I was riding up the 405 freeway yesterday when I heard a loud “BANG!” Someone had hit my brand new (to me), mint condition, Galvanic Gold, hyper-rare 2021 BMW i3S. I turned to see a motorcyclist splitting lanes ahead, wobbling from the impact. He continued riding; it was a hit and run. I drove to work, stepped out of the car, and surveyed the damage. “SON OF A BITCH!”
It was a scratch. Not a huge scratch, but a scratch. A white line on my mirror, and I was livid! Mostly because this biker had hit my car (possibly on purpose, since he was splitting lanes, and possibly punishing those who were maybe a bit off to the left) and just rode off with not a care in the world. That’s just unacceptable! It’s also possible it was an accident; either way, just stop if you hit someone else’s car — not cool.
Anyway, here’s the baby scratch on my mirror:
The impact had been loud, so I was surprised the damage was so minor. Luckily, though, it wasn’t on the mirror housing’s gloss black section, which is painted, but instead on that coarse black plastic section, which appears to be injection molded and black all the way through.
This is actually a great design choice by BMW, because it means you can bang that mirror on a parking garage entry-ticket machine and, while you’ll sustain a scratch, you won’t be able to tell because that scratch’s valley will be the same color as the rest of that part of the mirror. I know this because look at how my mirror looks now:
Looks pretty much all fixed! If you look closely, you can see some roughness from the motorcycle incident on the right half of this image:
But for the most part, it’s repaired, and I’m happy with how the car looks overall. But it got me thinking: First, if a little scratch like this has me all concerned, I need to get XPEL PPF as soon as possible. And second, when is this “phase” going to go away? Like, surely not every scratch is going to bum me out forever, right?
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My brother just bought a yellow Audi S3 recently, and he’s going through the same issue. He got a rock chip the other week, and it bummed him out. I used to have the same worry with my brother’s 1966 Ford Mustang and my 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee “Holy Grail.” They were all just so nice that adding even a scratch to them could ruin your afternoon. Surely you, dear readers, can relate? When will I be released from this prison?
Anyway, my partner, Elise (that’s not her real name), suggests that I keep my 2014 i3 and use that as my errands car. I won’t care if someone hits its mirror or if a rock chips its hood — it’s older, it has higher mileage, and it’s not in mint condition. But does it make sense to have two i3s? Does it matter if it makes sense?
Maybe it doesn’t matter if it makes sense, and I should just own the cars I like, and when I get tired of one, I get rid of it. Maybe I’ll get tired of having two i3s, or maybe I’ll remain in this drunken-love state in which I see the i3 as an engineering masterpiece the likes of which we may never see again. Who knows? All I know is: I may be holding onto that gray i3 for my daily commuting — at least for a while.
On the annoyance scale, Lane Splitters fall somewhere in between Jehovah’s Witnesses and chip bags that explode when you open them.
Totally legal in CA tho.
He didn’t say anything to the contrary.
Many legal things are annoying.
On the annoyance scale, Lane Splitters fall somewhere in between Jehovah’s Witnesses and chip bags that explode when you open them.
Totally legal in CA tho.
He didn’t say anything to the contrary.
Many legal things are annoying.
Hey is there some new directive or something that you have to mention to us that you have a “girlfriend” every article you write now? It’s getting kind of weird at this point.
It seems that David is feeling a bit charmed about being with her. Maybe he’s just enjoying it so much that he has to kick himself to ensure it’s not a dream.
I’m surprised that nobody else has mentioned this before…
Hey is there some new directive or something that you have to mention to us that you have a “girlfriend” every article you write now? It’s getting kind of weird at this point.
It seems that David is feeling a bit charmed about being with her. Maybe he’s just enjoying it so much that he has to kick himself to ensure it’s not a dream.
I’m surprised that nobody else has mentioned this before…
There is a very straightforward solution to all of this “driving in LA” malarkey David. You’ll just have to convince ‘Elise’ that living on Mackinac Island is worth it so that your garage-queen i3s never sees a rock chip.
(In case you don’t know: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_car-free_islands)
There is a very straightforward solution to all of this “driving in LA” malarkey David. You’ll just have to convince ‘Elise’ that living on Mackinac Island is worth it so that your garage-queen i3s never sees a rock chip.
(In case you don’t know: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_car-free_islands)
keep both of them, and add another one to the stable, that way your fleet of I3’s matches MS’s fleet of smarts 🙂
Oh, he’d need five i3s to keep up with my
hoardcollection. 🙂Goal posts have just been moved 🙂
keep both of them, and add another one to the stable, that way your fleet of I3’s matches MS’s fleet of smarts 🙂
Oh, he’d need five i3s to keep up with my
hoardcollection. 🙂Goal posts have just been moved 🙂
First one always hurts. There will be more and a car is meant to be used.
First one always hurts. There will be more and a car is meant to be used.
Why are you procrastinating on the PPF? For all my new cars, I bring them straight to the PPF installer before I drive them. There’s no point in PPF if you’re going to get it scratched up before installing.
Agreed! I’ve gotta get my ass in gear! (Though PPF would not have covered that part of the mirror).
Why are you procrastinating on the PPF? For all my new cars, I bring them straight to the PPF installer before I drive them. There’s no point in PPF if you’re going to get it scratched up before installing.
