Hit and Run

[pgrindstaff]

So yesterday I was leaving school and got to a 2 way stop. While waiting for a chance to go I got a nice kiss in the ass by a honda prelude or acura integra, couldn't really tell which. So, instead of turning left like I had originally planned I pulled straight across hoping that the guy who hit me would have enough common sense to follow to gather details and such. One word WRONG. The guy turned left and sped off. After I got parked I checked out the damage, and it really didnt look bad, just pushed my bumper in on the left side (resulting it it being out on the right side) and a little paint on my tailpipes. Ok, its not that bad, or so I think.

I called the police and when the officer showed up I gave him all the info he wanted. After all of this I went home but did not further inspect the damage, my mistake.

This morning I noticed that the radiator fan sounded like it was grinding on something, so I turned off my car, turned it back on, and it sounded fine. Well, same thing happened again on the way home from school, so I did the same thing I did this morning, turned off my car, then back on, everything sounded fine. (I shoulda checked it already huh?). Well, I went to move my car closer to the edge of the drive way since it was apparent my brother wasn't going to get a chance to mow and I finally decide to look under the hood to see what the noise was. To my horror, the fan shroud was cracked and the bottome bowed out, in the way of the fan, and the noise was the fan grinding a path though the shroud, of course, the first time I looked at it the fan was not moving at all :O.

Now I am wondering what else is possibly damaged. The only reason I never looked under the hood was because I didnt figure the impact would have affected anything in the front of my car. I guess it's time to pay the local BMW dealership a visit and see what all needs to be fixed.

So, before I get ripped to pieces by not getting out at the stop sign and talking to the other driver, please take into consideration that this is the first time I've been in such a situation and thought the best course of action was to go across the street out of the way.

As for finding out who did this to me, tomorrow I will be trying to talk to the school police officer to see if he can look at the surveilance tapes of the parking lot.

Thanks for reading and putting up with my lack of knowledge in such situations. Any advise is appreciated and pictures are soon to come, as soon as it stops raining.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Sounds more like motor mount failure than a result of a tap in the butt.

Take a look at the rubber mounts at each side of the motor, they are probably worn out & saging.

[SharkmanBMW]

Good luck with the video surveillance... but you never should have moved.

[pgrindstaff]

Good luck with the video surveillance... but you never should have moved.

I do believe the law says that you are supposed to get out of traffic in the event of an accident, providing the car is driveable. Not saying that staying would have been a bad idea, since it would probably have prevented the latter part of this situation.

[Airborne001]

The laws are mostly written by self agrangizing morons who think they apply to everyone but them anyways.

[632 Regal]

I agree, time to change the motor and trans mounts, might want to toss in a new shroud while you thinking about it. Could have always been worse.

[pgrindstaff]

I am going to schedule an appointment at the dealership for them to take a look at my car and assess the damage. At this point it is the only thing I can do.

Last night I showed my dad the problem with the shroud and he noticed that the fan was sitting lower from the top of the shroud than normal, so it seems the engine mounts were moved from the impact.

And now for some better news, to lighten up the sad occurence of an e34 being involved in a wreck, I spoke to the school police today and they found some cars that all had front end damage. I was sent to the parking lot and what do you know, one of the three was the one that hit me. A second officer talked to me and got more details and I ended up having to try to identify the driver, though I did not get a great look at him. Now that they have more info hopefully this will be taken care of quickly.

[KenB]

Good to hear they are able to help track down the car, Patrick. Should be easy enough to track down the owner/driver by plate number since you ID'd the car. If they don't come up with cash, quick; you can press charges to the driver for leaving the scene and start complaining about your stiff neck. At least you have somewhere to start. It sucks to have to pay for someone else being irresponsible...been there too many times. Even if you do the repairs yourself, get an estimate for all of the damage and full repairs from the dealer.

Glad you weren't hurt.

Good luck!

[Dave M]

I second or third the motor mount suggestion. My e34 went through this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/dave_macisaac/Bimmer/Hunting%20Accident/CAR-1.jpg

And I was able to drive it afterward. Good news is (at least on an M50), motor mounts are relatively cheap and easy to replace if you have a block and tackle or something else to temporarily lift the front end of the engine up.

Good luck with locating the individual who forgot to stop ;)

Dave M

[CharlesAFerg]

....dude lol trim your scans

[Dave M]

K lux