Collision repair: Dealer or Bodyshop? Suggestions?

[dont_Mistak3]

Car needs to be repaired after a minor collision. fortunately damage wasn't too bad and no one was injured. Will need new Icon headlights and front bumper at the least. I'm looking for reputable dealerships/body shops near central NJ to take the car to for repair. Don't want to drive it too much since something appears to be making a scraping sound. Pros cons of going to dealer vs other shop? Any recommendations around central NJ?

Thanks in advance

[icebiker]

Dealer will likely be more $$$ than an Indy, unless they simply refer you to an Indy. This is the case in my town. The key to an Indy is to get references and or samples of prior work. Check out their shop too to see what sort of vehicles they have in progress, get a sense of their professionalism, talk with the the owner. If you're willing to go to North Jersey I can highly recommend Karl's auto body in Morristown. Ask for Kenny. He's good people and is as meticulous about his customers' cars as he his with his own. Good luck.

[Rbc44]

Modern Auto Body on Valley Street in South Orange, NJ does very good work. I have used them for many years on my M cars. Jack, the owner, actually races a fully built E46 M3.

[dont_Mistak3]

I don't mind the price since insurance will take care of it. Set up an appointment with my local BMW dealer to let them handle it. Looks like they use Heavenly Bodyshop in Woodbridge NJ. Fingers crossed for a pleasant experience. Reviews look promising!

[TooFan328i]

Originally Posted by dont_Mistak3

I don't mind the price since insurance will take care of it. Set up an appointment with my local BMW dealer to let them handle it. Looks like they use Heavenly Bodyshop in Woodbridge NJ. Fingers crossed for a pleasant experience. Reviews look promising!

Try reaching out to Thomas Albut at Circle BMW. Most of the dealerships outsource their work to independent shops. But, I can personally vouch for the quality of workmanship which Circle folks use.

[Poiseuille]

Originally Posted by TooFan328i

Try reaching out to Thomas Albut at Circle BMW. Most of the dealerships outsource their work to independent shops. But, I can personally vouch for the quality of workmanship which Circle folks use.

+1 regarding Circle BMW, but looks like you're committed. PLEASE report back on this thread with how this turns out for you, in detail.

GOOD LUCK OP.

[dont_Mistak3]

This is way over-due, I've been swamped with work/personal stuff. I'm glad to share the overall experience was SPECTACULAR. Only slight regret is having gone through the dealer instead of just taking the car directly to Heavenly Bodyworks in Woodbridge considering I live closer to the shop than the dealer lol. Regardless here's how it went down:

Took my car to Open Road BMW the third week of Jan (Mon or Tues). Not much to comment here. Typical wait to get the SA to check in the car asked me what I needed. Told him about the collision and asked if anything else needed to be done to the car. Car just had maintenance done a few weeks prior so nothing else was needed.

GEICO had reserved a rental for me at Enterprise in Edison, and they offered to pick me up from the dealer which was convenient. Besides getting into the wrong car at first (which was a lyft that would have taken me to Parsiappany!!) I realized something was off and made the driver aware. Turns out it was the OTHER black SUV which happened to be a very elegant brand new black X5 .

Get to enterprise, get a car, pickup police report. I was very close to the bodyshop at this point so I figured I'd stop by to inform them my car would be taken there and that I had a couple requests. (Save the carbon fiber splitters, remove retractable license plate holder and reinstall on new bumper, repaint my AW reflectors.) I spoke to the owners son, Don JR who was going to be in charge of my car. JR assured he would take care of everything and he surely stuck to his word. He prides himself on the quality of work they perform and I was very pleased. The shop itself is located off RT 35 in Woodbridge and can be easy to pass by if you're not paying attention. They had another F8X bumper on display, and saw a M5 and M340, which made me feel a bit more comfortable about leaving the car with them.

Over the course of three weeks (took longer than expected due to extra parts needing to be ordered, waiting for insurance adjuster etc) I called to check in and the secretary, Crystal, was sure to get back to me ASAP with the updates. At one point Don JR called me to inform me the adjuster had performed the inspection and attempted to pay for aftermarket parts, but Don JR made sure that OEM parts were ordered and explained that aftermarket parts on an ///M is unacceptable. He assured all my requests would be followed.

I picked up the car and honestly couldn't tell the difference. Paint-match was PERFECT. The following is what was repaired:
Front bumper
Entire Passenger LCI headlight assembly (LCI headlight plus housing assembly)
Front bumper reinforcement/crash box
I believe the invoice came out to $49XX plus my deductible.

They did the coding for the headlights there. Don JR recommended waiting for paint to cure 1 month before reattaching the splitters to ensure the paint wouldn't be compromised if I remove them. He told me to stop by and he would install for me - however I will not be reinstalling the splitters and will probably look for a lip in the near-future.

Everything was perfect until the next day I realized I was getting a driver assistance malfunction. I gave the shop a call and they told me to bring the car to them. Turns out they needed to re-code for the parking sensors so they did that and I was in and out in 15 minutes. I was surprised the dealer didn't catch that during their inspection but it wasn't a big deal given I live so close. All of my requests were followed, and I can vouch for their quality/honesty.
So glad my car is back with me, looks brand new, AND all the work done was certified.


HIGHLY recommend Heavenly Bodyworks for any repairs! See next post for pics!

[dont_Mistak3]

Here's some pictures. PM me if you have any questions!

[TooFan328i]

Originally Posted by dont_Mistak3

Here's some pictures. PM me if you have any questions!

Good work! Where's this car wash? somewhere near Woodbridge?

[dont_Mistak3]

Originally Posted by TooFan328i

Good work! Where's this car wash? somewhere near Woodbridge?

It's this self serve wash right in back of the KFC on old bridge-matawan rd in Old Bridge. Hidden gem..

[hdahman]

BMW springfield have their own collision center, not sure how good they are though