[DieselRocket]

I've joined the ranks of F30 owners with dings on their cars. It was a bit of a downer, as I'd had an amazing long weekend away with a group of friends motorbiking down in Cornwall - sixteen hours of safe but ... erm ... very 'progressive' riding on some of the best bendy roads out there. Tiring, but so, so much fun.

As I turned back into my street this evening, I rode past my EBII 330d and saw straight away that someone had run into it. Most of the rear offside bumper panel is deeply scratched - most of it has gone a kind of white colour, but it's gone through to bare plastic in places. Guess somebody did it parking or pulling out. Charmingly, there was no note or contact details, just deep scratches and a bit of a dent. I walked the length of the street and a couple of nearby streets to see if there was a car wearing some alien blue paint on its flanks, but no joy.

Very sad to see such dismal ethics these days. Given the damage, whoever hit my car would have really known about it. My guess is it'll be a few hundred to fix.

Anyway, I'd like to see dismally dishonest people like this nailed up to something spiky and quite high above the ground, so I'm planning to buy a driving/dashboard camera. I know there've been a few posts on this topic and some recommendations, which I've looked at.

It'd be great to get any advice on a model which, as well as recording on the move, would catch a situation like this, where the car is parked. I guess having the unit record 24x7 while parked isn't practical, so is there anything out there that uses G sensors to respond to a bump. The Blackvue DR500 seems to have this feature (when hardwired) - are there any other good models that have this feature?

Also, are there companies out there that will do a good job of fitting and hardwiring? I'm based in Bristol.

Thanks for any help you can give me on this.

Cheers
Dave

[F30AM]

@Daveyc:

I really feel sick after reading your post. I am so sorry this has happened to your car. May the swine who did this get his/her just deserts.

There is a thread about cameras that record but I can't locate it just yet.

Get a BMW Bodyshop to fix your car. Hope it gets fixed soon and to your satisfaction.

[Hprice1099]

I'd recommend Mi Witness, it's a UK company with excellent service and there own forum. I paid £420 for front and rear cameras which includes professional hardwiring. A small price to pay for peace of mind and that all important evidence

[RichardM]

I have the Blackvue DR500 which is very good but I don't have it hardwired. The cheaper model would be just as good too. You'd need a rear camera as well to be sure of capturing everything.

[rich1068]

Sorry to read that Dave. At least if it's confined to the bumper you shouldn't be looking at too much to fix or replace.

[Steve_M_Sport]

Sorry to hear about the damage. I had my car park graze removed yesterday for £80 so well chuffed with that.

[venkata]

Sorry to hear about the damage.

Not sure cameras would work in this instance to be honest. I guess you need to consider the continuous recording draining the car battery, but also the storage capacity before overwriting. I think the cameras would be great for when you are driving, but maybe CCTV outside the home is a better way for when parked up...

[HiBee]

Not very good news buddy.

I nearly had a severe incident today due to some foreign plate driver suddenly changing lanes & cutting me up at a roundabout. Thank god for these sharp brakes & my awaerness.

[sunscreemer]

Originally Posted by venkata

Sorry to hear about the damage.

Not sure cameras would work in this instance to be honest. I guess you need to consider the continuous recording draining the car battery, but also the storage capacity before overwriting. I think the cameras would be great for when you are driving, but maybe CCTV outside the home is a better way for when parked up...

Do these systems actually work when parked? I thought they were just for use in motion?

[RichardM]

The blackvue camera I have has an auto parking mode, so it will only record in the event of a jolt and uses less power. They also have an optional Power Magic unit if you hardwire the unit which cuts it off after a set time (1 ~ 72 hours) or if the voltage drops beyond a certain level.

[DieselRocket]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the messages and sympathy! I must confess, I took another walk up and down our street today to look for culprit cars, but again no joy.

I took the car to the paint shop at my dealer today and I was pleasantly surprised. Cost to repaint whole rear number is £600 + VAT (ouch), but cost to do smart repair on affected area (recommended by the paint guy) is £125 + VAT. The paintshop guy also said the damage was almost certainly from a white van, as the marks suggest a slab-sided vehicle and there's a lot of white paint I didn't have last week.

So I'm booked in at Dick Lovett paint shop, albeit for a month's time as it seems lots of people get their beemers run into by dishonest critters.

Richard M, Hprice, thanks both for your recommendations on dash cams. I've been looking into both. Quite tempted by the Mi Witness product and fully-fitted front and rear seems like good value to me.

PS. These units all have G-sensors in them and so will switch on an record instantly in response to a knock or bump. Not convinced that'll work every time in practice, but I'm happy if it gives me a fighting chance. I was already thinking about dash cams anyway, just because of the dismal standard of driving these days. I was nearly hit by an idiot doing over 60 in a 30 limit coming round a bend towards me yesterday. There were parked cars on the cusp of the bend he was coming round (right-hander from his POV) and he didn't have the skill at that speed to hold the wide line, so he cut in a full meter onto my side of the road and I had to swerve hard to avoid a nasty head-on (it would have been really nasty - possibly fatal for him).

The most scary thing is that I gave him a quick blast on the horn and he snarled right at me in a barely human way and kept going hard. God forbid. Parked cars, people crossing the road, shops etc.

So, sadly, dash cams are Good investment I think ...

[ZigmundUK]

Good job on finding a cheaper paint fix. You'd need a dash cam that can record all your angles really. You'd kick yourself big time if you spent the money and went to the effort and someone knocked you in a place the camera didn't pick it up.

I know what you mean about attitude. One guy was on the opposite side of the road overtaking a parked bus v fast just before I turned left onto that lane. I spotted his craziness and broke hard. I didn't beep, make a face, gesticulate or anything. He just turned back into his lane and gave me the bird. Such aggression for nothing!

[rich1068]

I had a run of bad luck with my last car where I needed repairs to the rear bumper three times within about six months. Always took it to Sytner Sheffield and was pleasantly surprised by the cost. To a very good standard too.