[shepherd32]

Some of you may be saying "bears don't go 70mph" but here's what happened.



Outside of Watkins Glen, NY a adolescent black bear sprinted out onto the highway and gave me approximately 0.4 seconds to do something about it. So you see, even though I was going 70, he hit me.



   



But, the only way I can afford this car is doing all my own work. The first thing I did was the timing belt/water pump replacement so hopefully this will be easier.



I have all the new sheet metal (dealer wanted $2400 for just the hood! I got a "used" hood, fender, bumper cover and headlight all combined for less)



My question is: what is behind the bumper support and in general the area that is missing? I know the oil cooler is on the passenger side in my car, but is there anything else of super importance in there?



The reason I ask is that I was hoping to drive to my Sisters in Maine for the holidays. Anyone think that's unreasonable?



Thanks in advance for the advice.



-steve

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[PhilG968]

Me too!! A couple of years back a black bear came out of the ditch and bounced off the side of my car, knocking him out.

Minor damage.

Unfortunately this is not the case for you.

Sorry that happened to you.

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[Darth Vadar]

Oh, man, that really sucks!

I have been up into the driver fender on my old 92 coupe, and I don't recall anything terribly important beyond all of the light wiring etc.

Not sure I would try driving her that far, but if you do suggest maybe you duct tape everything up over some foam or something to smooth out tthe lines and keep vibrations to a minimum...

Then there is the issue with Cops... they seem to think you need working lights and all of that!

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[shepherd32]

[quote name='Darth Vadar' timestamp='1323991683' post='119172']

Oh, man, that really sucks!

I have been up into the driver fender on my old 92 coupe, and I don't recall anything terribly important beyond all of the light wiring etc.

Not sure I would try driving her that far, but if you do suggest maybe you duct tape everything up over some foam or something to smooth out tthe lines and keep vibrations to a minimum...

Then there is the issue with Cops... they seem to think you need working lights and all of that!

[/quote]





Thanks,



I actually ment I would repair everything before I left. I am about to begin tomorrow with new fender, hood, bumper cover and headlight asssembly, so hopefully the car will look ok and I can avoid any more imperial attention. That's what the v1 is for, that thing works great.



Although I did have to drive back from Maine to Michigan (~1000 miles) with the car looking like this and I did get a bunch of looks......and laughs <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/sad.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[DaveN]

As I recall there is nothing under the side you hit but dead "bear", oops I meant "air". You can drive without a problem as long as he didn't get the to tire and ruin the alignment. I have 2 "new to me" fog lamps coming so you are welcome to my drivers side for the shipping. It has a nice straight line crack in it but works just fine.

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[shepherd32]

[quote name='DaveN' timestamp='1323992595' post='119175']

As I recall there is nothing under the side you hit but dead "bear", oops I meant "air". You can drive without a problem as long as he didn't get the to tire and ruin the alignment. I have 2 "new to me" fog lamps coming so you are welcome to my drivers side for the shipping. It has a nice straight line crack in it but works just fine.

[/quote]



Wow thanks, that is incredibly generous. If it has a crack in the lens, that is detachable from the light housing for replacement, fyi. But I will accept your offer.



By the way, I looked up the drivers side fog lamp assembly and they want $470 for an oem from pelican! So I can def deal with a crack. I'll pm you for details. Thanks again.

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[Rap]

Sorry to hear and see that. This is not a heh mine is better but I skidded mighty close to a flock of sheep the other day that appeared mighty fast on a country road. Our one facility is out in the boonies and there are great driving roads with twisties, blind ups and downs. I was mighty scared as they just appeared. I think God must have save me. At least you weren't hurt! Did you kill the bear or did it survive?

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[shepherd32]

[quote name='Rap' timestamp='1323993631' post='119180']

Sorry to hear and see that. This is not a heh mine is better but I skidded mighty close to a flock of sheep the other day that appeared mighty fast on a country road. Our one facility is out in the boonies and there are great driving roads with twisties, blind ups and downs. I was mighty scared as they just appeared. I think God must have save me. At least you weren't hurt! Did you kill the bear or did it survive?

[/quote]



Lucky day for you.



