Expert: Mike Potter - 4/6/2008

Question
i want to by a bmw 540i 1997 model. it has body damage on the passanger side. it seems to have been hit right in between the front and rear pass doors. so that beam is bent and the doors are damaged considerably, my estimate was about a 15-20 mph hit. so the primary repair would be on the 2 doors and straightening out the frame for the cross beam. i would like to know how much the repair would cost?

Answer
I would need to see a good picture, if the doors are hit that hard, chances are, pillars are damaged too. The beams in the doors are very hard to bend, high strength steel, so if the doors move , they will almost always take something with them. Unless you can buy this car very cheap, stay away from it or get it to a shop for an estimate.