ok guys some bad weather took its toll on my poor ti today :cry: the entire car is covered with hundreds of dents from larger than golfball size hail. the windsheild and a couple windows are smashed. and somehow the black trim on the driver's side was stripped off. how do people usually handle this? can this actually mean my car is totaled? the dents are pretty significant and the only way i can think of them possibly being repaired with is bondo :cry: anybody with some experience or advice to offer would be greatly appreciated. ugh i feel lost without my ti to bring me places...

Check out Dent Wizard. They were recommended for hail damage to a Miata. Sorry to hear about your damage. We got THE most hellacious storm last Friday with Hail. Somehow my cali top survived. I'm lucky I guess.

well, i took my car in to get an estimate today and everything comes up to $9200 :shock: and to make things more complicated i hit a deer on the way home. so now the car is definately totaled :cry: the only thing im worried about now is the insurance company saying i hit the deer before the hail and discounting it even more...
so it just seems like something is out to get my car.

:( sad to hear

:cry: wow the world just hates you lately... :cry:

On the bright side, you get a new (to you anyway) car most likely, eh? Any idea how much insurance will kick in?

well NADA average value is $6300 i believe. so if i end up with 6 grand or so, i'll probably put it towards a new car and get a small loan. honestly i've been looking at a '95 530i....a little change from my ti that i've grown so used to. i was also thinking of a 325is, but the ti has been a part of me for the past 3 years. we'll see what happens i guess.

my friends mom has a 95 5 serieis....i think it is a 530i but not sure....but they had to put 20 grand or so into repairs into that beast... make sure you research your cars because their car is falling apart faster than they can fix it

Find out how much it'll cost you to buy back the salvage. Seems like you had a nice car and if they only value it at $6300, salvage value can't be more than $2000. You can make some money off the car if you've got the time to part it out, and then you can sell the rolling chassis to someone for a track car. Who cares about hail damage on the track? Paint it white and forget about it!

The 530i is a piece of junk. The automatics are awful and the sticks aren't much more powerful than a 525i. Top it off with the well-documented nikasil engine problem and, unless you know the history and that it had a new Alusil short block installed, I wouldn't touch it with a ten-fool pole. A nice 525i 5sp is a fine car and you can always upgrade it with chips or even M3 cams. M5 sway bars are a cheap upgrade. All E34s are a bit tired by now and you have to figure a complete bushing, shocks, ball-joint, tie-rod replacement before you've got anything to compare handling-wise to a nice ti.

You might also want to look at E39 528i models. They've come way down, especially the '97 (first year) models. Get one made after September '96 if you can (you can tell them by the glass sunroofs). As always, the newer the better so also check out '98s on up.

Good luck.
-Phil

ah yes the nikasil plating issue. i remembered something about that and the 1990's v8's. thanks for the heads up :) i've been leaning more towards an e36 325is...although i can find a 325i for a dime a dozen. the 2 doors are just so expensive. and i plan on buying back my ti and hopefully turning it into a nice track car. so i'll still be in the ti club no matter what my next daily driver may be :D

WOW :shock: the insurance company gave me $7500 for my totaled car and will sell it back for $1001. i didnt think a 95 ti with 107k miles was still worth 7500 but im not complaining. so i think im going to buy it back and fix it up myself. or just drive it until i save up some more money.

yea i would buy it back and still drive it, unless you want to take the money and go for another bmw :)

yes i'm definately buying it back whether i get another car or not. i have WAY too many hours of work into my car that i cannot let it go that easy. i WAS looking an '87 porsche 944 S for another toy...but i think im sticking with another bimmer.

we have a 87 944 turbo for the track, such a fun car.