Agreed! I’ve gotta get my ass in gear! (Though PPF would not have covered that part of the mirror).
There’s a story in my family about my great-grandfather, who after buying a brand new car, put a small scratch on the fender himself, so he wouldn’t worry about things happening to it. Cars are meant to be used.
There’s a story in my family about my great-grandfather, who after buying a brand new car, put a small scratch on the fender himself, so he wouldn’t worry about things happening to it. Cars are meant to be used.
I’m not sure you’re going to make it out here…
I’m not sure you’re going to make it out here…
Ah, I remember my first brand new daily. Still have it actually, 170,000 miles and countless rock chips, door dings, acorn dents, scratches and clear coat swirls later. And I’d consider myself someone who’s reasonably cautious and takes above average care of my cars.
Here’s the thing… a daily driver is a tool. It gets shit done, and has the accompanying battle scars to prove, no matter how careful you are. Outside of spending absurd amounts of money to fix every little blemish, that’s just the way it is. If you want to keep a car nice, you make it a garage queen.
All that said, that’s not why you bought this car. You bought it with the specific intent of using it as a daily driver. Would you purposely spend $30K on a garage queen? My gut tells me no, based on what I’ve read from you. When you already own so many cars, keeping two of the same ones seems quite unnecessary and expensive. Cars cost you a lot of money whether you drive them all the time or just sit. Sell the old one and drive the new one. Eventually you’ll get over the blemishes.
Ah, I remember my first brand new daily. Still have it actually, 170,000 miles and countless rock chips, door dings, acorn dents, scratches and clear coat swirls later. And I’d consider myself someone who’s reasonably cautious and takes above average care of my cars.
Here’s the thing… a daily driver is a tool. It gets shit done, and has the accompanying battle scars to prove, no matter how careful you are. Outside of spending absurd amounts of money to fix every little blemish, that’s just the way it is. If you want to keep a car nice, you make it a garage queen.
All that said, that’s not why you bought this car. You bought it with the specific intent of using it as a daily driver. Would you purposely spend $30K on a garage queen? My gut tells me no, based on what I’ve read from you. When you already own so many cars, keeping two of the same ones seems quite unnecessary and expensive. Cars cost you a lot of money whether you drive them all the time or just sit. Sell the old one and drive the new one. Eventually you’ll get over the blemishes.
It’s an incurable disease. Once you feel that way about a specific car, it never goes away. Even decades afterwards you still rue each and every blemish. That scuff will piss you off forever I’m sorry to tell you.
Very true. I bought my 2012 Smart new and I know where each and every blemish comes from. You either learn to live with it, fix it, or be upset forever. ♥
It’s an incurable disease. Once you feel that way about a specific car, it never goes away. Even decades afterwards you still rue each and every blemish. That scuff will piss you off forever I’m sorry to tell you.
Very true. I bought my 2012 Smart new and I know where each and every blemish comes from. You either learn to live with it, fix it, or be upset forever. ♥
Wasn’t the plan to take the “holy grail” Jeep off road at some point? How are you avoiding dings and scratches doing that?
Just drive the car. It isn’t a Ferrari FXX. If you really care about keeping it looking a 10/10, I’m sure Galpin can direct you to a detailer or paint/body guy who can fix dings/scratches. Hell, its a used car, it likely came with scratches and dings already.
Wasn’t the plan to take the “holy grail” Jeep off road at some point? How are you avoiding dings and scratches doing that?
Just drive the car. It isn’t a Ferrari FXX. If you really care about keeping it looking a 10/10, I’m sure Galpin can direct you to a detailer or paint/body guy who can fix dings/scratches. Hell, its a used car, it likely came with scratches and dings already.
In the interest of saving money, I would tell you to sell the old one. Sooner or later, the “honeymoon” wears off.
I replaced a mirror cover on my Prius when it got hit by some ice flying out of a pickup bed not long after I got it, but that was a full on crack, not just a scratch. Cost me all of $65 for a painted replacement cover.
But factually, the interior plastic already has scratches from prior owners and there’s a few exterior marks, so I’d say–succumb to the inevitable and just do your best to preserve the fancy one.
On the other hand, if money isn’t too tight, keeping both could be fine, too. Given what a rare vehicle it is, that does make some sense. But it’s more “as a spare in case of catastrophe” than “preventing the slightest damage to the nicer one.”
In the interest of saving money, I would tell you to sell the old one. Sooner or later, the “honeymoon” wears off.
I replaced a mirror cover on my Prius when it got hit by some ice flying out of a pickup bed not long after I got it, but that was a full on crack, not just a scratch. Cost me all of $65 for a painted replacement cover.
But factually, the interior plastic already has scratches from prior owners and there’s a few exterior marks, so I’d say–succumb to the inevitable and just do your best to preserve the fancy one.
On the other hand, if money isn’t too tight, keeping both could be fine, too. Given what a rare vehicle it is, that does make some sense. But it’s more “as a spare in case of catastrophe” than “preventing the slightest damage to the nicer one.”
Excellent….one step closer to the inevitable article “Help, I have 12 i3s and the city is threatening to tow them!” in 5 years time…..
“The Galpin management team complained to Beau about me!”