Nope, I wasn't hurt. It was the middle of the night in middle of nowhere west NY tho, so I didn't get a good look at him. Judging by the strength of the impact, I would assume he did not survive. I went to go look, but couldn't see him/anything and kept thinking that if there was one small bear, there might be other bigger bears who were not impressed by my driving, so I left quickly.



I always take my toolbox/jack with me on long trips and I used both for about 30 min to cut away some of the plastic wheel well, but the tire/suspension itself was thankfully undamaged.

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[Rap]

Smart, mother bears can be particularly nasty with younguns around. We constantly have to warn our city patients to stay away from the bears! Lol

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[Byte]

Ahh man. That sucks.

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[DaveN]

Any animal that's wounded (mortally) will usally run off with it's dying breath and hide.

As to the lens, mine seem to be cemented on and removing it would probably involve breaking the glass totally. The Porsche replacement part for 470.00 is the whole unit. I really wish you could just buy the glass. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/mad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[kwikt]

After you dismantle the front end, you may want a body shop to check the front end for unibody damage. Look for creasing at the strut area and at the unibody beam from the strut to the front end. Usually a simple pull from a good body shop will fix it. Just to make sure the body panels have the correct gap and alignment.

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[968Syncro]

Really sorry to see this, must have been a scary accident, glad you are OK.



On the unlikely possibility that your 968 is a Tiptronic, the trans fluid cooler is down there under the headlight, but from the looks of the damage it probably wouldn't have gotten much harm, perhaps the mounting brackets got bent, in which case one of the connected hard pipes would also be bent (ask me how I know).



Roland

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[rhudeboye]

Bears in NY? Glad your OK. I had a Deer step out into the street on me the other morning. Scared the crap outta me as I wasn't as alert as I shoulda been. Had that early AM grogginess. I managed to miss it and guess what? my grogginess went away.

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[cosimo]

Coming home from the shop (IMA Motrosport) on Tuesday on a dividied street (2 lanes each way) 2 cars had pulled into the intersection. I was in the left hand lane doing about 40 and there was this car in front of me trying to make a left hand tuirn into the other lane. I shouted OH [email=SH@T]SH@T[/email]. I thought I was going to broad side the car. I made a quick turn to the right and must have missed it by inches. Good thing nobody was in the right hand lane. Had to pull over to regain my compsure. Koodoos to the 968 handling to be able to make the swerve to the right so quickly. Also surpirised myself for the quick thinking. Those days at the track paid off.

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[Chris Vais]

Perhaps this where one of my Canadian friend's favorite expression for wine he doesn't like comes from and I quote "that blows dead bears"



This time of year in California is the mating season for skunks. So there are a lot of them out and about at night. You do NOT want to hit a skunk with your car and then park it in the garage overnight!!! Took a pressure washer and 20 gallons of tomato juice to get the car to where you could get within twenty feet of it.



The cat has also been skunked at least once and he wants nothing to with them. He hides in the wine celler.



KWIKT comment about hidden structural damage is spot on.

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[Cloud9...68]

"KWIKT comment about hidden structural damage is spot on."

+2



I'm fighting an alignment problem with my daughter's 04 325i, in that we can't get the camber to come into spec, given the amount of adjustment available. So I took some measurements across the underhood area, and the car definitely isn't straight, although there is no sign of any prior repair work. I take it to a body shop on Monday to take accurate measurements, and hopefully straightening. I hope I won't need smelling salts when I see the bill...

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[DaveN]

They have Monday's and Friday's even in Deutschland <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='DaveN' timestamp='1324605994' post='119488']

They have Monday's and Friday's even in Deutschland <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/rolleyes.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

[/quote]

I don't think this particular problem originated in Munich - the left shock tower is clearly bent, as is the upper strut mount, in the exact same spot the tower is bent. My guess is the car at one time hit a pot hole (or a bear sleeping in the middle of the road, to stay somewhat on topic <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> ) at very high speed, bending these two items, and somehow twisting the unibody enough to throw off the alignment. It has manifested itself in the fact that the insides of the front tires are wearing faster than the rest of the tires. Measurements with my home-made camber gauge show extreme negative camber on the left, and too-positive camber on the right. Toe was almost comically far off as well, which is probably primarily responsible for the tire wear pattern.



This is just reinforcing information that, as Kwikt said, it's important to check the straightness of the unibody after each and every collision with a bear...

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