busted strut too, but that I can do myself).

thats the only damage but its a big one. I highly recommend you dont waste the money on this car. Excluding the engine area, u need hood, a set of headlights, fenders, grills radar support.....

[prestoy]

Repairable? yes.
But I think it would cost way too much, even for a project car. Find a better one.

[JayKay335i]

If you cant fix everything your self than it isnt worth fixing.

[fdriller9]

The thing about repairing a damaged chassis is that it will never be the same as when it was originally constructed.

You may be able to get your unibody back into "spec" for a stock E9x. However as you stated, this will be a project car. I assume you are going to track it?

When you start modify your suspension, you'll start to notice other components that are affected.

You may have more problems down the road when trying to modify and end up putting in a lot more time and effort to modify the car.

I mean if you have the know how on how to customize different components and have access to all the necessary tools, I would say go ahead and buy it.

Otherwise it is hit or miss.

[FVM3]

if you use this car as show, thats fine but not for DD or track

[bkrM3]

My family owns a body shop and I wouldn't buy that car to fix myself. The e46 m3 is so affordable now if you don't mind one with some miles on it that I think it's very unlikely you'd be able to turn a profit on that (and I'd worry about breaking even) given the cost of the parts/labor involved in that job - even with a clean title. You didn't say that making anything on it was part of the plan but people rarely buy cars like this with the object of losing money.

I think it's plenty capable of being repaired for use as a DD but I'd pass unless it's an absolute steal.

I've seen very few of these wrecked that are worth it...people always want too much for them.

[Lenaxia]

I'm not looking to turn a profit on it, just something I can have fun tearing apart, breaking even would be ideal.

I have some spare cash laying around and I wanted something I could use to learn a bit more about cars, and once I get it fixed up, have some fun with.

I doubt I'll track it as I'm not in to that scene, I'd be trading it off between my e90 for my DD. As long as I can break even with it then it should be all good as the knowledge and experience I think I'll gain will be worth it.

Indeed, I have the cash to buy a working M3, but I've been wanting something in which I have an excuse to tear apart. I can't really justify tearing down and rebuilding a perfectly working car if you know what I mean.

Some of the more thoughtful comments I really appreciate. As i said, after seeing the chasis damage, I'm not really too keen on it anymore, but wanted a tertiary opinion.

I'm still going to wait on the body shop guy who's taking a look at it, maybe he'll tell me something miraculous like "oh yeah, that piece that's damaged just bolts on without having to even move the engine!" Hey I can always hope right? :P

[MusclezMarinara]

prob 10k

[RaceBlood]

Aligning the front frame and engine support, and also the suspension mounting points, will require first removing the engine and tranny and pulling/aligning the frame to get back to spec, (or replacing sub frames), the drag on this type repair is the metal is twisted inward and upward, so it will be a lot of work to get this back within 1/8's inch spec, in all directions. You may end up having to replace everything from firewall forward, and that my friend, is not easy, nor cheap, and hard to get right with new parts, mounted on out of spec frame/positions off a few degrees will be a headache when you get the suspension on and its all catyywampus by 1/4's...

[sneaks]

If it is fixed by a shop that knows what they are doing, it will be fine. They can even go a step above and work with bmw to ensure the body is within measurement tolerances. If that is the only problem, i would say go for it as it sounds like you know what you're doing.