[BMWCSRegistry] Post Theft asses.

[jef rolison]

Platinum is going for over $1000 an ounce. Not sure how much is in a
cat...but a lot of junkyards won't let you take a used one off a wreck.
They have a crew that comes in and removes them and only them.

Jef Rolison

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: james_rosenthal at comcast.net
  To: bmwe34m5 at yahoogroups.com , bmwcsregistry at idb.ded.forest.net
  Subject: [BMWCSRegistry] Post Theft asses.
  Date: Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:11:53 +0000

  So, I went to the tow yard this morning to get my car.  It looked
  perfect as I walked through the gate, and on close inspection only
  suffered a couple bumps and bruises (small bump and scrape on left
  rear passenger door, scratch on roof, scapes on trunk lid, gouge in
  paint on lower rear bumper) and the interior was just as I left it. 
  I noticed there was mud in the tailpipes and wondered how that
  happened, but shrugged it off as I was so elated it was relatively
  unharmed.  The tow driver got his jumper box to start the car
  (remember the car had a dead battery when I parked it), and after it
  cranked for a second, fired up to life...with the worst possible
  growling sound I have ever heard.  I immediately shut it off, and
  looked under the car....they cut the catalytic converter clean off!! 
  We started it again to move it into position for the tow truck, and
  it "runs" like it should (the idle is fine, the engine has power),
  but I was too scared to drive it not knowing what else could be
  wrong.  So, we got the car hitched up to the tow truck again, and
  took it to my mechanics shop to get it up on a lift. In the air, we
  were able to get the full extent of the damage...  From back to
  front: the gas tank is smashed up from the rear to the front on the
  right side with trailing scrapes along the right-rear the wheel axle,
  then terminated with a huge chunk missing from the lower right side
  spoiler, including stripped off hardware, followed by a scrape along
  the inside of the right rear tire (they dragged this car over
  something big like a curb).  Catalytic is obviously gone and the
  heat-shield above it is mangled from the saw.  The sheet metal in
  front of the thrust arms is bent up (the place with the small rings)
  and torn as they probably hooked the tow chains on to those, and the
  front spoiler is scraped up. My mechanic also noted that since the
  fuel pump and sender are directly above where the tank got mangled,
  those would need replacement as well.  So far, I estimate the damage
  somewhere around $5-6k (remember, insurance is paying for this, so
  all parts will be OEM new and all body work will be professionally
  done).  Now that you guys have the mental picture of how my car was
  towed by the thieves and slammed around while being towed, is there
  anything else that we should look for?The insurance adjuster is
  coming monday, and I want a full list for him to inspect. Thanks
  again to all for the outpour of sympathy and suggestions.  Having had
  this happen, I can say it is the worst nightmare of any car nut, and
  I just feel fortunate that the damage was so minimal. James Rosenthal
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