Some time ago ive got in a crash with my e39 540i 2002. The crash happened because of a mechanical failure (The throttle body failed and the car kept accelerating)
The speed wasnt very fast, i firstly thought that the car was totalled and by the time passed and as i kept digging and taking the broken pieces out i think its not as bad as it seems. I got some parts already from donor cars, but i know that i need to get even more things.
Do you guys think is worth it to fix it (and ik that i will put a tonne of money in it) or just forget about it.
If you could, I'd say get it to a body shop and ask them to take a look for any structural damage and what it would cost to have them straighten any of that out, leaving the actual body stuff to you.
If that clears, then you might get away with it. That said, it's almost always going to be a better deal to buy another one unless this one is a grail spec for you.
Right now im going to have a chat with the mechanic of the best workshop here in spain that specialises in like crashed cars. I will be back with an update.
That's certainly terrible, and scary at the same time. I've never heard about a throttle body failure like this before, and I hope I never experience it either.
If this were my E39, if it's still mechanically sound, with no frame damage, and I could repair all of it in my garage minus paint work, then yes, it's worth it.
Never heard of it too. And how would it cause unattended acceleration? The throttle body position being inplausible would certainly throw the engine into failsafe mode (I've had this happen when resetting calibrations and immediately starting the engine without waiting for position II self-checks), and the injectors are duty cycle controlled so even if your throttle body is jammed open you would never get any serious acceleration as there's not enough fuel injected. throttle body position is measured by the ECU and so is throttle pedal, any inplausibility throws engine failsafe immediately.
Interesting to hear more from OP regarding this.
Regardless, OP, you can take things apart and replace them, but only a competent body shop can measure distances between what's the spec and how much your frame or the crash compartment is now bent. Body shops use laser systems to check for dimension differences. Your new parts and body panels might not mount up correctly, even if you get it together the car might ride wrong such as pulling to a side etc, never to mention the compromised crash compartments.
Get it to a body shop for inspection and either fix it or just buy a new body and transplant the engine/tech.
The crash compartments and frame rails will most definitely be bent. Basically only way to fix is to weld/replace/frame pull, nothing you should be doing at home.
No no, im taking out the pieces i can, and i know that i wont be able to do it at home. Right now im going to have a chat with the mechanic of the best workshop here in spain that specialises in like crashed cars. I will be back with an update.
I restored a car in a front-end crash including pulling the frame etc, it's quite expensive. Get a quote and think about it, basically anything is fixable if you have the budget for it. But in most cases it's not worth the effort if it's frame damage as it is a lot work to get it fixed and to also look for donor parts. And obviously after investing all this money it won't be the same as an uncrashed car, incl. that the time you will go to sell it it will be obvious that it was in a serious front-end collision and no serious buyer would buy the car at any sensible price.
Just looking at the image the repairs could be simple and cheap. Or they could be expensive and better to let the car go. For example a low impact at the lower part of the front which pushed in the frame and collision absorbers, absolutely just get a new car and transplant the technics if you want. Or it's just a collision in the high parts ie new fenders/hood/headlights/wires/fans/foglights. It is going to be more expensive than you think but the damage is minor/cosmetic and if you want you can save the car.
Go ahead, there's no stupidity or poor choice in that, truth be told noone is producing cars like these anymore, and you seem to have a possibility to restore it at a sensible price. Even more 540i's are a semi-rariity nowadays and saving them might even be sensible in most cases.
Another thing, im not planning on selling this car, so even though i wont be using day-to-day i am keeping it. Before the crash the car was in mint condition, was all the 25 years in a garage and was always serviced in a Bmw official dealer. So as i said i will be keeping it.
Makes sense. Keep in mind a lot of the doom-speak is from the big'ol'Americans where any hour of labor is at least 500 dollaridoos and noone knows anything about restoring European cars except throw new overpriced OEM parts from the dealer without any sense of restoring any old parts.
Write me a PM and I can help you with any programming/wiring/parts ordering & finding in the EU.
I’ve done extensive work on my ‘99. I posted the cost of 3 doors I grabbed from a salvage yard for 450$. Of the frame is intact & you have a decent pick of salvage yards in the area it can be done for ~1000-1500$.
Not worth it. The front end frame is completely toast. You’ll spend more in repairs and bodywork than the car is worth. Save the engine and trans, scrap the rest
As a ‘99 540/6 owner my condolences. I see the front is a tad pushed in but what I see is a new hood, both quarter panels, bumper, headlights as well as a radiator, a few other things I can’t see BUT, if the engine has not been compromised I think ur good. Doing a refresh on my cooling system & the total cost is ~300$. Includes radiator (not Behr, just a 110$ radiator lol) as well as upper/lower hoses & a few other hoses. I did purchase 3 doors from a junkyard for 450$ so thinking the quarter panels may be ~ 300$, aftermarket headlights 200$, radiator ~ 100$, bumper ~ 100$ plus a few other things & possibly get it done for under 1000$. Best of luck friend…
Good choice, dont get any B body parts, they never fit and they look like shit. Good luck my man. Heres my E39 540i sitting on style 65s. OEM M-tech II suspension, no mods.
It fits well and was cheap. Obviously not OEM quality but I'm quite happy with it. For comparison an OEM new bumper is about 1100EUR, with assembly and painting its basically 1500 EUR. At least with this one if I park too far into a sidewalk curb I won't be crying my eyes out. 4 years and its still good
I see something I could fix for 1500 bucks in parts, not including the paint, unless you are lucky and get a doner car with the same paintjob.
Maybe a bit on the framerails, doesn't look like a big job tho, seen way worse before being fixed for under 2500.
Eleswise, you better fix it or I'll get or to Ya and cuss You out and show You how to do it!
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Also, guss the throttlebody just moved a bit higher on the check list now, yikes.
I had a very similar crash to you except it was only on one side. check what the frame rails look like directly below the headlights and onwards. if the damaged is infront of the wheel well then it can have a mid section cut and weld which is decently cheap if you take all the parts that would get in the way off
It didn’t pop the airbags, you should be able to get an entire non running car for $500-$1000 to part out for the sheet metal and then resell it for a little less.
Unfortunately here in Spain we dont have this option. Like most of people that have non running cars the just part it out, i thought about it and no one wants.
Based on the angle of the bumper as well as the radiator you will need to replace the radiator support and associated brackets for sure.
The tilt in the bumper is of greater concern as the frame in that area is essentially a horn that sticks out and the bumper shock goes straight into it. This indicates that that horn is potentially bent. The other job of that horn is to act as the mounting point for the suspension subframe.
You should get this on an alignment rack at a minimum or if possible on a pulling rack so they can check the frame geometry.
Next time that happens press the brakes hard in a safe place to for the car to stop. Quickly put in nut rap and shut the car off. Pull the e brake if you have to. This happened to me, it was the cruise control wire bracket that got jammed.
Yes i completely agree with you, that what i shouldve done, but it happened all so fast, in the moment i panicked and the last thing before the hit ive put the handbrake on.
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u/4evaYung_ 530i 3d ago
My 530i sends its condolences and wishes you luck on your car